New Drill Press Vise
New Drill Press Vise
New Drill Press Vise
Newsletter
Volume 16 - Number 4
http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/
Since its founding by John Korman in 1996, The Home Metal Shop Club has brought together metal workers from all over the Southeast Texas area. Our members interests include Model Engineering, Casting, Blacksmithing, Gunsmithing, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Robotics, CNC, Welding, Metal Art, and others. Members always like to talk about their craft and shops. Shops range from full machine shops to those limited to a bench vise and hacksaw. If you like to make things, run metal working machines, or just talk about tools, this is your place. Meetings generally consist of a presentation with Q&A, followed by show and tell where the members can share their work and experiences. President Vance Burns Webmaster/Editor Dick Kostelnicek Vice President John Hoff Photographer Jan Rowland Secretary Martin Kennedy CNC SIG Dennis Cranston Treasurer Emmett Carstens Casting SIG Tom Moore Librarian Dan Harper Novice SIG Rich Pichler
Thirty members attended the 12:00 noon meeting at the Parker Williams County Library. President Vance Burns led the meeting.
Presentation
Terry Ruppe with Arrow Controls gave a presentation on mill conversion / upgrading using Centroid CNC Controls. Terry has been working with CNC equipment for 30 years. Most of his business was fixing old machines. The problem he typically found was that the iron was still good, but the electronic controls were antiquated, started experiencing intermittent errors, and were difficult to keep running. About 25 years ago, he began working with Centroid, a company that produced more modern electronics that could be retrofitted on older machinery. He formed his current company, Arrow Controls, about 15 years ago. When Centroid first began, they produced a DOS based control program. It then was converted to Linux, and most recently has been upgraded to run under Windows 7. Centroid controls have evolved over time, and they now make systems for high speed control of up to 8-axis machines. They also manufacture CNC mills up to 5 axis. A popular application for their equipment is cylinder head porting, as shown on their website. Most of Terrys business is doing retrofits. Retrofits are done for three reasons: 1) The controls on an older machine are obsolete or unreliable; 2) On newer machines where the owner is not satisfied with the factory controls; and 3) Conversion of manual machines to CNC. Manual machine conversions are more expensive because conversion is labor intensive. Parts such as ball screws must be replaced, and new parts, such as custom built motor mounts, quill conversions, and limit switches must be added. Older PC based operating systems incorporating ISA CNC controller cards become obsolete as they experience failures because boards employing ISA slots are no longer produced. To combat this, Centroid produces a stand-alone card that communicates with the host PC over a standard network port. Some of the most important parts for an accurate CNC machine are high quality ball screws on the table. Stock Acme screws cant produce the accuracy needed for CNC. Terry uses machined ball screws, and not rolled ball screws, to get the necessary accuracy. He recommended a few sources for parts: Hiwin for ball screws and Elrod Machine for custom motor mounts. Three types of control systems are used in CNC. At the low end are open loop stepper motors. In this type of system, the computer advances the stepper motor a given amount, and assumes that the table moves that amount. If the motor stalls, or encounters a stop, the computer has no way of knowing that the table did not move. Centroid does not support this type of system. The next, and most prevalent, type of commercial control system is a closed loop system using a servo motor with an encoder mounted on the shaft of the motor. In this system, the 2
April 2011 - Home Metal Shop Club Newsletter - V.16 No.4 computer advances the servo motor, and monitors the pulses generated by the encoder to validate table movement. The third type of system is a closed loop system that uses glass scales mounted on the table for feedback. Centroid offers many interface boards for not only the servo controls, but also for tool changing, inputs, and specialized boards for particular machines, such as those employing Fanuc controls. They can provide a stand-alone control computer, or can tie in to your existing system. A full machine conversion costs a bare minimum of $5,000 up to about $12,000, depending on whether the servo motors can be reused and if a dedicated operator interface and pendants are required. Centroid now produces a low end system targeted towards hobbyists that costs about $2,000. A Mach3 interface is available. Recently, they began a subsidiary called Ajax specifically to produce a system for hobbyists. Their entry-level system is about $1,500. The Centroid system can work with a digitizer. With the digitizer, the control system can find centers and corners automatically. It can also be used to digitize the surface of a part in 3D. Two models of the ruby tipped probe are available from Centroid. The standard model costs about $1,500. A newer version uses acoustic feedback and is much more accurate at high speeds. This version is about $2,500. Terry then demonstrated the Centroid control system, going through many screens to highlight its capability. Streaming videos are available on the website, featuring the system. A demo of the software is available, limited to a small number of lines of G code.
April 2011 - Home Metal Shop Club Newsletter - V.16 No.4 Randy Jacobs recounted how he was using a 4 angle grinder when the wheel exploded and sent him to the hospital to have his fingers sewn back together. The injury was caused by over tightening the abrasive wheel on the angle grinder. This slightly crushed the wheel, which then failed when it came up to speed. Randys accident reminded us all how important it is to use the appropriate safety gear and practices when using equipment. Joe Scott had three devices made to fit onto a turret lathe. The first tool was for cutting inside oring grooves, and employed a cam action to engage and disengage the tool. The second was a Hardinge TBA 5/8 slide mount with an adjustment wheel. The third was a Hardinge T3 5/8 slide mount that held a cutting tool. Jan Rowland made a poster board featuring some of his projects, and urged other member to bring in information on their projects. Tom Moore recounted an interesting story of an old building in Trinity that he passed while headed to the Canton Engine Show. The building had been vacant for years, was being torn down, and he stopped by to look. It was full of 1920-1930 era machines, such as a punch press, shear, lathe, air compressors, an industrial press and a 24 pillar drill.
Articles
Part # Description
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1-3/4" D Plastic Ball 3/8"-16 ID Thread Table Mount Handle 1/4" Roll Pin 7/8" Long Table Mount Hold Down Bolt 1/2" ID Washer Table Mount Clamp Retaining Clip 1/4" D Dowel Pin 7/8" Long 10-32 SHCS 3/4" Long Rear Jaw Key, Brass 1/8" Dowel Pin 1/2" Long Back Jaw Plunger Coil Spring 7/16 OD, Length as Required Plunger Keeper 1-1/4" D Plastic Ball 1/4"-20 ID Thread Front Jaw Beam Front Jaw Key, Brass Washer for Tightening Screw Tightening Screw Front Jaw Cover 1/8" Roll Pin 1/2" long 1/4" Roll Pin 1" Long Tightening Handle 1/4"-20 Threaded Rod 1" Long Back Jaw Cover
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