CNC SX3 Auto tool turret

[RonGinger]

Will the tool carousel disk have any kind of spring finger or clamp to hold the tools? Does the spindle just come down on the tool holder, then activate the drawbar? what insures the tool is seated all the way into the spindle? Any worry that the tool holder wont just fall out of the collet, or will the carousel be holding it firmly?

I really like your work, you have done a fine job on this whole machine. Thanks for documenting it so well.

 

[rcfreak177]

Will the tool carousel disk have any kind of spring finger or clamp to hold the tools? Does the spindle just come down on the tool holder, then activate the drawbar? what insures the tool is seated all the way into the spindle? Any worry that the tool holder wont just fall out of the collet, or will the carousel be holding it firmly?

I really like your work, you have done a fine job on this whole machine. Thanks for documenting it so well.

Hi Ron,

The tool will be held in with a nylon clamp, similar to the Tormach ones, so it will be held firmly with the carousel fingers.





The ones I have made are a bit different, Once it is all up and running and I am happy with it I will get some steel forks laser cut.



Yep the spindle comes down on to the tool holder until the Z axis hits the proximity sensor, this will be set up so the tool holder face contacts the spindle face, when the collet clamps it moves approx 2mm up inside the spindle pulling the tool holder very hard against the spindle face.

Basically once clamped on the 3/4 dia shank and with the pressure between the 2 faces it is very rigid.

The collet is spring applied (clamped) in its neutral state so the solenoid will activate to move the air cylinder I am yet to mount up the top releasing the spring tension in turn releasing the collet.

Within the Mach3 macro the carousel can't move away until it registers the output that controls the drawbar is turned off (tool clamped)
I guess if the solenoid itself fails (gets stuck on) it will drop the tool.


Thanks for the compliments Ron, once it is all finished I will be sure to post a detailed video of exactly how it all works, without going into the electric side of things too far or it will go for a week, basically focusing on the mechanical components.

 

[rcfreak177]

G'day,

Had a couple of days to play around with my atc project,
I remade all the tool holder fingers and also made the acetal spring thingys that hold the tool in the atc.

Also knocked up a dummy ER25 holder then set it all up (with only 2 tool fingers) aligned everything an executed a few tool changes.

"You little ripper"

it all works great, still waiting for my needle valves to turn up so I can control the atc in/out air cylinder better, too fast at the moment and the grease nipples I have soldered up and drilled to 1 mm dia that are fitted to the exhaust side of the solenoid are not cutting the mustard.

Anyway not much more to do now, bit of tweaking, make 10 new tool holders and heat treat them, fit and re alighn everything and should be good to go.

Here is a video showing the operation and also the collet release mechanism.
I apologise for the crappy video quality and noisy compressor.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fUnjJV3JwA&feature[/ame]


Baz.

 

[rcfreak177]

G'day,

I have had a win with the ATC, it all works.

I made 10 ER25 collet holders yesterday. Made from 4140 then heat treated in my kiln. I heated them to 880 degc held for 30 mins then quenched. Following that I tempered them at 250 degc for 2 hours and turned off the kiln and left overnight to cool down. According to my fileameter hardness tester I reckon they came out at about 52 rockwellC. After all that I finish turned them with a ceramic insert tool to the finish size.

They came out well.


In the kiln ready to go


After finish machining




I had to buy a new compressor in the midst of it all. The poor old 2hp direct drive unit I have had for 8 years was struggling to build 80 psi in the tank, so I got this little beauty. 3 cyl 3hp 240litre min free air delivery at 115psi (8.5 cfm)



And here is the video of the ATC changing all 10 tool holders then back to tool 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPu8dQ0aJk&feature=youtu.be
There is a bit of a tight spot on the linear rails, the top one has a log leg bend of 0.003" causing this.
I will order new ones so i can make the motion smoother to help avoid things moving causing misalignment over time.


I also received the manifolds for my auto oiler system. Managed to get that all plumbed up and working.


There is not much more to do now, bit of adjusting, make a door for the cabinet. Knock up a dual coolant system (Flood and Mist).
Touch up all the paint. buttons on the control panel, tidy up and move it to the new spot in the shed.

thanks for looking.
Baz.

 

[dreeves]

Great job on the changer. I would put some kind of damper on the right side to cushion the return.

