Hi
This has just been fitted to my X3 mill. A stepper motor driving the X axis. With over 400mm of travel its hard work winding the table back and forth, this makes life much easier and helps in giving a better finish to the work piece. Very precise control at the touch of a button. I can take no credit at all for build, that honour goes to my mate Julian (Barneydog) who is a bit of a whizz at electronics. The stepper motors we bought at a computer fair a couple of years ago, if memory serves me well they cost us 3 for £20.00. We bought 6 knowing they would come in handy one day. Fitting the motor to the mill was straightforward. The X3 conveniently has a slot in the end of the lead screw so I made a simple adapter to connect the motor to drive in this slot and a plate to mount thr motor on. The contol box has a knob with which to select one of six speeds, indicated by an LED. A switch to lock or free the motor. In the lock position the motor is electronically engaged. In the free position the motor is disengaged so that the table can be moved manually via the handwheel. The next switch is manual or run. In the run position pushing the button drives the motor continuously, in the manual position pushing the button advances the motor by one pulse which is a fraction of a thou so vey minute movements are easily achievable. The next switch is left and right which should need no explanation and finally the push button itself. Now that Julian has worked out how to control the motor the next obvious step is to fit 3 motors and computer control them. CNC. This little set up cost less than £50.00 to build. Here it is in action.
Anybody interested in how the electronics work will have to Lobby Julian, he will explain all.
Cheers
Rich
This has just been fitted to my X3 mill. A stepper motor driving the X axis. With over 400mm of travel its hard work winding the table back and forth, this makes life much easier and helps in giving a better finish to the work piece. Very precise control at the touch of a button. I can take no credit at all for build, that honour goes to my mate Julian (Barneydog) who is a bit of a whizz at electronics. The stepper motors we bought at a computer fair a couple of years ago, if memory serves me well they cost us 3 for £20.00. We bought 6 knowing they would come in handy one day. Fitting the motor to the mill was straightforward. The X3 conveniently has a slot in the end of the lead screw so I made a simple adapter to connect the motor to drive in this slot and a plate to mount thr motor on. The contol box has a knob with which to select one of six speeds, indicated by an LED. A switch to lock or free the motor. In the lock position the motor is electronically engaged. In the free position the motor is disengaged so that the table can be moved manually via the handwheel. The next switch is manual or run. In the run position pushing the button drives the motor continuously, in the manual position pushing the button advances the motor by one pulse which is a fraction of a thou so vey minute movements are easily achievable. The next switch is left and right which should need no explanation and finally the push button itself. Now that Julian has worked out how to control the motor the next obvious step is to fit 3 motors and computer control them. CNC. This little set up cost less than £50.00 to build. Here it is in action.
Anybody interested in how the electronics work will have to Lobby Julian, he will explain all.
Cheers
Rich