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NickJ

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Everything posted by NickJ

  1. Got any nameplates to get an idea of how much grunt is needed? straight 24V powersupply may be the go as per will and ditch the batteries all together.
  2. small ali express 12V supply for each battery, brake lamp bulb in series to limit current. All up be less than $10
  3. Mate has a 4cyl petrol surf, temp sensor has rusted out of the catalytic converter. Unplugging the sensor doesn't seem to make any immediate difference, guessing swapping cat for a straight pipe is the go?
  4. Booked a table for 4@6pm Wednesday as starter, will add more as needed. Beers 477 Blenheim Road Sockburn Chch
  5. Is there enough interest to make a large booking? Register here and i'll book a table, otherwise happy to just roll up and grab a bar feed.
  6. A mate up here in Chch set up a router from the ground up based on Mach3, he spent countless days trying to solve small issues which ended up being hardware and windows related, as I understand, Linuxcnc keeps all the processing in house so many control issues are effectively non existent. His advice was to go direct to Linux on this machine, as God ThePog has also followed this route, that left me at -1 Mach3, +2 Linux. I've been put in contact with a fella Andrew up in New Plymouth who has done a few machines, he hooked me up with the breakout boards and has been quite helpful with practical advice so far.
  7. In Short, nah bro... Better chance solving Lucas production faults! I've earlier mentioned the pneumatic issues, the machine is listed as needing 220l/min air, which my compressor is capable of, but when plugged in all you can hear is hissing, from many places along with a rapidly dropping pressure gauge. Air enters the machine at a regulator, here it splits to a clean air feed and an oiled feed, these then head to 3 main banks of valves: On the chassis running parallel to the X-axis, these control the main distribution to the gantry, table controls (end stops and sucker position) and tool library. Second on the gantry, these control the spindle retraction, tool changer, hoods and various other functions The third bank is located on the toolhead, in addition to the two spindles, this machine has 18 drill heads, 6 horizontal drills, saw and surface finder, above each is a solenoid that controls the extension when the tool is called for. Sorry no picture because I still haven't pulled out the guards enough to identify them, but the drawings tell me they are in there, somewhere. As each tool requires an output, I don't plan on enabling them all, but at least one horizontal and the saw could be handy! Back to the air leaks.... I started by gathering up some blanking ports and methodically blocking off banks, starting from the main input and working back, I soon found various solenoids were leaking from their vents, blocking these off allowed working further down the line..... By the time I got to the gantry the list was growing, half the end stop solenoids are done but so far nothing I could live without. This is where it got interesting, during the initial pick up, the machine threw an alarm, the operator just said, 'oh, just give this bit a push' turns out that was the tool changer... With many leaks blocked off the compressor could finally keep up, manually operating the spindles was successful but the dust hoods were all over the show, as was the tool changer which refused to retract. Oh, did I mention the piece of timber blanking off the main spindle? With further digging, the tool changer is manipulated by the messy stack of solenoids that don't match the rest Yeah/nah, not something I feel like working out today! From the drawings, pilot air is used to combine various functions, while it makes sense on paper, the absolute mess needs to be untangled to properly evaluate, test, then reassemble to the drawings (And test again) I would carefully assume the main spindle has not run for some time and likely part of the machines demise, I have managed to enable the vsd and get the spindle to turn, so it is functional, just the state of the tool collet and changer is currently unknown. This was a pretty big sign to me that battling with the existing system was a stack of work with still not much chance of it doing what I want, but strip down, assess then rebuild to something that is useful will yield a pretty cool machine. The existing controller is about the size of a microwave, all the ribbon cables lead over to breakout boards which patch to the rest of the machine, I'm crossing my fingers that I can remove these breakout boards, replace them with the Mesa boards and replace the controller with a smaller desktop and screen.
  8. Oh heavens no, then i'd have to finish the kitchen, bathroom etc
  9. Quite likely this one, top bidder got cold feet over something trivial and pulled out, was offered for fixed price at that bid which I ended up with. In the current state, its a worn out joinery machine, most of the air leaks are busted solenoids and the usual signs of someone else having a fixed price poke around. From my investigations, I could trick it into doing fun stuff but that leaves many compromises with the risk (cos I don't rally have any experience with the control system) of a real fuck up. The existing control system is very specific to cabinetry and is barely 2.5d capable, as the servo drives are standard industrial units, the linuxcnc will be near plug and play for basic control, then getting the sub spindles and toolchanger working might take some time. Truth is this machine is a liability to a business, but insane value to a hobbyist (If I can make it go...) LinuxCNC hardware is on the way along with a pendant controller, once they turn up i'll start ripping out wires.
