PM-30 Z-axis power feed?

[acruxksa]

I tried several different approaches for the motor disengage and wasn't happy with any of them. All were cumbersome, complicated and/or required two hands. I decided to shelve the project for awhile to let it "marinate", the idea hit me tonight and I just spent the last 30 minutes in the garage/shop proving that it will work. I believe this motor disconnect is the epitome of simple and effective. Still a lot of cleanup to do, but the working bits are all there.

Rapid/Fast Slew is still shelved for the moment.

 

[xr650rRider]

I never saw the Priest Tools power lift mentioned, I've had it installed for nearly 2 years and has worked well.

 

[acruxksa]

OK, here's the final product. It' works quite well, is powerful enough to lift the z-axis even with the gib properly adjusted, speed varies from very slow to faster than I would ever want to lift the z-axis and most importantly, the motor is only $42 should I ever need to replace it. All other parts Love-Joy coupling, 24v psu and 60a variable speed motor controller are also easy to source and reasonably priced.

Only real concern I have at the moment is that the six tiny neodymium magnets are much stronger than I need. I may remove 2 or 3 of them.

I may attempt to completely remove the love-joy connector in the future to lower the entire assembly down 3 more inches, but I'm 6'2" with long arms, so it's no problem for me to reach where it is and I feel like the rubber coupling keeps things smooth and virtually silent.

 

[Cletus]

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Not sure if the PM30 is much heavier than the PM25?

But my first project was to make a Z motor drive for a PM25 as the DRO monitor interferes with using the Z hand crank.

This may appear crude, but works well and the wiper motor has enough torque. This motor runs at 100rpm, so not CNC stepper motor speed, but OK for me.

I followed a previous thread on this forum, but changed the components to use inexpensive starter motor gears from Briggs-Stratton lawn mowers which are about $1.25 each and an ebay motor that was $20 with free shipping.

The angle iron frame is bolted directly on top of the cover plate for the Z drive crank handle, so no factory parts were altered. Had to use longer cap head screws to secure the angle iron bracket to the column. The factory DRO interferes with using the Z hand crank, so I was trying to make the assembly as "thin" or less wide as possible.

To cover up the ugly mess, I also made a metal cover and painted it to match the motor housing cover.

Tin barn utube video has a more elaborate Z drive with a heavy duty motor, but I found this 12v wiper motor to be adequate for both the Z and a table motor drive that I also use.

Hope this helps,

View attachment 274909

View attachment 274910

One of these before the reversing switch on each axis and you can have speed control as well

https://www.amazon.com/RioRand-7-80V-Motor-Controller-Switch/dp/B071NQ5G71/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2KOBMU0DUP09B&dchild=1&keywords=riorand+12v-40v+10a+pwm+dc+motor+speed+controller&qid=1635891501&sprefix=pwm+12v+speed%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-4

 

[acruxksa]

I just finished fly cutting .355" off a part I'm making (.020 at a time) and I can say the the powered z axis is very nice for tool changes. Next up is a 4th igaging absolute scale for touch dro z axis summing, then an x axis powerfeed. Still deciding whether I make my own or order it from PM......I called them a week ago about a quote to ship me a power feed and have heard nothing but crickets........

 

[acruxksa]

I've bored several holes since installing my z axis power feed, but this is the first time I've actually attempted to used it as a power feed. Typically I would just use it for tool changes. It seems to work great for boring operations though.

z axis power feed for boring
I made this video a couple weeks ago, but didn't really want to post it because in the video I reach behind the boring bar and adjust the light. It looks a lot closer than it really was, but it's still not good practice and I was a bit embarrassed by it.........

Working on incorporating a 24v electromagnet for manual disconnect..........not sure yet if I can make it happen though.

 

[davek181]

Thank you for posting the video. I do stupider things myself than just a light reposition. I have that same light myself and move it while running too. I am watching with great interest because i too have been designing in my head a wiper motor power feed for my MV 30 and I like your disconnect idea. That was where I was having design issues because i wanted to retain the original handle control.
I was very pleased to see the speed can be regulated low enough to use for boring, which is also in my ideal design criteria.
Thank you again, I may steal some of your ideas if you don't mind. I would gladly buy you a beer for rights to use them, if only you were closer....

