Thanks for the photos and the detail information on the installation on his lathe with 3 axis.
Below is his story:
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We have lately purchased two 3M systems from you.
One was installed on a lathe (with the 3rd axis on the tailstock!) and is working very well. It took few days of custom machining because of the machine structure.
Picture SANY1371 shows the installation on Z1 axis (we used X). The machine had a T slot in the back, so mounting the slide was easy, but for the sensor we used a combination of the parts you provided.
Picture SANY1373 shows the slide on Y. We had to construct a healthy beam to hold the slide as far as possible to the right and back, away from the turning area, to minimize spray and chips.
Picture SANY1375 shows the installation from the back side, with the parts made to move the sensor. The parts are held the cross slide extension (it had copy attachment once). Lots of milling, drilling and threading, but it ends up very stable.
Adding the scale to the TAILSTOCK was completely another story. The tailstock body casting has no straight faces anywhere. We added an aluminum block using 2 M8 bolts + 6 mm dowel pins, curving the piece back to follow the casting shape. Then we machined the piece have a vertical face and horizontal face to attach the slide to, see picture SANY1380.
For the sensor we milled a part to attach to the quill as seen in picture SANY1383. 3 parts were involved in getting the quill motion to the sensor.
This job involved not only taking the tailstock apart, but also making the internal screw LONGER so it will extract the conical parts inserted into the quill when it is brought all the way back. We had to do it since the part we added on the quill prevented it from being pulled back enough to extract the cone.
The DRO was mounted above the lathe control panel as seen in picture SANY1376. It is convenient since the left hand is often on the panel and on/off switch anyway.
All in all the work took 5 days, one man and a milling machine.
We were very impressed with the overall attention to details you put into the kit. Everything was there, brackets, screws and washers of all kinds, cable ties, shims, and most impressive is the clear plastic cover on the DRO to keep the unit clean.
We looked at your blog, saw many examples from other users, and that gave us confidence to order and install the system.
So far this is the story of the first unit.
For the second system ,is installed on an old CMM machine with its original electronic / optics dead. We use true 3 axes here, as the CMM bridge is moved by hand and the location is visible.
Many thanks.
Nathan
Company Website: www.compucraftltd.com
RobotWorks website: www.robotworks-eu.com
One was installed on a lathe (with the 3rd axis on the tailstock!) and is working very well. It took few days of custom machining because of the machine structure.
Picture SANY1371 shows the installation on Z1 axis (we used X). The machine had a T slot in the back, so mounting the slide was easy, but for the sensor we used a combination of the parts you provided.
Picture SANY1373 shows the slide on Y. We had to construct a healthy beam to hold the slide as far as possible to the right and back, away from the turning area, to minimize spray and chips.
Picture SANY1375 shows the installation from the back side, with the parts made to move the sensor. The parts are held the cross slide extension (it had copy attachment once). Lots of milling, drilling and threading, but it ends up very stable.
Adding the scale to the TAILSTOCK was completely another story. The tailstock body casting has no straight faces anywhere. We added an aluminum block using 2 M8 bolts + 6 mm dowel pins, curving the piece back to follow the casting shape. Then we machined the piece have a vertical face and horizontal face to attach the slide to, see picture SANY1380.
For the sensor we milled a part to attach to the quill as seen in picture SANY1383. 3 parts were involved in getting the quill motion to the sensor.
This job involved not only taking the tailstock apart, but also making the internal screw LONGER so it will extract the conical parts inserted into the quill when it is brought all the way back. We had to do it since the part we added on the quill prevented it from being pulled back enough to extract the cone.
The DRO was mounted above the lathe control panel as seen in picture SANY1376. It is convenient since the left hand is often on the panel and on/off switch anyway.
All in all the work took 5 days, one man and a milling machine.
We were very impressed with the overall attention to details you put into the kit. Everything was there, brackets, screws and washers of all kinds, cable ties, shims, and most impressive is the clear plastic cover on the DRO to keep the unit clean.
We looked at your blog, saw many examples from other users, and that gave us confidence to order and install the system.
So far this is the story of the first unit.
For the second system ,is installed on an old CMM machine with its original electronic / optics dead. We use true 3 axes here, as the CMM bridge is moved by hand and the location is visible.
Many thanks.
Nathan
Company Website: www.compucraftltd.com
RobotWorks website: www.robotworks-eu.com
