Well I don't have any photos that I have taken so no Mechmate sizing wine bottle in them.:D

But I being doing some work on the spindle coolant supply and I have read in a coupe of posts that a flow meter would be a very good idea. Now the flow meter that i have found only provide simple DC output pulses in proportion to supply voltage and fluid flow. Will the BOB i.e. pmdx-125 take the pulse or does it need a consent level ie high for on low for off (flow running or not) as I can make a PCB (EaglePCB) on the Mechmate to do this once it up an running.


http://www.jaycar.com.au/products_up...duct_13233.jpg


Digital Flowmeter Reed Switch Type 0.8 - 8 l/min

These flowmeters provide simple DC output pulses in proportion to supply voltage and fluid flow which makes interfacing easy. Both have impellers made from acetal and stainless steel shafts, so will work with low viscosity fluids.

Specifications:
• Switching voltage: 200VDC max
• Switching current: 500mA max
• Switching frequency: 500 Hz max
• Operating time: 0.5 ms.
• Release time: 0.2 ms
• Dimensions: 77(L) x 29(W) x 41(H)mm

http://www.jaycar.com.au/products_uploaded/ZD1202.pdf

Regards

Paul

I don't have a flow sensor yet on my machine. But i'm thinking of using the same sensor. I was going to make a simple charge pump circuit similar to what is used on the BOB's, but obviously a much lower frequency. The theory then is that as long as you have a certain number of pulses per second coming in, the output will be high otherwise the output will go low (or vice versa). I haven't done the calcs yet but i hope you can acheive a reliablt 'pump' with such a low frequency.

Been looking at the flow sensor circuit today. Taken from http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html#30

Working on the coolant system
 

I have been working on the coolant system. The flow sensor has NPT Male connectors, the screw on fittings are John Guest plus other fittings which will connect to the John Guest 1/4" tube which happen to be a perfect match to the coolant connectors on the spindle. The large 100mm pipe with the unistrut pipe clamps will be the tank for the coolant and will be bolted to the leg under the Mechmate table. The pump is a AquaBee not sure which one, details below but will test the resistant in the spindle and tubing but testing will work that out. Lucky that I have most of those pumps as spare for the Marine fish tank.


UP300 300L/H 4 Watts 0.6 Headheight in metres
UP500 500L/H 5 Watts 1.2 Headheight in metres
UP1000 1000L/H 10 Watts 1.3 Headheight in metres

Paul, Are those PVC pipe? PVC pipe are not known for their heat conductivity, you might not get much cooling with it.

Cooling is really not such a big problem with those chinese spindles. I was cutting now for almost 30 hours without major interuptions, my water tank is about 1 liter and the Spindle does not even reach handwarm temp. It is only recirculating, I don´t even have a radiator mount on the machine.
Good luck

Paul - the pump, pipes and reservoir are all well thought out. It is particularly good news to hear the pipe connection to the spindle has turned out for the best.
regards
Ross

Hi Paul,

Email sent this morning to PMDX regarding ordering our 4 x PMDX-125's
Good progress with the cooling system, with regards to the Pvc pipe being bolted to the leg we may have to relocate it, as we have 50 x 50mm rails running between the legs across the Y.
The height from the underside of the foot to the underside of the Y support channels is 650mm and the height from the underside of the foot plate to the underside of the 50 x 50mm rail is 155mm.

Bearing in mind we also have braces where these rails are. Check the drawing in my Journal to see what I am talking about.

Cheers
Tony.

Claus, thanks for the head up. I'm moving my attention to the spindle + VFD now.
My plan is simple, I visualize a close water circulating system using the pipe & tiny reservoir for radiating any heat... I visualize copper or Aluminum pipes in & out into a beer can with a pump submerge within the can. & a external tube level indication. All this will be on the Y-car or even better if I can hang the whole concoction beside the spindle.

Well I have been really sick with a lung infection and so far be off work for three weeks. I've put the spindle coolant work on hold as the drugs cloud the mind and don't what to make a mistake. We today I felt a lot better so I taken some photo's

Pic 1. I mounted the E-stop to Mechmate Controller Screen and it's the only place it will fit and mount the new key lock as well.

Pic 2 There are the 8 x proximity sensor I ordered a while ago.

Pic 3 Are the E-stop box's (buying 10 is cheaper than buying 8)

Pic 4 Are the buttons (8 of ea colour), 8x E-stops and one light stack I ordered a while ago

Pic 5 Are 35 x Double DIN Connector I ordered a while ago (Don't know if I will use then yet)

Pic 6 in the A-Justa-Foot 16mm and is rated for 1000kg plus the tap to suit.

That wine bottle has been empty for too long (maybe thats why the lungs are poorly, not enough lubrication :)) get well soon.

Hey! Nice Pat light! We have these on our machines in my trade and I was planning to put one on my MM until I say the price of them. You have some good quality components there for your build.

PS, your going to need some more wine! :)

All the e-stop, button switch's and stack light cost me less than AUD $200 including shipping and shipping was about AUD $50.

The details of the ebay seller are below I bought them over a year ago but are still selling them.


The ebay seller
http://myworld.ebay.com.au/hongkongsuperseller/



All the below link were done 18 Feb 2010


Here is 4 x E-stop @ USD $21.99

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4-Emergency-S...item45ef7e9642


Here is the stack light @ USD $29.99

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Tower-Signal-...item1c1025e506


The 4 x Green Button Switch @ USD $9.99

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4x-Telemecani...item1c0c315859


The 4 x Blue Button Switch @ USD $9.99

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4X-Telemecani...item439bd88edb


The 4 x Yellow Button Switch @ USD $9.99

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4x-Telemecani...item45ef9f0ab6

Pic 1 Last week I drill all of the E-stop box (All holes are the same size 22mm so switch's maybe move around if needed)

Pic 2 Is the USB to RS-485 converter for the speed control of the Huanyang VFD using the plugin for Mach3 that Matt has written see link below

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...6&postcount=95

Time for some more photo's


Close up of collect that I ordered a coupe of weeks ago

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941449

Showing the four sets that I bought for Myself and Tony(Aus Maddog)

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941449

Showing the size of the ER11 Collect against the MechMate Wine Bottle

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941449

The Power supply box out of the touch screen Computer ( http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...4&postcount=17 )

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941449

Showing the power supply box now with the MechMate power hardware mounted yet to be wired up

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941449

Showing the layout of the BOB and the gecko's that will be mounted the the front of the power supply box. Also showing the heatsink and the fan that the gecko's will be mounted on (Heatsink will be added to the top of the BOB mounting plate by a piece of angle Aluminum)

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1269941459

Pics not showing up?

Time for some more photo's (this time with photo hopefully)


Close up of collect that I ordered a coupe of weeks ago

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013340

Showing the four sets that I bought for Myself and Tony(Aus Maddog)
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013340

Showing the size of the ER11 Collect against the MechMate Wine Bottle

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013340

The Power supply box out of the touch screen Computer ( http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...4&postcount=17 )

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013340

Showing the power supply box now with the MechMate power hardware mounted yet to be wired up

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013340

Showing the layout of the BOB and the gecko's that will be mounted the the front of the power supply box. Also showing the heatsink and the fan that the gecko's will be mounted on (Heatsink will be added to the top of the BOB mounting plate by a piece of angle Aluminum)

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1270013349

Hey,

Whats going on Paul?? now you got your photos up twice lol !!

Cheers
Tony.

Tony….I goes to say, one should never mix alcohol & work :D

Maybe we all had a little bit of wine...seeing double

lol :D
I'm still seeing double this morning Robert, surely I did not have that much to drink last night ;)

Cheers
Tony.

I have purchase some heavy castor's for the table today for the table as tony and myself are building the table together here is my table and Tony's in behind
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...&postcount=141

Hopefully we will have Tony's table on it's feet this week-end.


PS the Mechmate wine bottle is to give some size. I will keep on using the same bottle to be consistent but many more will be drunk plus lot's and lot's from spirits for my still as well.

I forgot to say that they are only AUD $99 each incl GST (Goods and Sevice Tax) are are rated to 500kg each

Enjoying this build thread and learning a lot for my project. Thanks for the detail, photos and updates - they're really helping me see where I need to go.

Hey paul,

You will like the big castors on the MM. I move mine around constantly while I work on it. How are you going about attaching them to the table?

Travis

I'm going to mount a 50mmx100mm tube (Mounting plate on the castor is 100mmx175mm) at a 45% angle behind the leg ie between the front and back connect to the bottom rail as this will keep the caster is out of the way and I will not trip over it. I will take a photo when it's done in the next week or so.

Paul

Been working on the spindle Speed Control
 

Well A time of the Electronics update for both Tony (Aus MaDDog) and myself. I have being spending a day a week over at Tony house do the metal work for the so the updates have being slow.

Well wired the spindle to power and made it spin only for short periods of time (30-60s) as I don't have the coolant up and running yet. With Speed control with Mach 3 thanks to MattZee for the plug-in.

The first photo is of the the complete setup with the setup and also the EMI filters that will be installed. Yellow are the the powered coated iron Toroid core (VFD to Spindle) and the Black box with the silver label is the 240V AC EMI filter (Power Source to VFD)

The second photo shows the RS485 Wiring from the (USB converter to VFD) You will see that I grounded one end at the PC end (that's the shield cable)

The Third photo show the the VFD Wiring the black cable from the left-hand side the VFD power source and the right-hind side is the spindle cable.


(This is the test setup and not the final wiring cable types)

I have a lot of old PC power cables that I use for testing purpose


(Also these photos will help me when I finale do it for real as the cables maybe used of other testing etc or come off while moving it around )

Hi Paul

Thanks for the pics - I see exactly what the connections are now.

Regards
Ross

The Jog Controllers have a arrived
 

The Jog Controllers have arrived

An on-line shop was doing a Promotion on the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for windows and save about 25% or more on the standard price. And will be using the Xbox 360 Plug-in for Mach3 http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...c,12753.0.html


Regards

Paul

Paul welcome to wireless control, I have found it to be very easy to setup.

Although we have different systems, one experience I have had immediately comes to mind - be careful with the functions you assign to the buttons on the front of the game pad.
The front buttons are easy to press as you grab the controller, so make sure you assign non critical functions to these if you choose to program them.
Initially I had an estop and pause assigned to two of the four front buttons on my controller and was accidentally pressing them.

You might be less clumsy but good design always considers clumsy in the design !!

Regards
Ross