My CNC Lathe.....
Posted by
Tom
on 2003-11-25 07:13:41 UTC
Hi Group,
The machine is a ACER E-Lathe Model 1440G with a High Speed Inverter
Drive. It has a two speed gear box with a 1-1/2" spindle bore and a
7-1/2" wide bed and weighs in at 1,750 lbs. I bought it used in 1998
and retrofitted a FAGOR T series control, drives, and motors. I used
the FAGOR control because I didn't want to reinvent the wheel I
wanted a serious CNC machine for my repair business. I feel the P.C.
based controls are a little Mickey Mouse for a serious CNCer like
myself. The FAGOR is a near bullet proof industrial control made for
the harsh envioronment of a machine shop. I purchased the ballscrews
from Linear Motion Products but had to make some of the mounting
hardware and modify the existing mountings to fit for the carraige
feed. The cross slide almost fell together with an off the shelf
screw that they had. I also removed the original handles and made a
portable pendant that controls both X + Z axes with dual pulse
coders that I got from FAGOR. A little off topic but my Dad was
taken back that I had a machine with no handles as he was an old
school manual machinist. The control was ready to go out of the box
but I did have to program the PLC (what a nightmare), installed the
electronics cabinet, fabricated the motor brackets (on my BP with
FAGOR control also) and wired the relays and contactors to operate
the motor and auxilary functions and I installed a bosch spindle
controller and added a rotary encoder to mark the spindle speed
within each of the two speed gear ranges. It took about 3 months in
my spare time since I am not a electronics genius but I made it work
and it has been very reliable with zero downtime. I use it for one-
offs so I have an Aloris quick change tool post on it. The FAGOR
control is very user friendly (not like their PLC) and I do all of
my programming at the machine as the FAGOR has a machinist friendly
software package. My next project after my move to Florida in the
spring will be a Hardinge Chucker that I will retrofit another FAGOR
control to. I am hoping to find an old CNC with an Allen Bradley
control in good shape to save the expence and time of fabing the
bracketry and price of new screws.
Journeyman Machinist, Tool & Die Maker, Field Service Technician
Tom
http://hometown.aol.com/cncxyzservicetec/myhomepage/tccbusiness.html
The machine is a ACER E-Lathe Model 1440G with a High Speed Inverter
Drive. It has a two speed gear box with a 1-1/2" spindle bore and a
7-1/2" wide bed and weighs in at 1,750 lbs. I bought it used in 1998
and retrofitted a FAGOR T series control, drives, and motors. I used
the FAGOR control because I didn't want to reinvent the wheel I
wanted a serious CNC machine for my repair business. I feel the P.C.
based controls are a little Mickey Mouse for a serious CNCer like
myself. The FAGOR is a near bullet proof industrial control made for
the harsh envioronment of a machine shop. I purchased the ballscrews
from Linear Motion Products but had to make some of the mounting
hardware and modify the existing mountings to fit for the carraige
feed. The cross slide almost fell together with an off the shelf
screw that they had. I also removed the original handles and made a
portable pendant that controls both X + Z axes with dual pulse
coders that I got from FAGOR. A little off topic but my Dad was
taken back that I had a machine with no handles as he was an old
school manual machinist. The control was ready to go out of the box
but I did have to program the PLC (what a nightmare), installed the
electronics cabinet, fabricated the motor brackets (on my BP with
FAGOR control also) and wired the relays and contactors to operate
the motor and auxilary functions and I installed a bosch spindle
controller and added a rotary encoder to mark the spindle speed
within each of the two speed gear ranges. It took about 3 months in
my spare time since I am not a electronics genius but I made it work
and it has been very reliable with zero downtime. I use it for one-
offs so I have an Aloris quick change tool post on it. The FAGOR
control is very user friendly (not like their PLC) and I do all of
my programming at the machine as the FAGOR has a machinist friendly
software package. My next project after my move to Florida in the
spring will be a Hardinge Chucker that I will retrofit another FAGOR
control to. I am hoping to find an old CNC with an Allen Bradley
control in good shape to save the expence and time of fabing the
bracketry and price of new screws.
Journeyman Machinist, Tool & Die Maker, Field Service Technician
Tom
http://hometown.aol.com/cncxyzservicetec/myhomepage/tccbusiness.html