I got started at dawn today and first order of business was to get the lathe on the floor. Yesterday I dealt with the additional 8" of hight and it was a pain to get accurate measurements. I milled new support brackets for the DRO display head. For such a nice quality DRO their brackets leave a lot to be desired. Mark arrived and brought along a new control system. I don't think he sleeps much either, his schematics are the cleanest I've ever seen and his wiring is also impeccable.
New hour meter added, I like to keep track of service hours for maintanace intervals. The compressor, and plate roller also utilize hour meters. The retails for $72 but was had for $20 +4 bucks in shipping (eBay). You can see the magnetic pickup just to the lower right. This will be for the Tach.
Look at this work of art! Mark modified the carriage micro stop with a proximity sensor and 2 stage safety micro switch in case the proximity sensor fails. The micro switch will use motor braking in E-stop mode programed with VFD to halt in just over a second. The dial is smooth as silk.
I especially like the profile work he did to match the V-way angle.I need to make a trigger plate and plan on the same profile. I will also make some thumb lever screw to eliminate the need for an Allen wrench.
Mark's clean work with labels to follow his schematics. I provided him with a sheet of aluminum and he brought it back fully assembled and tested saving time. He also brought along all new front switches and better wiring. He works alone during this time so I kept on milling.
The panel seems a bit short on components because the wall enclosure houses the rest of the system including the VFD.
Installing the taper attachment required the two of us. This thing is heavy and requires fine adjustment for the cross feed led screw to turn smoothly. It normally takes an hour per the instructions but we did manage to beat that time but did have to fuss with the final adjustments.
The quick claps are are holding the magnetic scales I was working on. Have a little more milling to get this one done.
Here's a shot of the front switch panel. better quality switches and wiring. The far right joy stick for jogging FWD/REV and programed to 20 HTZ for power tapping and general jogging. The green push switch is dual purpose. Its a power on indicator (pilot light) and push bi-pass for the proximity stop. The blue flood switch is a two stage switch that can provide constant flooding or flood only while the spindle/motor is running. The far left micro toggle switch is for two stage motor braking. #1 (up) motor brakes in just over 1 second, same as E-stop and #2 (down) for motor braking in 3-5 seconds. The foot brake will also activate the E-stop I believe but will mostly be used for large manual tapping.
Below the DRO is the Tack/sfpm and speed control pot. Mark built this from kit soldering the individual components and modified the voltage. He also milled the box and lexan for a flush fit. Absolutely a custom work of art. This is the backside. Notice the cover is to the rear for a clean front.
I drilled/tapped the rear cover to mount under the DRO.
Close up of the Tach box.
The naked lathe as it sits tonight.
We both put in a long day but getting closer to making chips. More on the DRO scales tomorrow.
Thanks for looking.
Good night fellas.
Paco
