WM16 converting to power feed on X and Y

[silverfox]

Ok I am not a lekky tekky. My knowledge stops at the on off switch.

Are there things out there that are 'bolts ons' rather than a DIY kit building it up with all the magic gizmos and copious soldering read to make it work

I am only asking as i have bee doing a lot of milling and my arms are aching!

Ron

[timo]

Ron,

Just thinking about the same for my WM16. Pondering using a stepper motor and either a micro controller or I believe you can get a stepper motor drive with a potentiometer attached for speed control which I am looking at. I saw an inyeresting design where the motor is mounted on a plate which slides on two bars which screw onto the handle bracket. The motor has a hex socket on the end and this then slides over a hex shaft on the feedscrew. Still at the design stage here but interested to see what turns up. Commercial feeds seem to be £350 - £450 which is a large proporton of the cost of the mill!

Tim

[springcrocus]

I started a thread HERE covering my build of an "X" axis power feed that may be of some interest.

Regards, Steve

[timo]

Jun 29, 2019 18:39:26 GMT springcrocus said:

I started a thread HERE covering my build of an "X" axis power feed that may be of some interest.

Regards, Steve

Looks good Steve. How is the motor standing up to use?

Tim

[springcrocus]

Jun 29, 2019 19:49:33 GMT timo said:

Jun 29, 2019 18:39:26 GMT springcrocus said:

I started a thread HERE covering my build of an "X" axis power feed that may be of some interest.

Regards, Steve

Looks good Steve. How is the motor standing up to use?

Tim

Still working and used quite regularly. Harder to get a windscreen wiper motor now that Stag Lane has closed, however.

Regards, Steve

[Deleted]

Hi Ron

Talk to Machine-DRO, they do a kit which is a direct bolt-on fit (you do have to drill/tap some parts though), it's labelled under Chester, not Warco. I think it's the kit for the Champion 20v but best ask when buying. The WM16 has the sloped pedestal base so you need to get the right kit. If I was doing it again I'd probably keep the original 'Z' scale that comes with the WM16 and just get a 2 axis kit from DRO. The 'Z' scale in their kit is designed to fit the column, not the quill which is a bit pointless although if you keep the warco scale and also fit the DRO 'z' scale you'll have the best of both worlds.

Pete

[timo]

Jun 29, 2019 21:58:55 GMT @greenglade said:

Hi Ron

Talk to Machine-DRO, they do a kit which is a direct bolt-on fit (you do have to drill/tap some parts though), it's labelled under Chester, not Warco. I think it's the kit for the Champion 20v but best ask when buying. The WM16 has the sloped pedestal base so you need to get the right kit. If I was doing it again I'd probably keep the original 'Z' scale that comes with the WM16 and just get a 2 axis kit from DRO. The 'Z' scale in their kit is designed to fit the column, not the quill which is a bit pointless although if you keep the warco scale and also fit the DRO 'z' scale you'll have the best of both worlds.

Pete

Pete - I had a look at the machine-dro site and couldn't find any feed kits at all. Am I missing something?

Thanks

Tim

[timo]

A quick followup, I checked the Chester site and they offer a feed for £299 but you have to buy a transformer on top of that at £65. It is also not clear whether the feeds will fit the Champion 20V - would have to ask them. Their prices don't include VAT according to their terms and conditions so you would have to add another 20% making £437 odd plus delivery!
Tim

[Deleted]

Ah...sorry..I misread the title...I was thinking DRO...lol

Warco do a feed kit but it was expensive and was out of stock last I lookes

My mistake

Pete

[timo]

Ron - apologies for slightly hijacking the thread.

Has anyone got any idea of the size of stepper motor (or amount of torque) needed to drive the X axis on the WM16? I guess if I used 2:1 timing belt or gears I could use a smaller motor.

Tim

[uuu]

It wouldn't be too hard to rig up a pulley with string and weights to measure how much was needed to reliably drive the table. My old Centec mill had a 1/8hp motor on the table drive. I fitted 180Ncm steppers to my Emco - OK, it's got ballscrews, but the motor will lift the spindle head, so cast iron housing with 3-phase 1/2hp motor, not lightweight. That's on a 2.5mm pitch screw and geared down 2:1.

Wilf

[timo]

Thanks Wilf, that gives me something to work on. Unloaded the table moves quite freely but obviously a heavy cut into steel will take a lot more oomph.

Tim

[jon38r80]

There is a chap called Hoss in the states who has modified a Grizzly G0704 mill which is remarkably similar to a WM16 mill. He markets plans and I believe some bits to do the conversion. There is a very long series of posts on the CNCZONE site that details how he got there if you dont mind trawling through the Drivel that some people post.
Not sure about the just bolt on bit. The only thing I have seen from Warco for a table feed isnt a direct bolt on to a WM16 as far as their advice goes(I asked several times) it's for a WM18 (that is the one flat with the table, I dont have clearance for a pendant below the handwheel, the bench gets in the way).
Coming up with the motor size is something he went into in some detail as I recall, measuring the force to overcome inertia , stiction etc.

[timo]

Thanks jon38r80 - sounds like the info I need. Will go on a search.

Tim

[92220]

The Warco site has details of bolt-on power feeds for X, Y and Z axis. Just google Power feeds for Warco milling. You may find what you want there.

Bob.

[timo]

Well a bit of research and also timing of a fly cut has yielded a speed range requirement of between 6 and 180 rpm - the 180 rpm being for fast traverse. Now to decide on type of motor as DC with PWM control will probably not have the required torque at very low speed.

I did look at the arc site and their feed for the X3 is under £300, better but still a lot of money.

Tim

[jem]

I made my own, using a 240 volt brush motor,similar to an electric drill and a worm speed reducer to somewhere where I wanted to be, and then a couple of pully wheels belt driven, such that overload will slip the belt, I have a very good electronic speed reducer, and so have all the speeds I want, I bypass the speed reducer for fast rewind, it all works very well, and cost me nothing, One thing though, do make sure that nothing comes above the table!

best wishes

Jem

[timo]

Jem,

Thanks for the input and indeed for the warning. I guess that the pulley bits will help with the low speed torque. I do have a worm and wheel in stock that I had been considering but it only does half the job. I am leaning towards using a suitable sized stepper motor with the stepper driver driven by a simple 555 pulse generator (might have all of the bits in stock). Do you have any form of clutch on your feed system?

Tim

[springcrocus]

Tim,

I have found that, unlike when I was working in industry, I never adjust the feed rate and seldom use the fast advance / return. The main use for the feed is to relieve the boredom of standing there winding the handle. I set a cut running and do something else. At the end, I just wind back by hand, set the next depth and hit the fire tit again. You might be over-complicating things here, or you might just fancy the challenge of making an all-singing-and-dancing affair. Your call, anyway, and please start a thread so we can follow it with you.

Regards, Steve

[jem]

Tim,

I use the pulley as the slipping clutch in case of an emergency, so I have the pulley and then the worm drive, it works fine for me, I think that it is worth having a fast rewind, especially if you are doing a long piece Steve, and it isn't difficult to do really

best wishes Jem