The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
awemawson:
After lunch I made off the cable ends on the back of the socket box and mounted it thinking I'd have to leave it at that until I got some flexible conduit for the far end of the signal cable.
But after a bit of cogitating a vague memory of a bit of 16 mm plastic coated steel Adaptaflex tucked away somewhere rose to the surface, so after supper I went hunting. A bit of rooting about in my 'may come in useful' store produced just over 4 meters and it was complete with the terminations - I guessed that I needed about 3 metres so luck was on my side :thumbup:
One end had a 15 mm bush termination and the other was 20 mm. As I intend to mount a 2" square galvanised 'adaptable box' on the existing 20 mm fitting on the chuck bulkhead and these boxes come pre-stamped for 20 mm holes, the 15 mm bush went in the cabinet base. I then pulled the conduit through the bowels of the machine and was able to follow the existing conduit that takes the Tool Setter arm cable and cut it off to length with the battery powered angle grinder. I then swapped the 20 mm fitting from the off cut to the bit being used.
Now as the signal cable is still on the reel, it's important before cutting to reel off enough for the job, but not too much to waste it. So firstly I pushed my flexible 'pullthrough' though the conduit - marked the nylon and then pulled it out as a measure leaving a conservative bit extra.
Then it was a case of re-threading the pull through from the far end, taping the signal cable to it, and pulling it through. VERY easy to pull the taped joint apart, especially as this conduit follows quite a contorted route, so it was a relief to see the taped joint emerge unscathed.
There was one bit of the plastic sheath of the conduit that had been scraped in a previous life, so I made that good with 'self amalgamating tape' (brilliant stuff that when stretched and wrapped bonds with itself into a solid rubber sheath)
So now I'm waiting for the 'adaptable box' to arrive. It will have a 20 mm hole bored in it's rear face which will be used to mount it when eventually the old cable is removed and the new made live.
But that won't happen until the OMM receiver and probe return from their antipodean holiday when PK has waived his magic wand over them.
awemawson:
So having got the new cables in the ducting I could make a start on replacing the various panels that I had had to remove to get at it. You may recall that they were a pain to remove entailing making a 1 metre long allen key, and they kept up their reputation going back. Two on the external tail stock end of the machine, and two swarf / coolant guards inside.
I still need to work out how to fix the lower 'L' shaped panel - the only access to screw positions is from underneath. Perhaps they were assembled on a plinth of some sort in the factory :scratch:
Then I made off the 24 volt supply to the 2 core cable laid yesterday, and tested it to the socket under the 820T controller
About this time the Adaptable Box arrived, so I drilled a 20 mm hole in it's rear, knocked out one of the 20 mm knockout locations and mounted it on the OMM signal cable conduit awaiting the return of the OMM
awemawson:
Time to sort out the mounting of the last end panel. Various threaded inserts in both the panel itself and the adjacent panels, but no access to fix or tighten screws.
Initially I reckoned that the two screws on the rear edge of the panel could just about be got at by offering the panel up at an angle, and using the flexibility of it's length to get my hands onto the allen key.
Then it struck me that if strong spring washers were fitted the panels would be clamped but the flexibility remain. In practice I used a compression spring for the joint as per the pictures and it worked very well.
Boring a 20 mm hole in the face of the panel at the front edge gave access to the one screw and threaded insert at that end of the panel, and having made an extended key I was able to do it up nice and tight.
The two vertical screws are inaccessible unless I once more remove the internal swarf / coolant guards, but as it is the panel seems firmly held. If in the future it vibrates too much then I can probably get at them that way to resolve the issue.
So as it is the only visible evidence is a 20 mm blanking grommet showing on the recently fitted panel.
awemawson:
So why the rush to get the panels back? Well apart from the fact that they are taking up needed space in the workshop, I wanted to bring in one of my newly acquired Versatool cabinets and start tidying the lathe tooling away. Up till now it's been on the floor / work surfaces / anything vaguely horizontal and I'm running out of elbow room.
So in fact both cabinets were forklifted in (they are impressively heavy) lashed together on a pallet, and the slightly more presentable one moved into place at the tailstock end of the lathe.
Then it was a case of moving shelves vertically to give clearance as they swing, working out a suitable layout and drilling some holes to accept the VDI40 spigots and at least the tool holders are now stored safely :thumbup:
Much more to go in, but now time is on my side.
I'm working on dismantling the ER32 right angle powered tooling holder which is seized solid and needs a rebuild as did the two straight ones (they were bought described as such). So far I've got all the screws out bar two, which will be left soaking for a few more days in PlusGas. When I'm inside I'll put up a few pictures.
The right angled ER32 holder is probably the most useful of the three, allowing flats and grooving in the Z axis direction.
awemawson:
At long last the screws in the 90 degree powered tooling head have surrendered and now all are out :thumbup:
I've been topping up the meniscus of 'Plus-Gas' on them whenever I walked by, and this morning I was down to the last two reluctant ones. Both 4 mm hex sockets in the head, so M6 CSK socket screws. One was so tight this morning that I got a full turn on a good quality 100 mm long allen key and still it wouldn't budge. The other one started rounding off the hex socket. Often reluctant screws can be freed by a few smart taps on the head, but these were in a slightly recessed situation, and my 1/4" hex drive bits were too short to avoid whacking other precision bits with the hammer. So I turned up a short bar end on the lathe, with a 7.1 mm hole in the end for the hex bit to sit in, and gave the screws a few smart raps with a hammer. They both then meekly unscrewed with no drama :ddb:
So the good news is that it's now ready to dismantle without as I had feared, resorting to either drilling them out or burning them out on the EDM machine - the bad news is that I am out for lunch shortly so cannot do it now (I'm told!) :bang:
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