02/26/04
Finished clamps, put in tumbler overnite. Finished pulley bodies, just have to tap set screw holes. Another shipment of motors came, extra bearings should be here tomorrow. Took a bunch of pic's while working, see above. Found a perfect box to ship sanding drum for Lee Marshall, bought more shipping boxes for spindles.
03/08/04
Well, someone at the UPS Store needed my bearings worse than I did, I guess. When I tried to express to the manager how upset I was, he said "What do you expect us to do about it?"
Been packing up shipments all day and finishing up odds and ends. I have 10 shipments redy to go out tomorrow. It would be 12 but I couldn't find the motor coupler for Don Erikson's Z axis or the leadscrew for Richard Schultz's 6" Z Axis. I actually have extra spindles left over this run! Of course, now I'm going to have to re-order another 50 bearings to replace the ones that were stolen........
03/10/04
Shipping today to :
Dan Trogdon Custom Cues, David C. Johnson, Wayne Denis, Mike Windsor, Jerry Burke (Locktronics), David Coffin, Lawrence Gitchell, Thomas E. Carey, MD
Finished up Taig adapters for orders, have ONE left after boxing up. Setscrews for pulleys,assembled 6 more spindles. Finished 5 Sherline/Taig adapters, scrapped one out for cosmetic reasons, may save as sample. Waiting for word from Tim Goldstein on prototypes.(Good, bad, indifferent.)
ADDENDUM: (later)shipped all above orders, bought more boxes, will keep packing tonite, starting with spindle/Taig adapter orders.
03/12/04
Cut up more centerless ground tubing for spindles,finished stand for table saw. Made end clamps for Lee Marshall's sanding drum. Shipped out to Chad Taguba, Chris Klindt. Re-ordered bearings to replace those that were stolen at the UPS Store.
03/14/04
Tore portable welder apart today, suspect it may be something simple, here's why: After dissecting the flywheel end of the engine on the welder (a Kohler 241P ) and removing the magneto and coil assembly, I tested the resistances in the coils. Then I checked the condensor with my cap meter.Then I inspected the field magnets. ALL GOOD! I had just replaced the points a couple of months ago, and had less than 5 hours on them, so I ignored them initially. After checking everything else, I dragged my meter over to the points and checked continuity when closed.Nothing! Went and got a diamond flat (metal) stone and honed both surfaces lightly. Bingo! Contact made! Will reassemble tomorrow. Will need it for a big field job coming up, building a swimming pool for a customer, will need it for rebar framework.I also use it for field MIG work on aluminum, very handy.
Cut boards last night for L297/298 drivers, have special project in mind for dial making machine and I need the faster response times. Have to remember to put 10K pullups on step and direction lines.
I did a comparative cutting speed test on copper/glass loaded epoxy VS phenolic/copper boards and the results really didn't surprise me but they were results, none the less. I found that phenolic is fairly indifferent to milling at any speed above 5000 rpm with a .010" 60 degree d-bit. The copper looks under magnification like it is fractured along the edges of the cut but leaves remarkably little burr, about .0015" high.
The glass loaded epoxy board, however, when milled at any speed under 25,000rpm, leaves a huge burr. On examination, there are chunks of fiber and epoxy stuck to the insides of the burr, as if displaced and shoving the copper out on the edges. When the speed was raised to about 30,000 rpm, the cut became very clean and required little or no deburring.All cutters used were the ones I manufacture here, except for my control cutter, which is a New Hermes with slightly different geometry than mine. (I use a Gorton based geometry on my cutters.)
Tomorrow will also run off a bunch of couplers of various sizes to fill orders, may have time to ship to Bob Hincke and Ellery Horilleno.
03/15/04
Cut blanks for couplers, finished up some bits and pieces. Dragged out the 20" prototype slides for Richard Schultz, tidied them up a bit. Honed bores, put adjustment screws in. Found extra 5/8" thomson ball bushings. Located Tri-Onics DRO scales for Damon Gentile, may have to put in long box on board. Fought with Kohler engine ignition for several hours, made no progress. Everything separately is fine but it refuses to work together. I'm probably missing something obvious........
03/18/04
Been busy finishing up individual jobs for shipping. Packed up shipments for Lee Marshall, Don Erickson, Kylian Wrzesinski, and Mike Mc Caughey. Will Fedex tomorrow. Spoke to a chap about carbide for cutters, would like a better price but what are ya gonna do? Wore out cutter grinding head finally, built in '94, probably done 12,000 cutters since. Will rebuild with ball bearings this time. (Last time was steel spindle in Cast Iron bore.)
