Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] VectorCam Demo and EMC - Lathe

On Thu, 28 Feb 2002, Alan Marconett KM6VV wrote:

> I never thought of turning the spindle horizontal and using the
> tailstock to simulate a CNC lathe! But then, I had my mill for 17+
> years, and until recently, did not know or think about rotating the
> spindle (it only has one key slot)!
>
> OK, you mounted the tool holder on the X axis, so no tailstock?
> Still, I like the idea. I KNEW there was a reason I got the Sherline
> 4-jaw chuck (and tailstock)! Maybe what is needed is a way to mount
> the spindle ON the X axis, and then something else (on the z) would
> carry the tool?
>
> I'm anxious to try this lathe setup! could you possibly email me the
> DXF or CCD file(s) you are experimenting with? ;>)
>
> I'm sorry I can't help with the EMC question, but I believe the Vector
> output is correct!
>
> Alan KM6VV

Pretty sure it is.

The "head sideways" thing on the mill is temporary. I've got a Taig CNC
mill, and a Taig manual lathe (only kind of Taig lathe, unless you do the
CNC conversion yourself.) I made an adapter plate that will let me mount
my Taig lathe on the mill bed.

The eventual mad scientist plan is to mount my Sherline rotary table on
the mill column, mount the Taig lathe on the mill bed, and have a CNC
turret lathe. Tool bits would be indexed by rotating the rotary table,
and the work would be mounted on the lathe (complete with tailstock.)

The "head sideways" thing was basically a test to see if I could. And for
face milling, I think it would be a much less invasive way to set this up.
But eventually I'd like to use this setup to machine custom gear cutters,
so yeah, a tailstock would be a huge huge plus.

(Besides, if I can get a CNC lathe for the price of a chunk of aluminum
and four mounting screws, I figure that's not a bad deal.)

Tom

> Tom Benedict wrote:
> >
> > I've got a Taig CNC mill with the Microproto controller. I got EMC
> > working fine with three axes (I'm having little to no luck getting the
> > fourth axis working, but that's neither here nor there.)
> >
> > Last night, just for grins, I turned the mill head 90 degrees, mounted a
> > lathe toolpost on my mill bed, and brought the spindle down until it was
> > level with the lathe tool. In effect I made my mill into a poor-man's CNC
> > lathe.
> >
> > I've got the VectorCam demo set up on a machine at home, and have been
> > trying it for mill work. But I've been wanting to test it for lathe
> > functionality, too.
> >
> > I ran into a problem. I'm hoping someone can help:
> >
> > I used a CAD package to draw up the profile of a ball handle (two arcs,
> > one tapered straight section, and the second arc was cut short so it
> > would leave the ball handle firmly attached to the stock.) The DXF
> > imported into Vector perfectly. I used the lathe pocket function to set
> > up a toolpath, saved it as NC code, simulated it, everything checked out
> > fine.
> >
> > There were two problems when I tried to run it using EMC. One was my
> > fault, one I'm not sure of. The one that's my fault was because I didn't
> > know CNC lathes use X and Z axes. After some time reading Machinery's
> > Handbook, I figured that out, swapped my motor plugs, and was back on
> > track.
> >
> > That's when I ran into the second problem: The roughing passes went
> > perfectly. The finishing pass died as soon as it hit the first arc. The
> > error message was something like, "K word on an arc in the XY plane."
> >
> > Far as I can tell, the G-code generated by Vector is spot-on. It had an X
> > word, a Z word, an I word, and a K word. The arc is in the X-Z plane, not
> > the X-Y plane.
> >
> > Any idea how I can fix this? Is this an EMC thing? My EMC installation
> > is off the latest BDI.
> >
> > I'm probably not going to use my mill like a lathe very much (I'd rather
> > build out a dedicated CNC lathe), but I'd like to go ahead and buy Vector
> > next month, and I've got some short-run stuff I'll need to do with it in
> > this configuration. So any and all ideas are much appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Tom
>
>
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