X3 mill with rails, ATC, new motor

[Jonathan]

I cut out the back plate for column, will leave the tapping for a rainy day:



The spacing of the bolts is loosely based on the theory here - namely make the stress cones under the bolts intersect to get maximum stiffness. This diagram illustrates that:



Made a ballnut mount for Z:



Remembered the cutout for the ballnut mount in the Z-plate. Clamped directly to mill bed to ensure parallelism.


Here's a picture of the drawbar I made earlier for the ATC:

That may not be the final number of disc springs - but there will be quite a lot to ensure they're not operated outside the recommended region to get long life.

[Washout]

Excellent Jonathan - this is something I will also be attempting soon, so will be following with interest.
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BTW if you are going to use linear rails/bearings on all X and Y and using the "fill in" the dovetail method you used on the Z, are you going to lose ~60mm in the Z due to the height of those units?
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Cheers
.
Chris

[Jonathan]

BTW if you are going to use linear rails/bearings on all X and Y and using the "fill in" the dovetail method you used on the Z, are you going to lose ~60mm in the Z due to the height of those units?

Something like that, yes. I could get the Z-height back again by adding a spacer block under the column, but clearly how that affects the strength needs to be considered. Also, I'm tepmpted to replace the existing table with something bigger...

[Lee Roberts]

Really cool,

We defo needed some cnc "mill conversion" logs on here, loved the bolt spacing theory so thanks for sharing that, cant wait to see the rest, keep up the good work !

EDIT: Just a quick question, how come you went with ali for the column back plate rather than steel?

EDIT 2: I dont know if it will apply to you, but i recently watched a build log where the guy filled in any voids in the base and so on with a mix of stone and epoxy, will you be doing that as well or?

.Me

[Jonathan]

EDIT: Just a quick question, how come you went with ali for the column back plate rather than steel?

1) I can mount the motor drivers in the column - the aluminum plate can be used as a heatsink, so saves buying that.
2) Aluminium is easier for me to machine.
3) I had a 1.50x0.74x0.02m sheet of aluminium 'lying around' and I'm not sure where to buy steel plate for a reasonable price.

EDIT 2: I dont know if it will apply to you, but i recently watched a build log where the guy filled in any voids in the base and so on with a mix of stone and epoxy, will you be doing that as well or?

I'm considering it - it seems worthwhile, but I might be better off just making a new base.

[Lee Roberts]

1) I can mount the motor drivers in the column - the aluminum plate can be used as a heatsink, so saves buying that.
2) Aluminium is easier for me to machine.
3) I had a 1.50x0.74x0.02m sheet of aluminium 'lying around' and I'm not sure where to buy steel plate for a reasonable price. I'm considering it - it seems worthwhile, but I might be better off just making a new base.

Ahh fair enough then.

I looked at a build on the zone the other day re making a base, on that build, they used a lump of granite for the base, what are your thoughts on doing that?

.Me

[embraced]

What sort of motor are you using for the spindle?
And how on earth does it achieve such a high power density?