03/19/04
Sent out all 4 packages Fedex, sent samples to Dennis at Alltronics. Got couplers half finished.Still need to ream 10 MM hole in 3 pcs.
03/25/04
Finished up a bunch of couplers last night, will ship. My dad has been here for the last few days, 82 years old but still hale and hearty. (drove to Az from NY in 4 days.)Tried to accomplish some stuff this week but was hard with him here. Had to compromise, he hung out in the shop while I made parts and we gabbed somewhat. Says he might be back next October in his camper (5th wheel).
Strapped the DRO scales for Damon Gentile to a board and started boxing it up. I always liked that trionics DRO, simple but reliable. I have to get the Mitutoyo scales installed on the lathe, will make my life easier.(hopefully)
03/30/04
Sent out shipments to Ellery Horilleno, Bob Hincke, Damon Gentile. Tomorrow will pack up parts for Richard Schultz.
Have to make long leadscrews for 6" Z's, Bought aluminum for carriage bodies. $2.25/lb! Geez! Bought more drillrod for spindle shafts. Cut more 4140 centerless ground tubing for spindles. tried to find those 3$ motors Ballendo said were at Alltronics, maybe I can get a deal, I know Dennis K. pretty well from years ago. Better than buying new, if they are the same ones.
Finally totaled up what the motor fiasco cost me, had to send back money orders for 8 spindles, lost 5 more prospective orders. 13 * 70 = well, you figure it out........the up side is that I will be able to get caught up quicker without all those pesky orders slowing me down.
I found materials at Capitol Metals that would make building the PCB Mill easier.( tooling plate, shafting, etc.) I hope to offer it for less than $1000, although many people have told me I am dreaming. Wouldn't a machine like that be a legacy to leave behind, though.........I also bought 900 carbide blanks for PCB cutters, as all these free ones with the spindles really use them up quickly. Had three cash sales yesterday, 2 spindles and a router mount. (I just remembered I owe K. Cabaniss a router mount!)Will finish (and Steve Manzer!) up a couple tomorrow.
04/06/04
Finished leadscrew for Richard Schultz' 6" Z Axis,(ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to find the good acme rod stock.)Started finishing up 1/2-10 leadnuts, have several requests for right and left handed.
NOTE: was very disappointed in the quality of acme rod stock from MSCdirect, had 24" that was unusable, very poor material with cracks in it from the rolling process.
Another controller bit the dust, CHIPS again. Will vent the fan thru the bottom next time, as the chips got in thru the fan opening in the back. Cut several more boards, ordered some IRF540's and header socket pins.(Electronics Goldmine, 2 pcs irf540/1$. Good Deal!)Ordered some of those famous $.99 motors that cost me a months groceries, maybe they'll work. It'll be a month of testing before I know if I can use them, by then they will be off sale, probably.
04/08/04
Finished leadnuts, rebuilt controller. Almost done with new design for 5804/IRF540 boards, will be offered as kit thru Alltronics. Also, the CmoStep board will be offered thru them also.
Finished Richard Schultz' 6" Z Axis, found some more stuff to throw in his box. While I was up in Phoenix, I found a nice piece of tooling plate for a table for him, should make his life easier.Plus, I found my old Unistrut gantry design, I may put a sketch up on the freebies page.
Started last pieces for new router mounts, two of them already promised.
04/12/04
Finished router mounts, now waiting on......NUTS and BOLTS! Went to the bolt crib to get some and discovered that I have used most of them up.
Started on the size 23 stepper motor adapter plates, had to go pick up some more aluminum. Am watching rebuilt stepper controller for problems, TIP 120's not quite enough for a 6 amp motor, very close to the failure line. Should have the 5804/IRF540 controller done and started testing next week. 80 volts at 20 amps unipolar! I have to check if the enable line on the 5804 can be used for current control. Speaking of which.......
The lm393 current control works but can't be used on Darlingtons. It works but the transistors aren't fast enough, and start going into thermal breakdown, start running at full current, then short out. Still, it's nice to see the current values go up or down by turning a pot........
04/13/04
Size 23 motor adapter plates are finished, I have to start on end brackets as soon as I finish 3 pcs of the 6" travel bases. Will start cutting 5804/IRF540 boards tonite, I think. Am doing contracting again for a few weeks so will be working nights. It's a good thing the PCB machine runs by itself, fundamentally.
