lurker comes out
Posted by
Peter Bailey
on 1999-05-10 00:17:24 UTC
Hi list,
I hail from downunder, and like many of you have dabbled
a bit. My best fantasies involve building multi cylinder IC engines.
To this end over the past year have bought a small cnc Boxford
lathe 125TLC. and a small cnc mill. This 1985 lathe is about 50%
bigger than a Sherline and was origonally supplied to
schools as a cnc training lathe.
One of the catches was that it required a BBC Computer to
run it, and the one supplied was not well. To cut a long story
short it is up and running. In the back of my mind is a Microkinetics
conversion since a few years ago I bought the Microkinetics hardware
and software.
The mill is an American DynaMyte 4-axis (1987) with a 6"x6" usable work
envelope. I had difficulty useing the software system, and a knowledgable
friend converted it to run off the Microkinetics board and software.
I only have the g-code converter software as the cad part to convert
to g-codes is fairly dear. My adviser says I will
learn more about programming if I programme directly in G-code. I find the
Millmaster software a bit quirky, but I guess its like most learning curves.
So far I try and draw it up in Autocad, find all the co-ordinates,
and g-code them in. I haven't actually cut much metal yet, but drawn
a lot of circles and lines with a pen in the spindle.
Probably the most interesting project has been a motion control movie
camera system I built. This is a 16 axis system although up
to date I have not used more than 8. The card and software is from
Kuper Control and is specifically designed for the movie industry.
Kuper is in Albaquerkie USA. Their system was used in Titanic amongst
other films. The X axis is 8foot long, z axis is 5 ft high.
The tower runs on precision track with a wire control not unlike a
huge plotter with a winch drum at one end. the 2 stepper motors are
over 1000" oz with a planetry gear box on each motor. The cross member
carrying the 31 kilo camera and 40 kilo cross arm is counterbalanced with
70 kilos of weightlifters weights on a stainless steel cable running
over a pulley. (This cable broke on one memorable occasion that I
would rather forget) The other axis, all small stepper motors,
are pan, tilt, focus, zoom, turntable, and possibly iris.
There are a few upgrades planned. I acquired 2 10ft ball screws from
a huge map plotter that weighed over 3 tonnes and I hope to substitute
the wire system eventually.
The system is only really suitable for tabletop work. I have used this on
about 8 serious jobs, and it performed quite well.
I hope this is of interest.
Peter.
Peter Bailey
pbailey@...
I hail from downunder, and like many of you have dabbled
a bit. My best fantasies involve building multi cylinder IC engines.
To this end over the past year have bought a small cnc Boxford
lathe 125TLC. and a small cnc mill. This 1985 lathe is about 50%
bigger than a Sherline and was origonally supplied to
schools as a cnc training lathe.
One of the catches was that it required a BBC Computer to
run it, and the one supplied was not well. To cut a long story
short it is up and running. In the back of my mind is a Microkinetics
conversion since a few years ago I bought the Microkinetics hardware
and software.
The mill is an American DynaMyte 4-axis (1987) with a 6"x6" usable work
envelope. I had difficulty useing the software system, and a knowledgable
friend converted it to run off the Microkinetics board and software.
I only have the g-code converter software as the cad part to convert
to g-codes is fairly dear. My adviser says I will
learn more about programming if I programme directly in G-code. I find the
Millmaster software a bit quirky, but I guess its like most learning curves.
So far I try and draw it up in Autocad, find all the co-ordinates,
and g-code them in. I haven't actually cut much metal yet, but drawn
a lot of circles and lines with a pen in the spindle.
Probably the most interesting project has been a motion control movie
camera system I built. This is a 16 axis system although up
to date I have not used more than 8. The card and software is from
Kuper Control and is specifically designed for the movie industry.
Kuper is in Albaquerkie USA. Their system was used in Titanic amongst
other films. The X axis is 8foot long, z axis is 5 ft high.
The tower runs on precision track with a wire control not unlike a
huge plotter with a winch drum at one end. the 2 stepper motors are
over 1000" oz with a planetry gear box on each motor. The cross member
carrying the 31 kilo camera and 40 kilo cross arm is counterbalanced with
70 kilos of weightlifters weights on a stainless steel cable running
over a pulley. (This cable broke on one memorable occasion that I
would rather forget) The other axis, all small stepper motors,
are pan, tilt, focus, zoom, turntable, and possibly iris.
There are a few upgrades planned. I acquired 2 10ft ball screws from
a huge map plotter that weighed over 3 tonnes and I hope to substitute
the wire system eventually.
The system is only really suitable for tabletop work. I have used this on
about 8 serious jobs, and it performed quite well.
I hope this is of interest.
Peter.
Peter Bailey
pbailey@...