Torque to move Z axis in a mini mill?

[Alberto-sp]

Hello.

I have a weiss WM18L. Is not very known. Is slightly smaller than SIEG 2.X. I want to put a motor to drive the Z axis. Not CNC, but just to move it because the hand wheel is a PITA. The problem is I have no idea about the torque necesary to move it. Any clue?

Thank you

Best regards

 

[jwmelvin]

Affix a stick to the wheel and hang weights until it moves?

Or a small torque wrench.

 

[Alberto-sp]

Thanks for your answer. The hand wheel is horizontal and I dont have a torque wrench

 

[jwmelvin]

Thanks for your answer. The hand wheel is horizontal and I dont have a torque wrench

Piece of string and a spring scale of some sort (even one home made)?

 

[markba633csi]

Some people have used a cordless hand drill to serve as a poor-man's power feed, if that gives you some idea. A small lightweight motor + gearbox.
I believe I saw one that used an automotive windscreen wiper motor

 

[WobblyHand]

Thanks for your answer. The hand wheel is horizontal and I dont have a torque wrench

Do you have a fish scale? It is a spring with a hook. You put your caught fish on the hook, and the weight of the fish stretches the spring. There is a pointer on the scale to read out how many kg the fish is.

You could attach a bar to the hand wheel that is 10, 20, or 30cm long. Hook the fish scale on the bar. Keeping the bar perpendicular to the fish scale, pull the fish scale horizontally and read how many grams or kg it requires to start moving. The length of the bar times the "weight of the scale" is the torque required.

For example, let the bar be 20 cm long. If the scale reads 1 kg, then the force is m * g = 1kg * 9.81 m/sec^2 = 9.81 N. Therefore the torque is 9.81 N * 20cm or 1.96 Nm. For the most accurate reading, fix the bar to the center, and to the rim.

 

[Alberto-sp]

Thanks for your answers. But don't you have a clue about the torque aprox? To avoid measuring it

 

[WobblyHand]

Thanks for your answers. But don't you have a clue about the torque aprox? To avoid measuring it

Have no idea what the required torque is. A fish scale can't be too expensive.

 

[matthewsx]

The tip for a cordless drill is a good one. You could engineer a solution by calculating required torque, etc. Or just cut to the chase and put a nut you can drive with a drill.

Cheers,

John

 

[tghsmith]

most of the small mills have a stupid small "knob" on the Z.. I made an adapter and mounted a real hand-wheel,, moves easy, finer adjustments..