04/19/04
Finished blanks to length for motor/spindle brackets. I am all out of spindle and Z Axis parts completed from last run, time to start more. And, of course, what happens? The bandsaw blade broke on the cuttoff saw! Took a good look at the blade and it is full off tiny cracks, stress, I would guess.Found what looks like a good deal at Enco: Kennametal 10/14 tooth, bimetal, $12.57. I hate buying cheap blades like the Olsen blades I have been using, you never know if you are getting a good one or a bad one. Out of 5 blades I have bought in the last year, I had 2 good ones and 3 bad ones.
I got the spindle casing to the cutter grinder mostly built last night. I mounted the bearings and bored the swivel mount. I designed the reciprocating feed motor mount, will finish today. The spindle itself will be the hard part as I will have to grind the 5-C collet angle in on the machine itself. Or, possibly, I can finish the tool post grinder I have been re-building for sale and mount it up for internal grinding. I am at an impasse until tomorrow when the new bandsaw blade comes in, as I have no way of cutting stock until it gets here. (well, I could cut it on the miter saw but that is so wasteful of material.)
Shipped out to Richard Schultz, Jason Losh,Arturo Duncan, and Kevin Cabaniss. Have package for Steve Manzer to go out today.( couldn't find his address yesterday.)Have to start designing new linear bearings for PCB Mill.
04/22/04
Put the new bandsaw blade on last night, cuts very smoothly. Cut up a bunch of blanks for spindle holder adapters. Laid out motor brackets, finished 5-C spindle for cutter grinder. Took a few minutes and cobbled up connections for external spark coil on Lincoln portable welder. Lots of spark, still no go. Carb not squirting gasoline, will take off and soak tomorrow. Still have to put dropping resistor on coil circuit. Ordered new bushings for QC gearbox on lathe, bored end of leadscrew 3/8" for extension shaft, will drive with stepper or DC motor.Also ordered new gear to replace stripped gear in quick change.
ADDITIONAL: finished the prototype for the 5804 Hi Current driver.Ran it for 6 hours at 3 amps, 12 volts, size 34 motor. Used a 2.4 ohm dropping resistor to limit current, got hot.(of course.) Half stepping is very smooth, reasonable torque and rpms for so low a voltage.(180 rpm, voltage to motor = 4v.
Also cut up the rest of the stock for mounts,spindles and Z Axes.( My old boss Kurt told me that if the saw isn't running, you probably aren't making any money.)
04/24/04
Saturday morning-more testing on 5804 Hi Power circuit. Ran all night, 15 hours, no problems. Still running O.K. at 11:00 AM Pacific time. Running off a bunch more while deburring Z Axis parts. Have 8 blanks cut for L/R drive, will see about LM311 on enable line of 5804 on next prototype. Maybe t'will work, maybe t'won't.
04/25/04
Ran 5804 board all weekend, only one minor disaster when the motor vibrated off the table. Actually very happy with results, I usually can't drive the size 34's very well with 12 volts.I played around with putting a capacitor (250 mfd electrolytic) across the resistor for a crude bi-level drive sort of thing. Was able to scoot up to 260 rpm. Will let the board run all week, check outputs on the scope at the end of the week, see if they're still nice and sharp.Will ship a board to Brian Foley for Beta Testing and Assembly Notes. Tomorrow back to Spindles and Z Axes as usual. ( I only experiment nights and weekends. I'd starve otherwise; no one will pay you for tinkering.)
04/29/04
My ISP has been down for a couple of days,so no updates until now. I have been making parts for spindles, also, 6" travel Z very popular these days, have to start buying new rods as the surplus ones are all used up. Still have bearings left for now, will convert to oilite bushings when they are all gone. Tonite must finish new controller with 5804 boards, use on spindle motor mount ends.The Rockwell mill has motors with 3.5 amps per phase at 1.7 volts , I call them my "controller killer" motors, they have cooked three sets of boards using tip 102 darlingtons, let's see how they like the IRF540's.Plus, I get to half step now.
05/04/04
Quite busy yesterday and today, I blanked out a bunch more parts for Spindle and Z Zxis. Finished Spindle casings, tumbled motor/spindle holders, milled Sherline adapters for Spindle. I found my prototype board for the SG3524 PWM chip, will try to find time to test it on the Enable line of the 5804 board. Picked up some Delrin for new anti-backlash leadnut design, hope to use it on the new PCB mill. Speaking of which, the first machine is spoken for already. Russ Revels in Florida ordered the first machine to come out of production.