Dave

 

[rcfreak177]

Hi Dave,

yeah definitely, I do have an acetal bushing to limit the cyl stroke so it does not bottom out.
Unfortunately with the tight spot in the linear rail I have the air wound up a bit higher than I would like so the smooth control is out the window.
There is good quality flow control valves fitted in both directions. As great as it is that air compresses its giving me trouble in this application, causing a bouncy motion.

Might take your advice and try a spring or maybe a rubber cushion there to absorb the shock.
Job for tomorrow i think.

Baz

 

[rcfreak177]

I have managed to get more stuff done.

Made the cover for the ATC tool indexing plate, It has a you beaut door that opens as the turret moves towards the spindle. I also managed to sort out the speed issue on the in and out pneumatic cylinder by fitting some flow control valves to the cylinder itself, these little buggers are very good quality, I nearly fell over when the cost came to 80 bucks for 2. Also mounted a spring on the retract side to adsorb the shock.

I did run into a problem with the motherboard on the onboard computer though.
One of the capacitors on the board itself has failed. Poor old thing is 10 years old so I didn't bother fixing it. I decided to go with a new intel ITX D2500 mini board. This thing is awesome, has a dual core processor (2 x 1.8 gig) plenty to run Mach3 and my PacLed64 board. I formatted my hard drive and loaded a fresh version of Windows XP Pro, 32 bit, set it all up and it performs flawlessly.

The bloody motherboard measures 165mm x 165mm, can't believe how small it is, Also has a mini ATX power supply so I was able to free up more space by getting rid of that old bulky desktop supply.

no pictures at the moment but I will update the thread soon.


Here is the link to the Intel ITX mini board.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/desktops/desktop-board-d2500hn-innovation-brief.html

I recommend this to anyone that is retrofitting with an onboard stand alone PC, There is also more powerful models available. The retail at about $100, But stock up as I have just got the word that Intel will be stopping manufacture of motherboards. they will only be producing chipsets for aftermarket boards and focussing on the development of a new mini chipset.

The prices will go up.

Here is a link to minibox where I bought my PC parts from, Lots of goodies here.
http://www.mini-box.com/site/index.html

Baz.

 

[CNC-Joe]

Hey RC - GREAT ATC BUILD!!!

- Did you get rid of the Geneva Mechanism? If so, why?
- Can you repost any changes to your M6 Tool Change Macro ?

Thanks for sharing your build, it is really interesting (I want one!)

Joe

 

[rcfreak177]

Hi Joe,

The geneva mechanism is gone. Reason being the thing worked well but the noise drove me crazy, I replaced it with a 4:1 reduction from a MXL timing pulley setup.

There has been a few small mods to the M6 start macro, nothing major though. I will have to drag it up and post it for you.

Machine is not working at the moment, computer issues, all sorted and bench tested but I still have to mount the hardware.

Baz

 

[rcfreak177]

Ok here is a bit of eye candy for you guys out there like me that love pictures.

Enjoy.

This is my new motherboard, PacLED64 drivers to illuminate my controller buttons and the Ipac4 keyboard emulator.
As you can see the 12" ruler is to give an idea of the sizing.



Here is the control box I have built. There is a wireless usb keyboard but I am trying to stay away from using it as much as possible.
I still have to make the label stickers yet, will be using my missus's Cricut scrapbooking machine for this.
The box is steel frame with 3mm acrylic sheeting.


Another view.


And here is the ATC shroud I knocked up, complete with a door that opens and closes as it moves.
Still have to box in the stepper motor area.


Thanks for looking.
Baz.

 

[rcfreak177]

Joe,

Here is the revised M6 start macro.

There is another revision to this but It is on mu other computer.
the sensors are missing on this one for the tool turret position.


'Macro M6Start
Message""

If GetOEMLed(807) And GetOemLED(808) And GetOemLed(809) And GetOemled(811) Then
MsgBox" 1 or more axis are NOT REFERENCED cancel program and REF XYZB axis"
End
End If



Dim OldTool As Single
Dim NewTool As Single
Dim X As Double
Dim Y As Double
Dim Z As Double
'********************************
OldTool = GetCurrentTool()
NewTool = GetSelectedTool()

If NewTool = OldTool Then
MsgBox" Same Tool, NO ACTION"
End
End If


If NewTool > 10 Or NewTool < 1 Then
MsgBox" Tool # 1-10 ONLY "
End
End If


Code "M09" 'Coolant Off



Code "M05" 'Stop Spindle
Message" Coolant And Spindle Turned Off"




