Re: Re: Engraving and engine turning

Hello Ian,
Why not use regular tension coil springs to support the weight of the quill? Attach them directly to the quill, not through any
pinion or gears. If you make them long enough, the spring force will not significantly change versus quill position.

Three are also gas springs available that would serve the same function. I am just now starting to look into the gas springs to
learn more about them.

Bertho Boman
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> From: "Ian W. Wright" <Ian@...>
>
> Hi Pete,
>
> I have come across tensator springs in clocks but I have only seen them
> used winding from one drum onto another. I can see this working on a
> rack and pinion feed mill/drill but my effort is having the 'z' axis
> driven by a normal feedscrew just like the other major axes. Another
> reason I thought of using weights and pulleys is that I am making the
> 'Z' axis pivot around a point on a level with the table so that I can
> feed down at an angle ( depending on developments of emc etc. I may even
> motorise this adjustment in the future as I have the desire in the back
> of my mind to generate the strange gear-tooth profiles required for
> watch escape wheels using a tiny slitting saw in the quill and
> simultaneously manipulating a dividing head, the 3 axes and possibly the
> angle of the cutter to the work (the tooth profiles I am thinking of
> resembles a leg and foot sticking out of the wheel 15 times around its
> periphery). Using a weight system will allow for this so long as I make
> the pulleys deep enough.
>
> Ian