Kitamura Mycenter 1/485 Rebuild and Retrofit Diary

[travasky]

I went through the entire parts diagram book and ordered every last nut and bolt. The old hardware is nasty and will take far too long to clean. Itll be easier to start with fresh fasteners.

[martyscncgarage]

I agree with that statement. New hardware...
Keep plugging along!
Marty

[travasky]

Got the ATC all assembled. Was quite the feat making all the little parts to get it to servo belt drive from geneva mechanism. I made a new pulley, drive shaft, belt tensioner, homing sensor mount and adjustable homing flag. The ATC mechanism got brand new IKO cross roller slides for the push out arm and new thrust bearings for the carousel. New fasteners all around.

[TRM]

I have a Fadal TRM mill that I want to build a enclosed cabinet for. This build has my attention as I would like to see how the cabinet fits your mill.
Also what KW/HP spindle motor are you using? What did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

[travasky]

4kw continuous, 6kw peak. Motor was about $500 and the drive was around $350 if memeory serves.

[Commotion]

Great build thread. We have an old mazak v20 which we had to replace all the turcite in after discovering there was oiling issues on the y axis. When lifting the bed we found there were no oil grooves it had worn so bad. I have had it in the back of my mind what would we do with the thing if the control failed. It has a rather complicated tool changer with its own control board... which it turns out we had to have replaced several months ago. That may or may not make a retrofit easier. I look forward to seeing the progress on this projects.

[travasky]

Thanks. I looked up some pictures of your Mazak. That side mount carousel is huge! Pretty neat looking. With the ADD boards there is certainly enough IO to handle even the most complicated tool changers. It'll come down to PLC programming. As long as you know the sequence of events that needs to take place and which inputs need to be watched for each event Centroid can work with you on making a program to accomplish it. I don't know what the board you just replaced accomplishes but Id personally avoid any hardware between the Centroid boards and the final components. Just one less level of abstraction to deal with.

[travasky]

I never imagined that rebuilding a VMC would involve body filler, but it does (at least in the case of Kitamuras of this vintage). Several key machine parts were coated with filler to conceal the rough surface finish of the raw castings. The filler was removed at the same time the paint was so Im having to recoat and sand as I go. Z axis head is the last part. Im using Evercoat Rage Ultra. Sands so much better than Bondo but is a good 30-40% more expensive. Worth it IMO.

[travasky]

And primed...

[travasky]

I got new wipers on the way covers today and primed my last parts. Old ones weren’t wiping a dang thing.