Recent content by ahughes3214

Qtron, Nothing much I do ever pays for itself. Though I'm really am happy with this controller; I would never go back to manual cranking again. The majority of the components are related to de-bounce, noise rejection, and input selection. Lovejoy connector was just convenient to use. To retain...

Qtron, Apologies for the delay in response; with the holiday, getting back to work, etc. it has been quite busy. I wanted to follow-up on our conversation (e.g. #4) and let you know what is into my unit with regards to cost. This may allow you to make a more informed decision on whether you...

Qtron, I'm not sure which chip you are looking at with regards to "Freescale". What type of mill and model do you have? I have a Precision Matthews PM-30 that had the crank on the side of the column to move the head. It is a ridiculous placement that was much too high and also interfered...

Qtron, After a number of iterations I ended up using a Teensy 3.5 micro controller. Micro controllers like the Arduino MEGA were much too slow. I used the Arduino IDE to write the code (C++). The areas where I'm fishing for feedback is how I handled the user interface and also the boring...

Qtron, Thank you for the feedback. I posted the document and pictures so anyone (who enjoys a project like this) and wishes to make their own controller may take away ideas and maybe avoid some pitfalls I experienced. It also gives the opportunity for others to critique what I have done...

Rudy, If you are still working on motorizing your z-axis; or anyone else who may be interested in ideas for motorizing the z-axis on a manual mill, I have finally finished the z-axis controller that I use for my manual PM30 mill. As I do with all my complex projects, I drafted a document that...

Rudy, A couple clarifications; My mill is about 500lbs. Just the head and carriage is 126 lbs . The motor size requirement is very dependent upon the application. As I am using it for just jogging up and down, and do not need to accelerate aggressively, this motor is plenty sufficient...

Rudy, I have changed out my original open loop Pacific Scientific stepper controller for a JSS HSS86 controller. I did this so I could get an alarm (ALM) signal if the head stalled (missed steps). This new controller is a hybrid drive (closed loop). I really needed to know if steps were...

Rudy, I’ve left some info before on my setup; sorry if some is repetitive. I switched to full motor control for the z-axis and do not use the quill at all for positioning on my PM30 mill. I did not setup for, nor do I intend to go to CNC. Manual milling is my interest. I am currently...

Neil, I noted my Z axis gib was also slightly curved. I get the same results as you when tightening either lock down. I either tighten them a little bit at a time (go between one and the other slowly tightening) or just end up locking one. For the cuts I make, one lock seems to be sufficient...

Thanks Joe, I appreciate the feedback!

Neil, The PM-30MV mill had a gas strut inside the vertical column as standard. I did replace the stock gas strut with a different gas strut so I could get more travel. The strut currently in the mill is a McMaster Carr 4138T63 (Gas Spring, 35.43" Extended Length, 100 lbs. Extension Force)...

Rudy, I hope the below may give you some ideas or help a little with your power z-axis modifications. I did not see any significant interest in a microcontroller based motor controller based upon my initial post so I did not post intermediate development information. I have put almost a half...