Buget Warco Major 5 axis conversion

[Tweaky]

Hi Robin,
Wow, that’s probably more useful information than I have gleaned from memory and reading. Thanks

The overhang scenario is obvious, now you have pointed it out. I had assumed that if the extensions were solidly mounted and flex free, they would become the mount rather than a pivot.
You will probably laugh, when I tell you, that all my parts have been made using a humungous 6” tilt & swivel vice, bought on the premise that mass and solidity were king! …. Clamps from now on.
This leaves me with two problems now, my trunion table with a rotary table on top 170mm min., and the column, as the head will be that much higher.
Incidentally, the head clamping is by 3 large nuts (& bolts) which I tighten with a large ring spanner, so much so in fact that the column is free of grease (copperslip)
and won’t fall or crank, until I wind it up!

I have a fairly extensive range and quantity of HSS cutters (all imp.) so I am happy they will be useful, although I guess I will need a Tool cutter/sharpener in the future.
Are indexable cutters a good idea, I was thinking of buying a face cutter?

I had intended to use Castrol Carecut as my lube, because the heinous stuff we used in the 70s gave me dermatitis, but I have no idea how good it is as a cutting fluid, yet!

Well, lots to be getting on with, Z axis next to make, and I’m looking forward to applying this new found knowledge.
I do not have an angle plate large enough to mount the Z axis bearing block to bore them, so I am going to use the vertical rotary table (truniun mount to be) and find out how solid it is as a mount.

Many thanks for your time and for sharing this knowledge.

Regards
Mark

[Robin Hewitt]

When designing the Z remember that you will want to hammer tooling out of the spindle taper.

You don't want to hammer against the Z screw so some way to release it is a good idea.

The quill lock is probably not enough because you will want to draw them in tight. I use a sledge hammer with a broken haft because it fetches them with one blow.

A release also lets you use the machine as a drill without writing G code, which is totally handy.

Robin

Edit: I don't use indexable tooling and I have never thought about resharpening cutters.
Face cutting accuracy and finish depends on how square the spindle is to the bed. Inaccuracies becoming more pronounced as the radius of the cutter increases.