Copycat Mill Build.

Steve,
I wound up turning a jam nut on the lathe, looks like crap but I'm going for it. I'll make a better one later.
Before I go any further I have a couple questions, I'm taking the mill apart again to make a channel for better oil coverage on the x and y, but what about the z, I have no place on mine to oil it. And another question about the ball nuts, I see you put a grease fitting on yours, what kind of grease are you using?

Lanham
 
I use marine bearing grease, it won't mix with water. the screws don't get wet but a little added protection don't hurt.
I have only greased mine 2 times and as soon as i tried to pump the second time it was full and still clean.
every time I start my machine I run z to the top, pull the splash guard away, wipe the dovetails, squirt oil on the dovetails and on the top of the saddle where it meets the dovetails. I run y all the way out clean and oil the dovetail then all the way in and the same.
x I can run to the ball nut both directions and see almost half the dovetail so cleaning is easy and I put the oil directly on the gibs and dovetails. when i recenter x i pump it into the oil fittings. It takes about 10 minutes to clean and lube and since I had spotted rust from coolant sitting on top the y way I like to keep it clean and greased with a thin film. not the dovetail just the top in between the dovetails. this water soluble oil never rusts unless it can sit for a long time then it separates I guess.
that's plenty for one days use. I do use way oil.
z doesn't travel near as much as x and y.
I'm not production so if it sat for a while I like to wipe the machine down and if I did install the pump ( I actually purchased one ) I know me I'd start getting lazy and just pump.
Steve
 
I just cranked up my steps per inch from 5078 on X and Y to 25390
it will now step .0001 at a time, before the best was .0002 per step
I haven't seen a loss in power and it sounds really guiet and smooth.
I'll let you know how it works out.
that figures to 5 times the accuracy and backlash is consistantly within .0002
I Wanted to try this for a project I'm working on for Billy G only the finish will tell
Steve
 
Thanks for the reply, I think I'll keep simple and do what you are doing.

I'm still tracking down on why my 2 of my axis will spin only one direction, I think it's wiring

Lanham
 
Steve, if you have time could I get a pic of your breakout board and the input of the dq860ma
 
Steve,
Never mind on the pics, I found them on your build, this is getting frustrating, I have them hooked up same as you and it's not working, maybe I have a bad soldier job somewhere.

Lanham
 
Got the z working good, had a crossed wire.

The only to get movement out of x and y is to remove black wire from board, and it only goes in one direction

Lanham
 
DSCF1836.JPG go into mach3 ports and pins and check your settings for the motors
I'm not in the shop but here is a pic of mine
Steve
 
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also check your breakout board for pin switches
some boards can be set as high or low active and yours may be set wrong
give me it's part number and I might be able to find information
Steve
 
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