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Post by deverett on Aug 25, 2018 13:20:12 GMT
John Have you resolved the mounting of the Z axis unit? What I did (from memory, as I have sold my FB-2) is to fit stand offs mounted on the top and bottom screws of the column key. Substitute the Stand offs for the screws. They need to be long enough to clear the raising mechanism. All you need then is a mounting plate for whatever system you are getting that can be secured to the stand offs. Easy and neat (in my opinion)
Dave The Emerald Isle
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Post by simplyloco on Aug 25, 2018 14:30:42 GMT
John Have you resolved the mounting of the Z axis unit? What I did (from memory, as I have sold my FB-2) is to fit stand offs mounted on the top and bottom screws of the column key. Substitute the Stand offs for the screws. They need to be long enough to clear the raising mechanism. All you need then is a mounting plate for whatever system you are getting that can be secured to the stand offs. Easy and neat (in my opinion) Dave The Emerald Isle Hi Dave I did without the Z axis, preferring a readout on the quill, but thanks for the advice which will come in handy if I decide to go that way. John
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Post by silverfox on Aug 25, 2018 19:15:44 GMT
On the last leg of fitting my MDro to my S7. Sensitive isnt the word Am now putting the word out that the mill is getting jealous and will only be satisfied with an Easson Screen!
Off to see if i can get it on crowdfunding!
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Post by silverfox on Aug 25, 2018 19:21:14 GMT
On the last leg of fitting the standard kit to my S7. Got the embedded read out for the cross slide and it was quite easy to fit
To say the read outs are sensitive is an understatement
Putting the word out that the mill s getting bit jealous and will only be happy with the Easson VDU!!
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Post by doubletop on Aug 26, 2018 10:09:35 GMT
John I've had a look at the spec of your DRO's posted earlier. I see you have all the key toys in the box. By way of encouragement for you to investigate these functions here is a photo of 4 bogie frames I’ve just completed using what I call MNC Manual Numeric Control on my mill. The blank plate was clamped to the bed of the mill and not moved or removed until all the operations were completed. Done by using the same DRO functions you have in your setup. Maybe a bit slower a than the CNC mob could have done the job. But making use of the facilities to hand. Pete
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Post by simplyloco on Aug 26, 2018 11:11:46 GMT
John I've had a look at the spec of your DRO's posted earlier. I see you have all the key toys in the box. By way of encouragement for you to investigate these functions here is a photo of 4 bogie frames I’ve just completed using what I call MNC Manual Numeric Control on my mill. SNIP Pete That's a lovely job and good encouragement! John
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Post by Roger on Aug 26, 2018 11:24:55 GMT
Pete's manual numerous control is a very powerful method in my opinion. If you use CAD, you can dimension everything from a reference point and then leave the DRO set to that rather than walking the offset from point to point which I think is more error prone.
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Post by doubletop on Aug 26, 2018 20:32:06 GMT
Pete's manual numerous control is a very powerful method in my opinion. If you use CAD, you can dimension everything from a reference point and then leave the DRO set to that rather than walking the offset from point to point which I think is more error prone. I agree with Rodger CAD is very useful, and I did use it for the bogie frames, however it is not essential. Since I fitted my DRO's build notes for projects are scattered with hand drawn sketches and schoolboy trig calculations to find the datum coordinates. Easily spotted as I still write down SOH, CAH, TOA. Using a single datum point is certainly the correct approach but it does need a pretty good understanding how the DRO coordinate system works. I tend to use the main reference datum to offset to a local datum and work from there. With my DRO's I can have 200 local datums, more than enough to keep track of. I may only use 5 or 6 at a time. One thing that always comes to mind when I’m doing these manual calculations is the question my metallurgist father would ask his staff “can you get back to the reference datum?”. Meaning that doing the maths to get to the local datum point is OK but doing the maths to get back to the reference datum is necessary to confirm the calculations for the outbound route don’t have errors. Like CAD I also run the table of points the DRO’s computes without making any cuts. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve started cutting and found I’m going in the wrong direction! John has asked that I write this up, something I’ve been considering for some time now and had previously suggested doing it to Dianne Carney (ME). This winter would have been an ideal opportunity but the weather in NZ has been mild so I manged to do more in the workshop. There again, it did allow me to do these bogie frames which would contribute to any article… Pete
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2018 20:35:32 GMT
I'm liking these DRO functions.....might go shopping myself soon...we shall see...
Pete
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Post by Roger on Aug 30, 2018 7:39:50 GMT
I'm liking these DRO functions.....might go shopping myself soon...we shall see... Pete In my opinion a DRO is a game changer and absolutely essential in my workshop. CAD/CAM is your friend when it comes to this. If you use something like Fusion360, you can output the holes in the frame as g-code as if you were using a CNC machine. You can then read off the list of coordinates which would all be correctly referenced to whatever datum you choose without having to create a drawing. G-code is just a text file so you can print it out. You don't need to do that if you have a computer in the workshop or a smartphone linked by Dropbox so you can get to the file on that. A single datum is by far the best approach in my opinion. In the end it's down to the mindset you choose to adopt. These tools are readily available if you want to take advantage of them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2018 8:56:15 GMT
I do have the basic DRO Roger that my son got from work but it has no functions as such, mind you I couldn't have done the rods without it, the dials on my Warco are way out...However, the scales are playing up, Y has given up completely, X is sticking and I can't seem to sort it by cleaning the glass. Z is working. Having read John's thread I'm liking the magnetic scales and the unit that he has. I may have a little money coming my way soon, if so an Easson 3 axis DRO may be high on the list...
Pete
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Post by simplyloco on Aug 30, 2018 9:06:28 GMT
I'm using the thing in anger now, having played with it for a while! Having turned the milling table around, I needed to drill and ream two more reference holes. Instead of centre drill, drill, and ream on the one setting for each hole, and cranking the mill head up and down to accept the different tools, it was very easy to do both holes with the same tool, and swing the table away to facilitate tool changing without moving the head, and to then pick up the hole centres using the readout. I would have used saddle stops before, but I'm warming to this gadget... John
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Post by doubletop on Aug 30, 2018 20:03:36 GMT
........................ I'm warming to this gadget... John John You'll learn to trust them more and more, discover what they can do and how to exploit their features. It looks like you've already started the lateral thinking processes (no pun) Pete
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Post by silverfox on Aug 30, 2018 22:04:27 GMT
Roger
You wrote earlier
In my opinion a DRO is a game changer and absolutely essential in my workshop.
CAD/CAM is your friend when it comes to this. If you use something like Fusion360, you can output the holes in the frame as g-code as if you were using a CNC machine. You can then read off the list of coordinates which would all be correctly referenced to whatever datum you choose without having to create a drawing. G-code is just a text file so you can print it out. You don't need to do that if you have a computer in the workshop or a smartphone linked by Dropbox so you can get to the file on that.
A single datum is by far the best approach in my opinion.
In the end it's down to the mindset you choose to adopt. These tools are readily available if you want to take advantage of them.
I assume that this method is more suited to a mill, than a lathe.however. i haven't a clue what you wrote, and what with Pete going on about SOH, CAH, TOA. I am completely lost
Any chance of one of you ex[alining it as aIdiot guide ( more simple thatn a dummys guide)
To get my mind in some semblence of order without putting up lots of drawing, would i be on the right lines of thinking ( but using a line of A length as an example that needed holes at various centres
The starting point would be at the bottom lh corner and drilling hole moving the x axis to 0.5 on screen, drilling hole moving to 1 ...instead of resetting and going another 0.5 and so one in effect the drawing would show the locations as
0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0 etc instead of o.5,0.5,0.5 0.5
Hope that makes sense
Ron
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Post by Roger on Aug 31, 2018 9:23:13 GMT
Roger You wrote earlier In my opinion a DRO is a game changer and absolutely essential in my workshop. CAD/CAM is your friend when it comes to this. If you use something like Fusion360, you can output the holes in the frame as g-code as if you were using a CNC machine. You can then read off the list of coordinates which would all be correctly referenced to whatever datum you choose without having to create a drawing. G-code is just a text file so you can print it out. You don't need to do that if you have a computer in the workshop or a smartphone linked by Dropbox so you can get to the file on that. A single datum is by far the best approach in my opinion. In the end it's down to the mindset you choose to adopt. These tools are readily available if you want to take advantage of them. I assume that this method is more suited to a mill, than a lathe.however. i haven't a clue what you wrote, and what with Pete going on about SOH, CAH, TOA. I am completely lost Any chance of one of you ex[alining it as aIdiot guide ( more simple thatn a dummys guide) To get my mind in some semblence of order without putting up lots of drawing, would i be on the right lines of thinking ( but using a line of A length as an example that needed holes at various centres The starting point would be at the bottom lh corner and drilling hole moving the x axis to 0.5 on screen, drilling hole moving to 1 ...instead of resetting and going another 0.5 and so one in effect the drawing would show the locations as 0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0 etc instead of o.5,0.5,0.5 0.5 Hope that makes sense Ron Hi Ron, Yes, it was a mill that I was referring to. Your understanding is exactly how I meant. Rather than take over this thread, I've started another one in the CAD/CAM Software section of the Forum called "Manual Numerical Control - 'CNC' done by hand with a DRO "
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