  10. How about a Wednesday night casual dinner at Beers on Blenheim road?
  11. Well, this was never part of the plan. Mate gave me a message one morning linking a TM auction "This will fit in your shed right" Well yeah...... Cool, I hit buy now. Umm, what? I was now obligated to arrange the pick up of a 3.5t Morbidelli cnc router, condition unknown. Much to my surprise, after arranging an inspection, the staff fired it up and gave me a quick demo, the nightmare of owning more scrap metal was diluted with hope, this may not be a terrible idea. Key issues at this point 1) Power, I live in the central city on 1ph power, I need to get 3ph 2)Transport, my truck has a 3.5t tow rating, that doesn't include the trailer right? 3) Shed space, currently the shed has a divider which was half knocked down to fit the Datsun 4) Sneak past her indoors..... First off, Power The same mate that dumped this on me also offered the loan of a 3ph rotary converter, this coupled with a tame sparky resulted in a trip to the wholesalers, cables, switchboards and various tidbits were stacked up and brought home, I dug a hole and laid a hefty cable. Issue 2 Transport Realising that shifting such a machine from the other side of the city was well outside Bunning's trailer abilities I gave up any thought of 'doin it cheap' and dialled for a HIAB, best move, the truck even managed to trim a few trees I had neglected... Issue 3 Shedspace With a router now sitting outside, multiple trips to the dump were made and the remains of the partition removed, shifting the router in was and interesting task, I had envisaged using dynabolts, 4wd winch and pulleys to get it in, thankfully the loadskates were efficient enough that a ratchet strap was plenty to move it in a more controlled fashion. I now have a very large hunk of steel sitting in the way, at least it makes a good table! Now all this did not take 'a few days' the router sat outside the workshop for at least a week as I toiled away, any hope of sliding it by without the girlfriend noticing was well lost, I may still be in debt a cake or 7. Just needing power hooked up and sign off by the sparky everything was go, until it wasn't. -Sparky had legit delays -Reality of the machine sprung a good deal of remorse. You see, the manufacturer Morbidelli are the type that decide to swim upstream and do thing just different enough that its recognisable but still not quite friendly, while this machine will do cabinet production well, it can't be tricked into making car bits, nor will it accept anything programmed by not their software. Once the sparky had called by and we fired it up, multiple air leaks meant nothing could be run as my small compressor couldn't get the pressure up. Crap. A shining light of the deal is a full folder of schematics, spending far too many weekends reading, I narrowed down the electrical faults, cleared one by one and isolated unrequired solenoid banks, after further poking through manuals it became very clear, this machine was here to make shelves, all else can go to hell. With various tricks and rewiring of circuits, we managed to function test the 3 different spindle drives, all three axes and the vacuum pump, with proof the mechanics are fine, round two can begin. I have ordered the hardware to hand over the controls to Linuxcnc, along with prioritising of the pneumatic controls, this should simplify the machine to something which is far more flexible than the standard function it has run. I also have some plans for the table and work fixtures, this machine is so heavy and rigid, I see no reason it can't mill aluminium and plastics which along with timbers, will be a pretty handy toy to have (well better be for the space it takes up) Stay tuned, as the parts arrive i'll document the conversion from Italian to LinuxCNC
  12. Fancy pants rental car I had could read speed signs and adjusted the speed warnings to suit, do any radars have that ability?
  13. Cheers mate, bloody router wasn't meant to be a project, but now i've poured so many hours into it going that little bit further to get proper functionality seems a logical step. And yes, takes up most of the garage, do not recommend.
  14. How's this going, specifically LinuxCNC? I've acquired an old Morbidelli, runs ok but the proprietary software is only good for carving up cabinets, looking to rip all the complexity out and retrofit with linuxCNC. Any issues you've had/do differently etc?
  15. All became too hard, went overseas for 5 weeks and just brought a new starter on return, have a set of oem brushes on the way from blighty so the original can sit on the shelf as a spare.
  16. Ended up going with Mackleys, bit of a fuck around on pick up from not being organised and had to trim a few trees for him to get down the drive, but came out at $400 for 2 hours if anyone was interested.
  17. Last few months haven't been so directly productive, I did give the garage a good reshuffle with the aim of allowing greater progress which was then destroyed in typical male impulse buying fashion.. A good mate forwarded the details of a CNC router going for a steal. "This will fit in your shed right?" ........Umm, yeah, I spose.... "Cool, Its yours" ........eh? Crap This has unfortunately been a massive timesink, new power cables to the shed, new distribution board and an even bigger clear out. It definitely will not lead to more distractions, well, not until the sparky manages to pop around and hook everything up! Sorry for the tangent, back to car: After 4 weekends of delayed action, I got started again on the Datsun, on what has to be the biggest, heaviest and inappropriately complicated workbench. I've carefully welded the new piece of skin onto the driver's door and now just carefully smoothing out the ripples, easy does it right? I'd love to say i'll start getting paint on, but with winter coming on, global warming will really need to pull a swifty to get it done. I do have grand plans of getting this to Nationals, will be tight, but no reason why not.
  18. Yep, gave them a call today, estimated ~$300 provided pickup isn't too gnarly, honestly cheaper than I was expecting.
  19. Who is the go to hire for a hiab, 3t item, pick up Belfast area, deliver Riccarton? Cheers.
  20. Most of the feedback i've read on china winches is they make the pull by lower gearing, you pay more for line speed at given pull.
  21. Run the winch off the starting battery so that it gets the grunt of the alternator to help it out, if its a legit Warn you should be able to find a 24V motor on ebay. I have read about guys running 12V motors on 24V, just need to watch the temps and accept they will die sooner.
  22. Man I likely spotted this at the same time you did, if I wasn't out on a work trip I would have jumped on it too, such a bargain! Although escorts aren't my flavour, the availability of spare panels makes them appealing projects to keep the hands busy. I wish you all the best with building momentum, you got this!
  23. Brake fluid is glycol based, ATF/hydraulic is mineral oil.
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