Warco VMC Turret Mill - CNC Conversion

[Robin Hewitt]

I have been cutting aluminium only 1mm cuts with 16mm endmill at 400mm/min? Whats your thoughts should I be able to run faster? Deeper cuts?

Hi Ant

Suds! You want a suds pump if you are cutting aluminium.

I am no stickler for mathematising speeds and feeds and all that malarky, I go for what works for me.

Looking at it... If your holdfasts can take the strain, for a good start setting I'd probably try half the revs, half the feed, four times as deep and a good flow of suds :naughty:

best

Robin

[antsals]

Hi Ant

Suds! You want a suds pump if you are cutting aluminium.

I am no stickler for mathematising speeds and feeds and all that malarky, I go for what works for me.

Looking at it... If your holdfasts can take the strain, for a good start setting I'd probably try half the revs, half the feed, four times as deep and a good flow of suds :naughty:

best

Robin

Robin,
I'm thinking of getting some of the stepper drive units you hve on your machine from Zapp Automation.

What size stepper motors have you got on your machine? The Warco machine you have is very similar build to mine. Did you hve to machine any of the bed below the table to fit your ball nut in? Did you have ny problems re-fitting the gib strips?

What types of speed and feed do you get from the machine cutting aluminium and steel? What size cutting an d depth of cut do you acheive?

Thanks,
Ant

[Robin Hewitt]

3.5Nm NEMA34's.

Had to open the ends of the bed out a bit to clear the nuts but only for ease of taking apart/putting together. Had to grind some metal away below the bed to get the full X travel.

The Gibb strip adjusters were horribly loose and prone to adjusting themselves. I added a fine adjustment with pinch bolts to lock them in place.

I haven't tried it in avengeance yet, been pussy footing about with sub 8mm tooling. When I think about ripping off the excess with fat cutters at high rates I start to worry about overloading the ER32 chuck vertically. If the tool slips down the job is scrap. Even if it doesn't slip the column will bend deepening the cut and forcing a seperate finishing pass if the tolerances require it. Makes me cautious.

Rule of thumb for DOC is tool radius but I won't go >4 or 5 mm, OTOH you won't get the column flex I do. I think you have to find what the mill likes, it should purr through the metal like it wasn't there, hammering or screechy noises are a sign that you've got it wrong :naughty:

[M250cnc]

If the tool slips down the job is scrap. Even if it doesn't slip the column will bend deepening the cut and forcing a separate finishing pass if the tolerances require it. Makes me cautious.

The column is made from cast iron, and cast iron does not bend. When you say deepening in what axis is it deepening the cut.

Phil

[Robin Hewitt]

The column is made from cast iron, and cast iron does not bend. When you say deepening in what axis is it deepening the cut.

Anything can bend, but you don't necessarily notice until you start chasing those last few elusive microns

[M250cnc]

Anything can bend, but you don't necessarily notice until you start chasing those last few elusive microns

Very true but IF say you had a sloppy quill on your machine then the bending would come from that rather than very hard to bend cast iron.:naughty:

Phil

[Robin Hewitt]

Very true but IF say you had a sloppy quill on your machine then the bending would come from that rather than very hard to bend cast iron.:naughty:

Indubitably