05/07/04
Busy couple of days: finished all the spindle/motor brackets, finished the spindle holders, started bushings for spindle bodies. Tested SG3524 PWM chip to enable line of 5804 board, had mixed success. Current goes up and down beautifully but.........the Enable line also resets the stepping sequence logic. The next step (pun intended) is to pump the 5804 into a 7409 ANDing the PWM with it. It's a learning process.
Tomorrow I have to pull the tranny out of the F-150 and replace the pump seal. Hope it's not windy.
05/17/04
Got a BUNCH of parts done, got the thomson rod for Richard Schultz' 6" Z Axis.Pricey! From now on the price for 6" Z's goes up 20 bucks to reflect this.
Got the tranny out but the sleeve on the torque convertor is chewed up pretty bad which means the pump bushing is probably shot which means, well , a tranny rebuild. I found a place will do it for 400 bucks with the torque convertor.
Well, it wasn't a 7409 AND gate, it turned out to be a 7433 NOR gate. Will cut a board this week and try it. The 5804 board with no current limiting works great, but boy do those power resistors get hot.
If I can get the spindle bodies done this week at night, I can start assembling spindles, I have everything else done or I have some spare parts from last run.
05/27/04
Am finishing up carriage slides this week. Everything else is done for the Z Axes, 3" & 6". I have bases, rods, leadscrews, leadnuts, bushings, coupler blanks, thrust washers, and capscrews. If I can get the slides done, I can get these orders out of here.
Started the week badly, horrible toothache. Then I got a cold my son brought home from school. The cold is passing on but now my teeth are starting to hurt again. Time to go to Mexico and have them pulled!
Tested the 5804 board with 3524 pwm chip and 7433 NOR gates. It current limits beautifully but refuses to step. Bugger! If I hit the enable line from the 3524( PWM pin) with a logic low it starts stepping great but the current goes thru the roof. Maybe I will try a lm311 next with a tad of hysteresis.
Got my tranny rebuilt with no major problems, the price was 400 as advertised. The chap took me over and ran me thru what he did and showed me the old parts he took out. I was moderately impressed by how competent but friendly he was. If I find a great improvement for a consistent time, I may go back and tip the guy.
06/02/04
Been tapping holes in Z Axis slides, I used to do them with a tapwrench and a guide. Too much work. Then I picked up an old Lassy Tapper. Still too much work. Then I recently bought a Tapmatic head for the Rockwell mill. Not too much work anymore but still pretty time consuming. When the slides are done, I go on to spindles, although if someone has a Z Axis only order, I may assemble ahead. (and ship!)
Got the tranny and transfer case in the truck.Still have to refill both of them with fluids and connect everything back up.
If you missed the notice on the home page about Max Thomas of the City Boy band, please go read it.Thanks.
06/16/04
Been busy with outside jobs, taking a week and letting the concrete dry, as it were. Finished the slides and cleaned all the parts in the parts cleaner. I still have to do parts for the spindles but mostly everything is done on the Z Axes. I posted some more pictures in "Production pictures" for anyone who wants to see where things are.Production Pictures!
06/23/04
Have spindle ends pressed in and bored. Now I just have to hone the ends to the bearing diameters and put in the snap ring slots. 3"Z Axes just need couplers. I still have to make several leadscrews for 6" travel Z's. Fingers torn up from concrete work, but still able to make parts. Hold in there, they're coming!
06/30/04
Finished bearing diameters and snap ring grooves, the spindle casings are done. Started on spindle shafts, cut blanks to length.I am going back to 4-40 setscrews to hold the cutters in, was not happy with the 6-32's.I have some finished shafts to assemble some spindles with, so I may be able to ship fairly soon.(famous last words.)
07/07/04
Assembled spindle shafts and noses last night, ruined 3 pieces. Ended up with 27 good ones, plus what I already had (7). Tonight I have to drill, bore, and ream to .1253".
I lucked out on a flat belt bench sander, I swapped a chap an old MidStates welder for a Sears Craftsman 4 x 36, maybe 10-15 years old. Doesn't even look used, has cast iron frame, I suspect it is actually a Delta. (Sears never makes any of their own power tools, they contract it out and stick their own label on it.)
07/10/04
Finished the spindle shaft bores last night, now just have to tap them 4-40 for setscrews. Played around with assembly methods and found a few that have better consistency in the long run.( it is very easy to ruin a small bearing with crude assembly technique.)
