Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Z Axis Conversion

Mike Phillips wrote:

>That looks exactly like what you did too. How is it holding up? How
>about the servo amps you made, are they doing ok?
>
>
>

Well, it was originally TOO close, and the encoder would have been
partially inside
the belt housing. So, I had to open up the mounting holes to slots,
which I really
didn't want to do. I made the link extra long, because I knew that such
an error
might be possible, and then measured and cut it after the main assembly fit.
It has held up very well. One concern was that the link bolts to the
quill with
one relatively small bolt (maybe a 3/8 or so) and a small flat spot on
the quill.
I worried that this would rock against the quill and eventually turn
into a hinge.
That apparently has not happened.

The servo amps are still working. I just converted over from a Servo-to-Go
card to my own PPMC interface for analog servos. (Should have done this
years ago, but I hated to dig into a system that was working! I finally
was forced
to when some kind of software flakiness invaded the 1999 version of EMC.
I think it may actually have been a chip in the keyboard or something,
but it
was time to upgrade.)

I was making a part for a friend and was kibitzing too much, and left the
quill just jammed against the upper limit of movement, and blew a couple
transistors on the Z axis. I yanked the amp under power, swapped out the
transistors and popped it back in under power, and never lost the Z axis
alignment. He was thoroughly impressed that I could do that.

While doing the computer/EMC2/PPMC upgrade, I FINALLY got home switches
on the machine and wired in, so when I home it, EMC keeps track of absolute
machine position and the soft limits, so I can't jam it into the mechanical
limits anymore. I always knew that was going to happen one of these days.

Jon