'******************************

Code"G53 G0 X0,Y0,Z0"
While IsMoving()
Wend


ActivateSignal(Output1) 'Tool Turret In'




ActivateSignal(Output2) 'Release Tool'
Sleep 500

Code "G53 G1 Z40 F650 "

Call MovePos(NewTool) 'The ATC moves to the new tool.
While IsMoving()
Wend

Code "G53 G1 Z0 F650"
GetOEMDro (85)




DeactivateSignal (OutPut2) 'Clamp Tool'
Sleep 1000



DeactivateSignal (OutPut1) 'Tool Turret Away'
Sleep 1500


Do
DeactivateSignal(OutPut7)
Sleep 1000
Loop


GetCurrentTool

GetOEMDro (85,40)

Sub MovePos(ByVal ToolNumber As Integer)

Select Case ToolNumber 'Positions to each tool in B-axis


Case = 1
Code " G53 G0 A 360"
Case = 2
Code " G53 G0 A 36"
Case = 3
Code " G53 G0 A 72"
Case = 4
Code " G53 G0 A 108"
Case = 5
Code " G53 G0 A 144"
Case = 6
Code " G53 G0 A 180"
Case = 7
Code " G53 G0 A 216"
Case = 8
Code " G53 G0 A 252"
Case = 9
Code " G53 G0 A 288"
Case = 10
Code " G53 G0 A 324"
End Select

End Sub

 

[CNC-Joe]

Thanks Baz !!!

- It helps a ton to see what others have been working on.
- If you get the updated code put together, please post that, too.
- Your tool changer is looking awesome!

Joe

 

[sagreen]

Hi Joe,

The geneva mechanism is gone. Reason being the thing worked well but the noise drove me crazy, I replaced it with a 4:1 reduction from a MXL timing pulley setup.

There has been a few small mods to the M6 start macro, nothing major though. I will have to drag it up and post it for you.

Machine is not working at the moment, computer issues, all sorted and bench tested but I still have to mount the hardware.

Baz

Baz,

In an earlier post you mentioned that you would be creating a set of plans for the ATC? Any thoughts on when you might be doing that? This is the nicest DIY tool changer I have seen to date! Looks awesome!

Scott...

 

[CNC-Joe]

Nice work on the Tool Changer, Baz.
I'm completely jealous.

I especially like the ER25 collet tool holders that you made.
Nice work!

 

[rcfreak177]

Sorry guys, no updates to the ATC for now, my YouTube channel is getting smashed with people wanting plans.

Work commitments have gotten the better of me for the moment and not looking like things are going to back off in the near future, getting desperate to get some shed time to finish this thing off, soooo close to wrapping it up.

As soon as I move forward I will post updates.

Baz.

 

[Rwskinner]

I'm glad to see the changer coming along so well! Its nice to see your creations work and do well. Mine gets used pretty regular.

Richard

 

[kjk]

Have you published any details of your spindle upgrade?

 

[lunuwaththa]

I read this entire posts it is awesome. dear Baz can you please post the wiring diagrams for this ATC
I'm very interesting about this very much.
thank you very much Baz

 

[rcfreak177]

No plans still, work is killing me. the wiring diagrams will be in the final plans as well as the spindle upgrade. thanks for the enquiery.

Baz.

 

[rcfreak177]

Hi,

Still bugger all has happened with the SX3 ATC lately.
In between family, work and my business on the side at home I get very little time. After the unexpected arrival of our baby girl 12 months ago the milestones have hit home with full force. Last week We celebrated the 16th birthday for our eldest girl and the very next day was the 1st birthday of our baby girl. Hopefully things settle down for a while so I can get some personal shop time.

Anyway I have a new toy in the workshop.



This is not the actual Syil X7 plus cnc mill but is identical.
To cut a long story short the machine was delivered to me (Turnright Engineering) with cnc controller issues. The client has put only 25 hours on the machine and placed a screwdriver in the wrong place and KAPOW! the control system is fried. I was instructed to repair the machine so I did. Complete with my usual cnc gear and also an on-board mini ATX motherboard.

My client has accepted an employment position to relocate to Canada with Atlas Copco the company we both work for (in our real jobs). It simply was not cost effective to freight the machine from Australia sooooooo I bought it at a bargain.

I have been overwhelmed with the quality and performance of the machine compared to the SX3. It runs full linear slides etc, is solid and very powerful and now has a 10000 rpm spindle. Time to get my butt into gear and finish the ATC. The new mill is just begging for a scaled up version.

Baz.