limit switches

[superpot]

please let me know if I have shared the photo link correctly as I have never done this before, Jeff

[martyscncgarage]

Most people use GOOGLE PHOTOS not Google drive, but your photos are viewable.

[superpot]

Thanks Marty

I have tried in google photos and heres the link. It is a learning curve for me so hopefully next time I'll get it right.

https://photos.google.com/u/0/album/AF1 ... YOh7EtM0ds

[martyscncgarage]

Thanks Marty

I have tried in google photos and heres the link. It is a learning curve for me so hopefully next time I'll get it right.

https://photos.google.com/u/0/album/AF1 ... YOh7EtM0ds

Link does not work. Don't copy the URL. From the album click Share, create link, then share that link

[superpot]

lets see if that works....

[martyscncgarage]

lets see if that works....

Working now.

[superpot]

thanks for letting me know

[Muzzer]

Nice looking machine. Should work well once you've got it sorted! You may wish to move the monitor out of the work area if you plan to make good use of the machine's capabilities. Similarly, the Z axis ballscrew is going to attract a lot of crud.

The problem with only having one hard limit switch on each axis is that you can jog the machine past the other end if you haven't remembered to home it. Depending on how your machine is constructed and how powerful the motors are, this could be expensive. Imagine running your machine at full speed into the physical stop - whatever that may be on your machine (ballnut, end bracket...). Not something I'd make a habit of.

You might wonder why you'd manually jog the machine before you have homed it (you might even choose to prevent that in the config)? But when you park the table in mid position, it will take a very long time to home from there each time and you may soon tire of the wait. At this point you will manually jog the table close to the home position, ideally without getting to the limit switch.

You also need to ensure the servos can stop the axis safely if you jog into the limit switch at full rapid speed. This will be a particular risk if you have turned your jog speeds up to the max, inspired by Youtube Warriors showing off their rapids.

My machines have limit switches at both ends of travel, plus home switches a short distance from one end. That's how my bigger machine was originally manufactured, so far be it from me to think I know any better. The limit switches should never be needed but I can tell you that they have had their moments, usually when configuring the machine.

So you need a gap between the limit switch and the physical end of travel - and a gap between the limit switch and the home switch. Without much thought, you can lose a lot of your available travel this way, which is particularly critical on the Z axis of a turret mill like this.

[superpot]

Thanks Muzzer. the monitor is on a swinging arm so can easily be swung out of the way and I have the cover for the Z axis its just removed for mounting and wiring the switches. I decided on what I consider a novel way of mounting the acorn board to the "roof" of the control box and have space there prepared for the vfd for my additional 24k rpm water cooled spindle which will be mounted on a home made aluminum bracket attached to the spindle on the odd occasion I need to uses such a spindle for engraving or small cutter milling. This may need some extra thought when it comes to setting up the Z axis home position as I have to drop the quill down by about 25mm to mount the bracket for that spindle and if I homed it in the present set up it would surely crash and push the bracket off the quill but for now I need the machine running and to learn how to use CNC12.
I will post an album of the machine project once its all sorted and working.

[superpot]

Update :- I have got my machine to home in the position of the table all the way forward and all the way to the left which suits me just fine and in the correct order Z up, Y forward and X to the left.

However I have another question due to me having the 4th axis on the machine ( this will not be used on many occasions and may even be totally removed from the machine table at times) When I went to home the machine it goes through the motions of Z,Y,X but then looks to the A axis which rotates continually due to it not having a switch on it. Can I disable the 4th axis from the homing sequence in order to continue somehow? If so can someone please explain it to me? Thanks