On Sunday 18 January 2009, Peter blodow wrote: >>Hello Gene, >> >>Ahh, welcome! Do you have a machine to use yet? >><snip> >> >>EMC was new to me, not machines and their control. in fact, I turned my >>first automated part (slab of cast iron to make e optical glass grinding >>lap) some twelve years ago. I have (among others, smaller ones, also sheet >>metal machines, welding equ. etc.): > >- a Graziano SAG12 lathe (italian brand), about 220 mm diam., 1000 mm width >between tips, with electromagnetic gear clutches, so direction and turning >speed can be computer controlled
Nice, and 3x bigger than mine. >- an old small Steinel vertical spindle knee mill (as you would probably >call it, we say table mill here), ca. 600 mm travel in Y, which has been >equipped with 3 encoders to give a digital position readout, so far not >completed > yet Also nice. > >- a wonderful litlle combined table top machine called UWG (universal >workshop device) which can be converted to a lathe or mill or horizontal >boring or tapping or engraving or grinding device etc.etc., high precision >(1/100 mm with ease), no backlash, almost no power. -;) See >http://www.lathes.co.uk/hommel/ Now that machine looks to be even handier than sliced bread! Or bottled beer even. >This machine is even able to handle stock much larger than itself; I know >of a guy who mounts complete car wheels without removing the tires on it to >turn enlarged bearing seats into the flange and re-balance it as a whole. >Unfortunately, this machine has become a collector's item so parts prices >exploded at ebay. I can well imagine. >I have been using this machinery mainly to make parts to complete the >machinery, but also for the house and for making all sorts of astronomical >equipment including an 8 ton all-steel observatory on the top of our house. I have considered that, but the house itself isn't that solid. I have a Meade DS-10 myself. >For the lathe, I used a very powerful british stepper control system from >Parker-Digiplan based on the GPIB bus (IEEE) and Quick Basic programming. >It meant rather complicated programming since the momentary turning >diameter at the tool tip had to be checked at any moment to make sure the >optimum gear was engaged (this would be quite a challenge for a HAL, >wouldn't it?), to consider backlash (somehow tricky when turning convex >disks, the tool coming form the outer rim - cutting pressure working >against backlash friction). > >At the end of last year my first efforts in CNC yielded about a hundred >perfect gear wheels for the lathe (Mod. 2) and the UWG (Mod. 0.8) because I >had almost none to realize gear cutting etc. I used MS Excel as a >programming language which gave me coordinate files the demo program was >able to read. This software came with my cheap 3-stepper-card SMC1500 from >EMIS GmbH (www.emisgmbh.de/). > >Now, my idea is to unify all these workshop affairs under one control >system and possibly with one computer: >- The lathe being equipped with large stepper motors (vegetable can size) >needs encoders, preferably linear ones which I picked up from the junk (in >case they still work) >- the mill, now partly equipped with encoders needs motors >- the UWG can be equipped with stepper motors on all axes (linear as well >as rotatory ones), but should rather be run with encoders and servo motors. > >A word to electricity and that: > > snip< > > It is a fairly large step from > >>high school electricity to the field of cnc machining as you are finding >> out I think. Not insurmountable for those that want to learn, and I >> congratulate those that are willing to put forth the effort, and that >> includes you. >> >> >snip< > >Well, I didn't stay quite at the high school electricity level - after >returning to Germany in 66 I finished high schol, studied physics, married >the most beautiful and intelligent woman on earth, got three wonderful >children with her, got a job as top technical manager at one of the top >German research companies (almost 34 years now) and after all this, I am >half retired now and have time to pick up the things I had to leave at the >side of my life's path. (This, apparently, was all not unsurmountable.) > >But I've learned one thing on the way, that is one can't develop everything >he needs from the plain wood, we have to learn from others and keep on >building upon their achievments. And that's why am on this mail forum. >(Circle closed, parenthesis) Amen on that! Each of us is standing on the shoulders of giants on this list. I'm in much that same category, quit school after the 8th grade & went to work fixing tv's, eventually getting an FCC 1st Phone & went into broadcasting. 2 woman have given me 6 children, but my girls are gone from cancer already. Finished the last run of 18 years as the CE at a tv station here in West Virginia in 2002, but in this business, you are never fully retired till you fall over for good. 74, & diabetic now, I could do that most anytime, but I too have managed to catch up on some of what I had to leave behind earlier. As my web page says, it keeps me out of the bars. :) See <http://gene.homelinux.net:85/gene> for some of the tomfoolery I do. :) >Best regards from frozen Germany >Peter Blodow It's well below 0C here too. Or was, gkrellm is telling me its 33F 20 miles north of me, first time above freezing in a week, we've been to -5F a couple of times. We may lose some of our little snow cover today at that rate. And we need more water, last year was about a foot shy of normal. Except there is a fine mist falling and freezing on my truck, so maybe the snow will not disappear, just get ugly slick. -- Cheers Peter, Gene "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) My, how you've changed since I've changed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by: SourcForge Community SourceForge wants to tell your story. http://p.sf.net/sfu/sf-spreadtheword _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