I may convert the spindle pulleys to steel, as much as I hate to. I am going to try making polyurethane belts for longer belt life, but the brass will wear too quickly as the urethane is slightly abrasive. (that's what they tell me, anyway.) MSCdirect has 3/32" belting, 100' for around 20 dollars.
07/12/04
Finished 4-40 tapped holes in spindle noses tonite, worked on PCB cutter grinder. ( see front page.)Tomorrow will clean out bores and assemble with bearings and spindle casings.
07/29/04
Finished assembling spindles, lapped out pulleys for motor shafts, had to rebuild quick change on lathe, had to also make a slitting saw arbor. Almost ready to ship a bunch of stuff. Going to doctor's tomorrow to have some teeth cut out of my jaw, had septicemia last week, face puffed up like a poisoned toad. The antibiotics made me sicker than a dog but started bringing down the infection.
Have been working on the addition to the shop with what little spare time I have. The rafters and purlins are finished, and I have two sheets of roofing up and fastened down. Tomorrow and saturday I will probably be less than 100% because of the teeth thing so sunday I will be roofing and packing up to ship to Denver CNC, Steve Butcher, and Richard Schultz.
)08/07/04
Finished up a lot of items this week, packed up boxes for Derek at DenverCNC, Dale Seaburg, Elliot Burke, and John Croft. Tomorrow I will finish packing up what I have finished. There are no more Z Axes unless someone wants to pay for NEW materials, I am all out of surplus rods and bearings. Oh well, I have enough to finish up what I have orders for. (bad sentance structure, that.)
I am going to make spindles and adapters ahead from now on, so people don't have to wait for production runs. I may cancel my $700.00 PCB mill project as Ballendo is making a PCB mill for about the same price or up to a thousand or so. (That's what I hear.) I'm curious to see if he has hardened slides and zero backlash leadnuts and built in drive electronics.
09/08/04
Am in the process of packing up shipments to go out friday, to:
Frank Kang
Jimmy Whitlow
Mike Baumgardner
Cletus Barkley
Sorin Neanu
Shipments being held up because of minor missing parts include:
Dave Hylands(sherline adapters not finished)
Dave Hylander( same as above)
Kenneth Brantley (4 leadnuts)
Michael Aber ( thrust collars for leadscrew on Z)
Jeff Jones (sherline adapter)
Jim Dietrich(sherline adapter)
Russ Revels( 3/8 couplers, Taig adapter)
Shipments to be packed up for next week shipping include:
Buster Ashmore
Dave Damon
I have 15 more spindle casings to bore before honing, then I must do the dreaded PULLEYS! I am switching over to polyurethane belting so I am going to a steel pulley setup.
09/21/04
Packed up some more for shipping, sending to Dave Mucha, Buster Ashmore. Have to make a run of Sherline adapters to finish up the spindle orders. May have to make a few more thrust collars. I am going to have some Z Axis components left over, as there will be no more unless I redesign for available components. I have enough to finish what I have in house and two lost orders (from last year!) and then that's it.
Finished assembling spindle casings, sorted out other spindle components. I am all out of pulleys completely, have to tear down the cutter grinder controller and move it to the lathe to make steel pulleys this time.
11/14/04
Been flat on my back from the side effects of the chemo and hormones, finally coming out of it. If I had known I would spend two months in a fog in screaming pain most of the time, I would have just had them cut the d*mn thing out. I can now go most of the day without fading in and out......what? Was I saying something? Just joking.
Got my old B.C. Ames lathe back from my old boss Kurt, still have to make a stand and motor mount for it. I was panicked for a bit about the weird collet it uses but then found it would also take a morse taper #2 collet. A lathe that can take two completely different collets!
Hoping to get everything caught up now that I can get around, I may even go back to the PCB mill project, depending on what happens this week.Also, THERE ARE NO MORE Z AXES AVAILABLE AT 120$ WITH SURPLUS MATERIALS! I can do a 3" travel Z with NEW materials for 225$, and proceed from there. It's still a good deal, I think. Also, I am almost out of size 23 stepper motors, and need most of the ones I have for a possible PCB mill project.
I have a replacement spindle ready for Frank Kang, a flex coupler for Mike B., and a spindle for Dave Damon. I also have the Z Axis for Ken Brantley. I am slowly catching up!
