| Author |
Message |
    
Dick van Randen
Registered
Username: Dvanr
Post Number: 2
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 02:08 am: | 
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Would a tapered dovetail be a good way to load and unload tools from a Z-axis? Are there better ways?
I still want to redesign the Z axis using THK slide type bearings , but would also like to have the ability to load and load tools quickly and accurately.
ie two or three of the same router with a specific bit. |
Gerald_D
Registered
Username: Gerald_d
Post Number: 148
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 06:54 am: |
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I had thought of a tapered dovetail but then I wondered how I was going to get the thing to lock up at the right z-depth, how to release it, and how to keep it clean. It just seemed like something that had to be made very precisely to get it to work, and then it would have to work in a less precise/dirty environment. Plus, the height of such an assembly would push the router far from the z-rail.
That's why I opted for this system:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/2/4095.html |
Dick van Randen
Registered
Username: Dvanr
Post Number: 3
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 09:42 am: |
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The Z-depth I'm not worried about. A fixed Z plate in the table area would check the bit each time a new tool is cycled through.
I think the overall precision only has to be better or as good the current Z design. yes/no?
The height off of the back is a bit of a problem. (Something to mull over while sitting in traffic.)
Yes , I remember the system you built. I mounted my router in a similar fashion minus the locating pin. It works very well but takes a few minutes to mount and unmount.
For the idea to be of any use , the change over would have to be done in considerably less time than swapping a bit in and out and re-zeroing.
I reackon there is an additional benefit in saving wear and tear on the collets as well. |
Gerald_D
Registered
Username: Gerald_d
Post Number: 149
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 10:23 am: |
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Many lathes have a Multifix quick-change tool holder, but that is a bulky beast. A nice principle of it though is that the tool slides down from the top (on parallel dovetails?) and a top lever does only a quarter turn for a cam to pull the tool tight against the "dovetails". On that system however, the tool force is always downwards. |
Mike John
Registered
Username: Mikejohn
Post Number: 12
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 03:27 pm: |
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We fixed large camera parts in aircraft with what we called a wedge plate.
I will think it through, see if the idea can be adapted for this need.
............Mike |
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