Where to start? Vertical Mill CNC conversion.

[magicniner]

What I lacked was a clear idea of what I wanted the mill to do. That could be a good starting point

Robin,
That's a fantastic point and an excellent idea for a starting point!
Nice One! ;-)

[Davek0974]

I still don't know but i did end up with a machine that does most of what i want

[Ali Kat]

I still don't know but i did end up with a machine that does most of what i want

Having converted a number of mills to CNC (with varying degrees of success:-)), I suggest that the Elliott Omnimill is one of the easier machines to convert.

I have noted the quotes about ballnuts being larger than leadscrew nuts and this has caused me issues in the past. However, I am just in the early stages of converting an Omnimill (or rather, I am re-engineereing a machine that was previously "semi converted"). There is cavernous space for a ball nut housing under the table and I am moving up to a 25mm x 5mm ballscrew whereas the previous owner had only gone to 20mm.

I will be driving directly with NEMA 34 motors and the table geometry allows these to "overdrive" the X axis and increase the travel from the original machine configuration.

This weekend, I am machinng the brackets and spacers to fit a 60v geared motor to the knee lift which was previoulsy a long handle manual type engaged in a dog. The geared motor will drive through bevel gears with a speed controller and a momentry switch with an "up/ down" switch to allow easy rise and fall of the knee (at my age, I don't want to be spinning too many handles manually!). The switch panel for this motor will be mounted on the front of the saddle where the original gearbox housing was.

Basically, I wish I had found Elliott Omnimills years ago - they make the best CNC conversion for this size mill that I have found in 20 years.

[magicniner]

This weekend, I am maching the brackets and spacers to fit a 60v geared motor to the knee lift

Are you incorporating the plumbing for an automated lube system too?
I have a long term project that I'm incorporating ball screw and way lube plumbing into.