Milling machine CNC conversion - keep hand wheels for manual operation?

[birchy]

I'm working on my first CNC conversion. The question is...can I keep the hand wheels so I can also use the machine for manual milling and drilling or should I make it 100% computer controlled?

[C_Bubba]

Back when I was in your position, I asked a similar question and was told to loose the hand wheels. Think of the mill as having power feed axis controlled by the keyboard (or pendant).
I took the consensus advice and lost the hand wheels and haven't missed them one bit. Besides that, if they have a handle on them and you issue a G00 rapid and get to close, it could hurt!

[Clive S]

Good point but as Jonathan says it will add a lot of inertia to the screws ...as he spotted it on mine... Clive

[Robin Hewitt]

I kept the hand wheels, I can't imagine life without the hand wheels, they are really useful.

[rnr107]

If you really want hand wheels... attach encoders handle wheels to the machine ! :-)
Gives you the feeling of hand turning the handle but without disturbing Mach3 positioning or the danger of spining handles when the computer takes control.

[Colin Barron]

You see some hand wheels on youtube turning just below waist height and wonder is that safe.