Handwheels again?!? was Re: true closed loop vs. hobby closed loop

I think despite the fact you could rig up some encoders to jog the
mill for you, there is something useful about the actual feedback you
get from manual milling. I started with CNC and never really got an
idea of how much force was needed to perform various cutting
operations. The first time I actually disconnected the motors from
the controller and hand-jogged the mill, I realized how powerful it
was. Sometimes when I'm cutting new materials (I was playing with a
Tungsten Carbide cutter and some Titanum the other day) it's really
nice to be able to get a "hands-on feel" for how the mill is cutting
the material without pinging an end-mill or stalling your drive. Most
hobby CNC really has no way of telling you how "hard" something is,
or how confident you should be when cutting U-deep at V-feed... but
you can find out in a few seconds by hand-cranking it.

And it stills seems miles faster to do it manually when I'm too lazy
to saw something and just cut it off with an end-mill. :)

My 2p (3.6c) :)





--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "ballendo" <ballendo@y...>
wrote:

> Kevin,
>
> You have CNC. Why on earth would you need handles?!?
>
> And just think, the Bridgeport engineers left them off of hundreds

of

> machines... (Were they dummies to do so?) Bacause they
> certainly "could have" left them on if they thought there was a
> reason... (It's not like they didn't have them "available" in the
> Bridgeport factory!)
>
> I'll never understand this idea that handwheels are somehow a good
> thing to have on a cnc machine. I've laid out the reasons I feel

this

> way many times before; so I won't repeat them here...
>
> Suffice to say that being able to move in any given increment, at a
> speed faster than I can turn any handwheel, and stop on the EXACT
> spot I desire repeatedly, for me at least renders handwheels
> unnecessary... (and a safety hazard)
>
> Ballendo
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Kevin R. Walsh"
> <krwalsh@y...> wrote:
> >Anyone have any luck fitting handle to the old Bridgeport CNC
> machines? I can easily get one on the Z drive. The Y drive I

could

> maybe see how I can modify the belt cover and put a handle in.

What

> about the X?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Kevin