11/17/04
Got a shipment of motors in today, all NOS (new, old stock)and started assembling more spindles. My back has been much better the last two days, must be repairing itself. I accidentally made a collet type spindle, see home page. Have designed most of the parts for the PCB mill, I guess that's back on again. Just trying to lower the table profile and keep it super stable. Will be a 4 x4 travel with a 5 x 7 table and a standard 3" travel Z axis. I wish I could tell you why I changed my mind but one of the items I sell is confidentiality.
11/19/04
Spent most of the day on a trip to Phoenix and back. Went up to Capitol Metals, had fairly good day except for twinges from the muscles in my back. Got some good deals on availability of plate and bar stock, even bought some more brass for pulleys for the customers who want it. Got enough materials to finish up old Z Axis orders and start on the PCB mill. I also picked up more material for spindles and adapters. Just waiting on bearings at this point. Tomorrow I have to make up a fixture to make belts to replace the O-Rings, and box up Ken Brantley's Z Axis that should have gone out last week.
Still a bit sick at times but getting better generally. Time will tell, I think.
11/20/04
Packed up a Z Axis and spindle for Ken Brantley, and a spindle for Paul Pankratz. Finished the drawings for the PCB Mill,and cut a bunch of brass for leadnuts. Packed up a spindle and Taig adapter for Russ Revels.
11/29/04
I'm very thankful that Thanksgiving is over. We immolated a turkey,made some GOOD gravy, and ate way too much generally. Time to get back to work. Today I am doing Taig and Sherline adapters to finish up the spindle orders on hand, then continuing on with the PCB mill, Z Axes to finish up the last two orders and the two lost orders, and a 10 spindle run for Sorin Nenu. ( ah, it's nice to be appreciated.........)Totalled up what I spent on materials, came to several thousand dollars over November. I found out that I forgot to put Dave Damon's spindle mount in his package; felt like an idiot.
12/08/04
Finished up the last of the individual spindle orders with adapters today; tomorrow will take boxes down and ship to:
Cletus Berkley
Dave Hylands
Dave Hylander
Russ Revels
I still have to make more spindle motor brackets, as I have 3 or 4 more spindle orders with special dimensions, and I am out of PCB cutters. I have 400 split but still have to do the clearance on the 60 deg. angle, and the cutting flat on the bottom.I also finished the base for the PCB mill and started the rod mount ends. I have to make more leadnuts, as I went to assemble a Z for Mike Aber and discovered half the parts are missing. I still have to make 1 more Z for Pat Malloy in Canada but it's going to cost me more than I am making on it. Oh, well, my mistake, I was off by one on the remaining materials. Live and learn, I always say. I have two more orders, "lost" orders from Canada and the UK but they are going to get the new experimental Z.
01/11/05
Been busy making lots of chips. Trying to do spindles, PCB mills, and finish up the Z Axes. Been looking for another milling machine, hopefully bigger than the Rockwell. Had to steal the 3 phase from the Monster for the Ames lathe I CNCed. Talk about putting an outboard motor on the Santa Maria! Worked nice, though, for a 100 year old lathe with original countershafts. Got a bunch of pulleys done for spindles. Got a bunch of casings and belts done ,also; no more nasty O-rings.
Been spotty with the production log lately, sorry. I hope everyone knows that I am still faithfully making parts for their orders. I tried to get some bearings to finish up Z Axes but somebody always seems to snipe me on Ebay. I still have two or 3 orders left and then there will be no more Z Axes for less than 225.
01/19/05
Finished another batch of pulleys for spindles, brass this time. Finished blanks for bearing plates for PCB mill. Got a call from Astra Tool, my milling machine is ready to be shipped. Got a call from Best-Ways freight brokers that I better have a cashier's check ready for the freight. It is a Bridgeport clone from Italy, a bit smaller than a B-Port and about 1600 lbs.It is a Trison brand mill, if anyone has any info please let me know; although at this point it's a bit late. I had to get something bigger than the Rockwell, I was sick of doing base plates in two setups.(Can't do anything longer than 12" in the rockwell mill without re-positioning.)
Even if the head is shot (unlikely, as it is a step pulley head.), I can put the Burke head from the Monster on it with an adapter. Then I can put a Z Axis on the Monster and make a new milling head with an R8 collet. (I am still regretting giving away the last R8 head I made.) Will post pictures when it gets here, if I am not ashamed of it.
Sent out order to Jeff Jones. Have to make a bunch of motor mount brackets for the spindles, he got the last one.
