On Sat, 2011-03-26 at 17:38 -0500, Jon Elson wrote: > Kirk Wallace wrote: > > I haven't used a pendant, but I don't see myself using one single > > handed. > For use with an edge finder, two hands are available. What I usually do > for Z is to > slip a piece of paper between the cutter and the work, and when the > paper gets stuck, I know that I am .003" (or whatever the thickness of > the paper is) above the work. This would work better with a one-handed > pendant. > > A number of CNC makers had handheld pendants with an axis selector, a > rate selector and and MPG on it. Many of them had a place on the main > control panel where this could be hung, but you could take it up close > to the spindle when touching off and similar operations. I certainly > love mine, and would not have it any other way. > > Jon
But, the the way I think I would use it would be to rest it or clip it to the machine and use one hand to operate the paper or dowel and the other rested on the pendant and turning the knob with my fingers. I don't think holding the pendant and operating the knob with one hand would be easy or safe. My jury rig manual pulse generator has a heavy base so I can rest it on the mill table and it will stay put while I touch off, then I move it up by the PC, so it doesn't get chips on it. I used another manual pulse generator on a FADAL mill. It was mounted in the console which I could reach while touching off. If you say you can hold and operate your pendant in one hand, I'll have to reconsider my opinion. What I'd like to see, is a way to make these MPG encoders cheap enough that several could be mounted to the machine, such as, to have one for each axis. This would come close to allowing a CNC to operate like a manual machine. Maybe I'll get to it this summer. -- Kirk Wallace http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ http://www.wallacecompany.com/E45/index.html California, USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enable your software for Intel(R) Active Management Technology to meet the growing manageability and security demands of your customers. Businesses are taking advantage of Intel(R) vPro (TM) technology - will your software be a part of the solution? Download the Intel(R) Manageability Checker today! http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devmar _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
