Re: How important are manual controls on CNC machines?

>Tim Goldstein wrote:

<snip>I have a couple of machines that have only CNC control with no

>manual on any of the axis. Once you get used to the idea that
>everything is from the keyboard you do not miss the manual cranks at
>all.
>

Hello,

I can't agree with this strongly enough... IMO, far too many people
go to great lengths to preserve the "manual" nature of their cnc
retrofits.

As Tim sez, you DON'T miss the handwheels, and will even find
yourself turning the machine control ON (if you have retained
handwheels) in order to get the "advantages" of cnc: jogs, feeds, and
moves to an exact end point. (meaning that you STILL can do "manual"
machining with cnc "help"), and IMO, you will make parts faster AND
more accurately.

Handwheels turning at CNC speeds are also dangerous, unless they
are "converted" with this in mind...

There ARE some cases, and some machines where retaining handwheels
can be beneficial, but nearly all of the time this is due to a poor
implementation of the retrofit, or controller software. Or even
misunderstanding of "typical" cnc setup and operation...

Hope this helps,

Ballendo

P.S. I DO enjoy the turning of handwheels for the "feeling", history,
and connection to the past. But I preserve that for machines other
than the cnc's, because a converted machine with handwheels retained
doesn't feel the same anymore, anyway (drag of belts/motors; awkward
position of handwheels which have been moved to accomodate
pulleys;possibly reversed feeding direction due to the use of cheaper
RH acme or ballscrews; and different feed per revs dueto ballscrews
vs manual threads which need the finer pitches common to manual
machines, and absent from cnc...)