01/21/05
Made the first 5 bearing brackets for the PCBMill, started sawing out the blanks for the motor brackets for the spindles. Left early to go get the Trison mill I bought from Astra Tool in Texas. Tomorrow I have to try to get the thing into the shop BY MYSELF!(actually, it won't be that bad, I designed the shop to be able to lift huge amounts of weight in certain spots. Back up the trailer to the door, hookup the chain hoist, and drive out from under.) Should be able to test the electrics tomorrow. <>02/08/05
Well, I got the Ramco lathe home alright, but with that and the Trison mill, I have very little spare room left. I am running the PCB mills, and the spindles. I found a pair of rods for Mike Aber's Z Axis, so I have no excuse not to do it. As a side note:
Mike Aber sent me a very nasty email and told me that my cancer was not his problem and I was running a p*ss poor business. Let us understand one thing: I have, in the last year, been very sick at times. I am still very sick occasionally. I build the Z Axes from recycled materials that are getting harder and harder to find and I try to make people understand that fact. If you haven't gotten your order, please don't email me and malign my personality and business tactics. I am not out to rip anyone off, and any valid complaints will be dealt with.
02/28/05
Tore down a bunch of spindles after receiving complaints about out of round cutter bores and too much bearing drag. I made a fixture to hold the bearings and honed all of them out .0004". Am now re-assembling with new spindle shafts. Have ten going out to Sorin Nenu, and ten more to various others at the end of this week.Sent 3 more PCBmills out last thursday. Working on new bearing design on paper but am not fabricating anything untill caught up with orders.( Getting my butt chewed too much these days.)
03/14/05
Well, I lied about the new bearing design; I started them already. I got bored during one of my mandatory afternoons off( Imposed by my wife under pain of death!) and started really looking at a super 8 linear ball bushing. Why do they work so well under all kinds of conditions? I won't tell you what I found exactly, because I have lost sales to "competitors" by answering questions, but I discovered something interesting. I now have a self-aligning design that works with hard or soft rod for (probably) most sizes. I may restore the cheaper ($130) Instant Z Axis if it works out.
I ran off 10 sets of spindle pulleys in steel, and have spindle shafts and honed bearings already made. I have to finish up some casings and motor holders. I am also looking into some different motors but I will have to make cases for them.They are 100 watt 15000 rpm open frame type. And no, I'm not going to tell you where they are, someone bought up all 1200 of the motors I was using before. Whoever you are, I hope you get bleeding hemmoroids.
03/18/05
Went to Phoenix yesterday, bought all the 1/2" jigplate they had out on the floor at Capitol Metals. Picked up crs for pulleys, brass for leadnuts, aluminum for Z Axes, and threaded rod for router holder clamps.
Got up this morning and went out to the shop to find some fairly large spiders that had taken shelter during the night. After (regretfully) squishing them, I got a can of urethane foam and sealed up the gaps between the steel siding and the wall. I had visions of a repeat of the sidewinder incident of a few years ago, and had no wish to spend an hour up on a bench waiting for the poisonous S.O.B. to leave. Besides, now I have a big snake fork and a machete as a last resort.
Had to go to the opthamologist Wed. afternoon, had floaters and flashes bad, thought I might have a detached retina. Turned out to be a "vitreous detachment".
Cut stock this morning while cleaning up the shop, it is becoming a real mess. Eventually I will get the concrete poured in the addition and start moving equipment out there. Until then I am trapped in the center of a constantly decreasing space. I believe I see an event horizon starting to form..........
03/21/05
Finished up a router holder for Scott Cunningham this morning, packed it up for shipping. Worked all day yesterday on mounting a pair of Mitutoyo AT2N scales on the Trison mill only to find that the DRO program from Ah-Ha is a piece of CR*P! I am going to attempt to set up the DRO program from Steve Lindsay with the interface from Art Eckstein, but failing that, I guess I need to find a display that is compatible.........
The doctor has me on different medication that is making me somewhat logy and depressed but as long as I know there is no reason for it I can shake it off.
This afternoon will finish some spindle casings and go downtown for shipping.
03/24/05
Working on last items for spindles( motor brackets) and still cleaning up for the next big push. Have to do parts for Russ Revels and Mike Mc Caughey's PCB mills. I MAY have a horizontal mill coming; a Nichols Toolroom Mill, possibly. My wife says I am a Poverty Snob and a Machinery Pimp. When she said that last phrase, I laughed myself sick, it's so appropriate.
