Re: Mill/Drill CNC Conversion

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "kaynrc" <tom.kay@n...> wrote:

> Hi Jeff
>
> Nice job. You're way ahead of me on the mechanical stuff,

although I

> too have the 5 amp kit from Camtronics. I'm just getting around

to

> the power supplies now, which will be 4 little transformers

instead

> of 1 big one. Same result, I think.
>
> BUt I am curious what an angular bearing is. Is this a

combination

> bearing, both thrust and radial?

You got it. It's actually called an "Angular Contact Bearing." I
discovered it while searching for ballscrew information. I think I
did a search on "ballscrew mounting" and came across several
articles with nice diagrams and explanations.

>
> Also, do you firmly hold one end of the ballscrew, and allow the
> other one to float axially a little bit, to account for expansion?

I

> think I've heard this, but I'm not sure.
>

Yes, for the Y-Axis. Originally I had plans or using a simple radial
ball bearing (or for that matter a ball bushing) at the far end of
the screw to keep it supported. Upon looking at the mill, though,
it looked like it would be quite a challenge to find a suitable
mounting point. It would also increase the risk of misalignment -
a fear which was allayed upon testing of my current system
comprised of a single bearing set. I suppose I'm giving up a
touch of accuracy, but the system becomes much more robust if
it's allowed to "float" just a little.

> As for software, I keep looking at one, then another, but have

you

> looked at Art Fenerty's Master5? It's Windows based, which is
> supposed to be bad, but he claims that his software sort of

"takes

> control" of the computer and channels all the efforts into

running

> the program, making it at least close to real time. You can tell

by

> my wording that I'm not a computer tech, but I sure would

prefer to

I haven't seen Master5. I did in fact do a lot of research, and
though it's not the $XX,XXX system I use at work, Vector seemed
to do the majority of what I wanted. Just do your homework and
make sure your needs are covered by the package you select.

> not use DOS. Did you look at all kinds of options, and how did

you

> make your final software choice? Maybe Dos isn't so bad to

deal with,

> and I've heard it's the only real-time op system.
>
> Thanks, and happy machining. Tom Kay.

I kind of liked the idea of using DOS (for CNCPro) since I can
bypass the bloated Windows code and be a little more efficient
with the processor. Apparently the speed of the driver is directly
related to the speed of the processor, and I wanted all I could get
out of the cheap box I bought for it (133MHz Pentium, I believe.)

Good luck,

Jeff