 

[acruxksa]

Thank you for posting the video. I do stupider things myself than just a light reposition. I have that same light myself and move it while running too. I am watching with great interest because i too have been designing in my head a wiper motor power feed for my MV 30 and I like your disconnect idea. That was where I was having design issues because i wanted to retain the original handle control.
I was very pleased to see the speed can be regulated low enough to use for boring, which is also in my ideal design criteria.
Thank you again, I may steal some of your ideas if you don't mind. I would gladly buy you a beer for rights to use them, if only you were closer....

Thanks, I wouldn't have posted the video if I didn't want people to take any ideas I used and try them, or likely improve them. Chances are, I picked up most of my build ideas from other places as well. I know the wiper motor power x feed videos, although a bit different, did inspire me to try this.

I'm at a roadblock with the 24v electromagnet idea simply because it magnetizes the entire shaft, so it doesn't draw the socket up .......... I need to make everything out of aluminum except the steel ring on the top. might be delayed a bit with that idea, but eventually hope to get there.

I love these motors, they're cheap and seem to be very versatile. Time will tell just how dependable/durable they are, but no issues yet.

Here's a bit better view with a slightly larger cut from the boring bar.

 

[davek181]

I have wanted to do this for quite a while and have played with ideas of my own and looked at others too. I do like your simple disconnect idea and will for sure copy it in some way. Thank you for the permission to use it.

I own an import repair shop and have many motors I have been looking at utilizing in different ways. Wiper motors are very high torque but a little large. I have several other smaller high torque motors that I thought might be useful like window lift motors, sunroof motors, seat motors etc. I scrapped out a wrecked 2016 Jetta that i harvested all of those from. I really like the window lift motors because they are smaller and have incorporated in them a semi lovejoy connection with a rubber damper on their drive shaft. The only problem is the drive is a plastic splined shaft that plugs into a cable drive pulley in the car. I have considered making a metal drive plate that could have whatever connection I desired featured on it. I have taken a picture of it next to the wiper motor from the same car in case someone else is shopping for useable motors for similar uses and want an alternative to the bigger wiper motor, and like me are attracted to the rubberized drive built in.

I will probably use the wiper motor as size is not important there, but the only roadblock I have is how to hook to the output shaft of it effectively. It is a short tapered and threaded shaft that I have yet to devise a durable concentric hookup to act as the driveshaft for the quick disconnect. How did you resolve that problem, or am I overthinking the torque requirements of this project?

 

[acruxksa]

I have wanted to do this for quite a while and have played with ideas of my own and looked at others too. I do like your simple disconnect idea and will for sure copy it in some way. Thank you for the permission to use it.

I own an import repair shop and have many motors I have been looking at utilizing in different ways. Wiper motors are very high torque but a little large. I have several other smaller high torque motors that I thought might be useful like window lift motors, sunroof motors, seat motors etc. I scrapped out a wrecked 2016 Jetta that i harvested all of those from. I really like the window lift motors because they are smaller and have incorporated in them a semi lovejoy connection with a rubber damper on their drive shaft. The only problem is the drive is a plastic splined shaft that plugs into a cable drive pulley in the car. I have considered making a metal drive plate that could have whatever connection I desired featured on it. I have taken a picture of it next to the wiper motor from the same car in case someone else is shopping for useable motors for similar uses and want an alternative to the bigger wiper motor, and like me are attracted to the rubberized drive built in.

I will probably use the wiper motor as size is not important there, but the only roadblock I have is how to hook to the output shaft of it effectively. It is a short tapered and threaded shaft that I have yet to devise a durable concentric hookup to act as the driveshaft for the quick disconnect. How did you resolve that problem, or am I overthinking the torque requirements of this project?

I ended up internally threading the part that hooks to my wiper motors output shaft, then drilling and pinning it to keep it in place. It works great and simplified everything. It needs to be either pinned or keyed to keep it from unscrewing during reverse operations. You can see the 1/8" roll pin in this picture. I also tapered the hole before the threads so I could screw it on to the output shaft a little farther to make pinning easier.