I have the Steve Lindsay DRO program working fairly well, I think. The documentation was adequate enough to build the interface easily on perfboard. I put it in a nice little case and transferred the jacks and Centronics connector to it. I had a nice little 5volt regulated wall wart that I hooked up to it permanently so I wouldn't lose it.
Popped the paralell port in my 486 compaq, now it's a MIDI workstation, I guess. D*mn Ah-Ha DRO program.
03/27/05 (Easter)
Tumbled motor/spindle brackets all night last night. Cleaned up the addition preparatory to building forms and pouring concrete. Did you know that ready-made from the concrete plant has gotten so expensive that I can mix and pour by myself cheaper? Ate a hardboiled egg with some salt; was tasty.
If anyone is interested, I will swap a Kramer F3000 guitar for a decent milling vise..........
04/21/05
Just getting over this d*mn flu, sick as a dog and flat on my back. I apologise for not keeping the site up to date. Sent out 3 more spindles, have 5 more awaiting accessories. Have to buy more motors this week. I bought 5 from surplus center but they are HUGE! and they rotate the wrong direction. Will do something with them, though.
I received a gentle reminder from Alan at fromorbit.com, designer of some of the best stepper stuff out there for the poverty stricken hobbyist. As follows ( the sections with the > is me):
______________________________________________________
Hi Alan:
> I found this unipolar chopper and thought it was interesting, it seems
> to be a fixed cycle pwm generator and a current sense. It uses
> discretes, which is always fascinating.
> http://pminmo.com/3axis/3axis.htm
Yes, I've seen that. Looks cool. I can't get excited about Unipolar controller for some reason. They just seem so simple. :)
> You asked what I have been up to; hmmmm..........got both new machines
> set up and running fairly well, I found out the turret lathe is not
> that old, in fact it is still sold for 6000U$D by MSCdirect. The only
> real problem with the Trison milling machine is that the spindle bore
> is a bit worn. I finished up the power feed on the X axis today, been
> 3 days on and off working on it. Used a big size 42 unipolar stepper
> to drive a small timing pulley>large timing pulley which is idling on
> the screw shaft. I came up with a somewhat elegant but crudely done
> shift clutch with 3 balls that lock into 3 ball sockets so I can
> disengage the motor with a lever. Will send you a picture, it's funky.
Excellent that would be great. I'm interested. :)
> I have a pot type casting furnace and a nichols horizontal mill coming
> next week. Will send pic's of those, also.
Wow, you have been busy. :)
Maybe your website needs a few updates.......... :)
Cheers,
Alan.
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See what I mean? He's right, of course. I make some of my meager living from this website, so I have an obligation to keep people informed, to a certain extent. Will try to do better in the future, I hope.
04/27/05
The Nichols Mill and the casting equipment came yesterday. This morning I got both of them positioned, more or less.The pot in the oven is full of nitrates, as they used it for a tempering bath setup. I have to build a shed for the oven as I am already straining my poor swamp cooler. The Nichols will require an overarm and a bracket, and a stock pulley if I can get it. They were using the mill as an arbor lathe, and had put a small special pulley on the spindle.(this is one of the two last machines to come out of the B.C. Ames Lathe company plant in Waltham Mass. I have the other one, an Ames headstock and lathe compound. They both work.)
Assembled 5 more spindles, drilled blocks for PCB Mills. Will clean up some more after dinner and run off some more parts.
05/02/05
Found a piece of crs 2.5" diameter 24" long at the welding supply shop, had to turn it down to 2.250" over a 20" length. Fits nicely into the Nichols overarm bracket hole. Later on this week I will finish the center bushing bracket that goes on the end, and then make an arbor and arbor spacers.(in addition to Spindles and PCB mill parts!)
I screwed up again; I sent Sorin Nenu 10 spindles but forgot the d*mn poly belts. Luckily he is a forgiving sort of person, and I sent out the belts priority mail last week. Sent Gary Rutledge a spindle but still owe him a holder, cutters and an Envision It! manual.
The teflon bushings that I designed seem to be very satisfactory for the Z Axis so I may offer them again for 125 for a 3", 150 for a 6". Also, I have designed the slide block so that if anyone wants to replace the teflon with ball bushings themselves, they can. One of the advantages to the teflon is that it acts as a dirt seal by itself.The glass loaded epoxy dust from PC boards is VERY abrasive, I have found, and the teflon seems to be immune to it.
Almost time to prune the website and re-organise; get rid of the fluff and nonsense. Summer is traditionally a slow time so I can catch up on orders and get ready, maybe even ahead for the fall/winter rush.