The next version, absolutely But with the way the weapon axle mounts it wont fit in the current chassis as it'd be impossible to assemble. The nats version looks like itll have a right angle drive.

Cheers anyways
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Progress:

Its been so cold this week that I have been doing workshop stuff in 15 minute shifts - basically the time it take to lose all feeling in my frozen hands. The magic super heavy duty tapping oli failed to arrive on time, so I finished several sets of forks for the new bot:



Along the way, I discovered that the very thin swarf from the countersinking is extremely flammable, at least as good as pure magnesium ribbon. The workshop is still standing but I had blind spots for ages from the flash.

CNC:

Work started on a CNC controller cabinet, partly 'cause I can do the work inside in some warmth. It uses a large plastic electrical cabinet and is designed to be an 'all-in-one' unit with the controller PC, screen and everything else inside:



There will be an HDPE stand and keyboard tray so the controller can work on a desktop or mounted on the side of an enclosure.

The box came with a handy steel plate to mount the power supplies on. The PSU for the steppers is 12.5A and could be upgraded to 20A in the future.



All the electronics mounts on this aluminium panel, which is hinged to swing out when the door of the enclosure is opened. The PC and drive mount on the underside of the panel so there is plenty of room for more parts in the future. I included a 4th channel for a rotary table as a bit of future proofing.



More future proofing: there are enough ports for four channels with limit switches and plenty left over. I am really hating these Canon connectors; every brand has a slightly different panel cut-out and even the same brand has different cut-outs for connectors with different pin-outs



VFD:

I finally had enough of the crappy and noisy motor on the drill press, so its getting upgraded to a more powerful VFD driven 3 phase unit. The motor arrived super fast from Conon Motors - very impressed with their customer service so far . I picked up a nice European VFD for about $100 more than the equivalent Chinese item; it does vector control and appears to have many more programming options - a shame it will take another week or two to arrive.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Shiny:

The Tap Magic finally arrived and I had to try it right away. Its VERY thick, like honey and sticks to the tap without running off. It made tapping the M12 holes in the side panels very easy, it was more like tapping mild steel than titanium.



I can't say its 'the best' but its so much better than the general purpose oil that I was using that I can really recommend it. I'm going to try it while drilling out the smaller holes for tapping; it should make that easier too.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Nick do you ever use power tapping with 3 different sized taps-i shove it in the drill using the round part of the tap- that way it spins in the drill before it snaps- i never tried ti though
_________________
Miles Blow - Julie Pitts
www.mulesfilm.com.au
www.wombokforest.com.au

-Pickasso- Vivid Sportsman champion 2015

I sometimes do that with aluminium although I just use one tap with a spiral point rather than a set of taper / intermediate / plug taps. I use the spiral point taps for everything except getting right to the bottom of blind holes - if nothing else, it saves money.

When I get the VFD on the drill press, I might use power tapping more as its so easy to use low speeds and to reverse the tap out.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Still loving the Tap Magic - 22 holes drilled & tapped without any dramas, which is a huge turnaround from last time!



The dispenser on the bottle isn't the best, so I loaded up a 50Ml syringe for mess-free precision application. The work went so quickly that I had plenty of time to reassemble Shiny V1 - it just needs the electronics board installed to be ready for the Nats.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

VFD:

Some more parts for the VFD conversion arrived; just enough to make a mock-up of the control panel. It uses proper industrial control switches and the whole enclosure should be splash-proof when finished:



Digi-key have some of the switch parts on back order, so I can't finish the panel for several weeks yet - plus I have NFI about doing the digital speed display yet.

Shiny 1.1:

All the frame parts are finished; its almost time to add the titanium glue:


_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

VFD upgrades:

The VFD arrived early, making it the #1 priority weekend project. All the basic wiring to the motor is done and once the 240V in is wired, I can try a quick run-up before everything is bolted down.



I realised there was no fancy multi-core shielded cable in stock, so I made my own with this steel cable armour - looks pretty neat .



The VFD is mounted on an angle plate so the belt tensioner is still accessible; it won't get much use but you never know when an extra-super-slow speed might be useful. The next major task is getting the old motor and it's pulley off the drill press - not easy when it is wedged into a corner. The pulley needs boring out to 24mm and broached for an 8mm key to suit the new motor - I don't know why they had to use such a big shaft .
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Well, that escalated fast!

I just couldn't stop taking bits off the drill press and now there isn't much left:



All the wiring ran under the belt cover and that meant taking off all the pulleys as well, so one thing led to another and now the drill weighs much less . The motor pulley is on the lathe and being bored out to 24mm; once that is done, the drill press can start getting reassembled.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

it looks more specialised now that its stripped down so will the new mod give more torque/power?
_________________
Miles Blow - Julie Pitts
www.mulesfilm.com.au
www.wombokforest.com.au

-Pickasso- Vivid Sportsman champion 2015

I am not sure about more torque as the VFD has less torque at low speed, even with the fancypants vector control. The new motor has a more powerful and supposedly high efficiency motor, so that's a definite improvement. The main improvements I really want is less vibration and ease of changing speeds.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

VFD:

Getting the stepped pulley fitted to the new motor was a real struggle! The motor shaft was nearly as wide as the root of the smallest pulley, so I had to machine it off - I doubt I will miss the lowest speed. Broaching the keyway was the hardest part; the broach barely fits in the press:



The broach completely jammed on the 2nd pass and I couldn't get it thru, even hanging all my weight off the end of the lever. In the end, that Tap Magic cutting oil saved the day and after slathering it on the broach, I just managed to get the keyway cut.



The VFD is running on the bench and the motor is very quiet; just a low whirr in the background. Compared to the shaking and screaming from the old motor, that's worth the cost of the upgrade itself.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

The keyways seem outlandishly large on the conon motors, might have to recruit your help to make a smaller one for my lathe soon, mine is horrendous lol!

Where about's are you getting the broaches and key cutters from anyways. Looks like they can be had individually for ~$80 locally, does that seem high or about the norm?
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

The keyways are the standard size size for the motor shaft - I can't see how Conlon justifies a 24mm shaft on a 1.5KW motor though. $80 is a pretty good price, particularly if it includes the guide and the shims. I got two local prices around $100 before buying the 8mm broach kit from MSC for under $60.

Let me know when you want some help, I have plenty of spare time.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Drill press upgrade:

I took even more of the drill press apart and made this swanky rolling base for it. Hammertone paint FTW:



The castors are clever; they have little levelling legs that screw out to stabilise the drill on the uneven and sloping workshop floor:



Now I just have to find a way to lift & position the drill column while I get the bolts back in the base - it might need a temporary crane. Once that's done, the new motor will be bolted on an I can use the drill press again.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion