Drilling LOTS of holes in wood

[ChuckS]

Hi All,

One of my customers has need for custom pegboard. I just cut 17,000 holes in 5 sheets of 3/4" ply. I was in a hurry, and just put a 1/4" bit in my spindle. This is not good for the spindle. They are paying me enough to be worthwhile

Does anybody have an easy solution for mounting a drill or two to the z axis? There may be enough $$ flying around for a good solution, if anybody has any ideas.

Thanks!

[MarkRH]

Have had the same question Chuck, second z slide with a small drill motor would be nice but I dont know the software would work? Ive seen that set up on a homebuilt machine using vectric and mach.

[ChuckS]

I'm looking at adding a pair of spindles like linked below. Does anybody have any wisdom as to what powers these? I'm assuming a VFD. I'll message the company to see if I can get an info sheet or something. Linky: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ER20-Spindl...cfe9%7Ciid%3A1



Mark- what software questions do you have? Mach3 has a few different canned cycles for drilling (G81 & more), and offsets can be handled by using different offsets (G54, g55, etc)

[sphericos]

I could be wrong but looking at those spindles and the price I do not think they are self contained. I think the shaft would need to be fixed to a rotary power source of some kind. They do not seem to have any kind of wiring so a VFD would not help without a 3phase spindle to connect to the shaft and then why would you need this.

[ChuckS]

Aha! The lightbulb over my head went on!

[MarkRH]

Chuck my question would be how to control a second z with just a small drill on it, is it possible with mach? I looked at a used homebuilt machine yrs ago that had that setup but didnt get into specifics of how he reset z to make it drill?

[ger21]

Originally Posted by MarkRH

Chuck my question would be how to control a second z with just a small drill on it, is it possible with mach?

There are lots of ways to do it, but it depends on how you implement it.
I've been working on a dual Z axis router for a looong time, and was originally going to use Mach3, but have since switched to UCCNC.
My plan is to use the M6 macro to apply offsets, and swap axis.
You could add a piggyback spindle to the existing Z axis and raise and lower it with a pneumatic cylinder. That's probably the easiest way.

[ger21]

Shopbot offers an Air Drilling head, but it's $1750.

[MarkRH]

Thanks for your reply Ger, I dont understand macro's yet, the piggyback spindle sounds like a option, how would the drill being lowered by the air cylinder know its center? or can you apply offsets in the drill toolpathing program to compensate for that? and I guess the air cylinder would lower it and hit a stop? it would be awesome to have a simple dedicated drill motor mounted as a piggyback even if it were a reg small 3450 with a drill chuck on the shaft.

[ger21]

how would the drill being lowered by the air cylinder know its center?

You'd have the tool change macro call an offset.

and I guess the air cylinder would lower it and hit a stop?

Yes.

[MarkRH]

Found a old thread on air drill, Ger you are in it!
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228
Chuck did you ever think of stacking the sheets? if it was pegboard with the same layout , could have worked?

[MarkRH]

Does anyone know the measurement from the bottom of the collet to bottom of the z slide plate? Should the collet be able to hit the spoilboard ?

[jhiggins7]

You should have Z-slide Limit Stops per this POST by Gerald. These "stops" prevent the collet from hitting the spoilboard or the gas spring from reaching it's internal limit.

Hint: To find Gerald's post and other posts about "z stops" I entered into Google the following:

Site:mechmate.com z stops

As you probably know, the FORUM will not allow you to search for "short" words. A search for "stops" would be overwhelmed with everything about "all" stops.

[MarkRH]

I’ve read thru that and wondering should the collet be able to touch the spoil board? I’m mounting a 3kw spindle on the 10” slide, I guess I will lower the slide to bottom of travel, set the spindle in place with collet on board and mark it to mount it there?

[MarkRH]

John, I made the stops just shy of the internal limits of gas shock like you and the post mention. Mounted the spindle w/ collet 1/4" above spoil board at slides lowest point which leaves the collet nut aprox 1/4" lower than gantry tubes at its highest point. Sound about right?
The measurement from collet to slide plate 2 3/4"

[MarkRH]

Found this after it was already done,

November 2007, 04:36
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)

Cape Town
South Africa
Collet about 2" below the slide plate sounds fine.

This is an area that is never really discussed - thanks for highlighting it. As you noted, the further it goes below the plate, the less clearance you will have under the collet and cutter for loading thick jobs. However, if the router sits too high on its rail, the rail/slide collides with:
- edges of the job when cutting deep bowls for example.
- g-clamps used to hold the job down
- a dust collecting foot (which in itself is another can of worms