Spindle lock mechanism for 2.2kW china spindle

[Jonathan]

As in the title... pretty simple just using a servo to shove a spanner on to the spindle:


(Finish is a bit pathetic due to forgetting to do up one of the X-ballnuts after cleaning it!)

My hope was I could set it to push the spanner in whilst the spindle is running at the lowest speed (4Hz / 240rpm), but there's too much friction when the spanner pushes against the spindle for it to engage. I'm sure after a bit of experimentation with the spanner shape, or even adding a nylon tip / a bearing on the end to reduce the friction it should be possible to get it to engage reliably. For the moment it's fine how it is since as soon as you start tightening the nut the spindle will rotate to the correct position and lock. The servo will apply about 35N so I'm in no danger of damaging the spindle bearings.



One less spanner to loose :)

I'll tidy up the drawings and post them if anyone's interested.

Next step is to automate the collet nut spanner...