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Recently converted my lathe to VFD and I think am getting EMI interference on my RELS as the z axis motor judders and misses some steps. I thought it may be the encoder cable picking up and I grounded the outer sheath mesh but it didn't improve matters. Should I filter the 240v line in to the inverter as well. Any suggestions would be appreciated

3D printed a encoder box and lid. Helps keeping the chips and coolant away from the encoder. It just sits on the top of the 7 x lathe headstock with double sided tape. Also I am currently making a spare Joystick controller, 3D printed the base and lid that holds the joystick and limit switches. I hope of interest. -- John

Hello, All, I have been considering a conversion of my mini-mill to CNC. I don't do any commercial machining, only my own projects, many of which are tools and accessories for other machine tools. Do you think a mini-mill CNC conversion is worthwhile, and what would you do with it? I also realized that I am not fully aware of what the finished CNC mill consists of, or HOW you use it. For example, when wishing to do a simple machining operation, I know there is an electronic control box that is used; no more cranking the handles. But how do you get your CNC-machined part to, well, machine? Let's say I draw up a 3D model. I know how to do that because it's necessary for my 3D printer. But if I now want to machine this part, what do I do? I think that there is some kind of CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) program in which I define which end mills and such to use, and then define "tool paths" of where the tools will actually move, but I am not sure. Is the CAM program completely independent from the CAD system? Or must they be related? Can I draw a 3D part with Fusion 360, for example, and then use a separate CAM program to specify the end mills and define the tool paths? Any enlightenment would be appreciated. -- Regards, Charlie New Jersey, USA MURPHY'S CONSTANT: Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.

Printed a couple of calibration cats.Basically the STL is for calibration. STL is available off the web, any problems I can send it from here. First a standard size basically 20 mm square 30 mm tall.second at 300% scale. I checked my print and the X Y Z dimensions, X 59.85 Y60.15 X 90.2.mm Good enough for using wood impregnated filament I think.Suggest that you calibrate 3D printers on a regular basis. But this is a fun project to do, and make good gifts for small kids. I printed one about a year ago, and gave it to my local bar owner Diego?s niece of 6 years old. She came back with it 3 months later nicely painted. Diego offered the calicat Olives in the photo LOL. The finish can be improved by slow feed rates and lower Z steps.It can be sanded and looks like your typical fiber board. The wood impregnated filament must be kept in a warm store area and very susceptible to attracting moisture. Truly recommend to members too by a spool and have fun. -- John

I enjoy working with Arduino's and making useful projects with them. I am not a real great programmer, but I can usually understand or figure out how a sketch works. I have successfully built a Arduino based control setup to run my rotary table. I studied several others work and combined pieces of sketches to make the controller do what I wanted. For example, I modified my sketch to include input from a 4x4 matrix keypad, making data entry easier. My current project id using an Arduino Uno to read the data from a cheap Chinese digital Caliper (think Harbor Freight in the US). I have two sketches that work, one displays the correct measurement in inches, and one works if the caliper is in mm mode. I cannot figure out how to get the two functions into one sketch. I had this working a few years back, including using bluetooth to send the data to an Android Tablet running Youri's Touch DRO. I somehow lost the working sketch, and am now trying to get it working again. Anyone here played with this concept?

Photo of a ER 20 collet tray as mentioned previously by members. The finish could of been better and but I just wanted to see the results of high feeds and 0.38mm steps per layer using a .4 mm dia nozzle. Hope of interest. -- John

This week. Printed 2 x trays for holding my ER 32 collets. Trays fit in the mill table drawer. Originally they were loose in flimsy cardboard boxes, designed with the ER 32 16 degree inclusive taper. Also useful for storing eggs during Easter egg hunts. LOL Hope of interest. -- John

This week Finished the new Mk 2 gear reduction unit. Frame CNC milled, gears CNC cut. Bench tested, surprisingly not noisy. Mk1 Gear Reduction gears are nylon, they have never been a problem, but the 125 mm dia mm now being my predominant chuck of choice, the phosphor bronze gears will be stronger on spindle start ups. -- John

Something a bit smaller than the ER 32 trays.and I hope of interest to all my forum members. This is what makes this forum so different from the other stereotype forums, so basically as long as posts have a modern approach "hobbyist" flavour then there really is no OT. This includes woodworking but not the actual chain sawing of the tree. I wanted to be a tree surgeon, but could not deal with the sight of sap LOL . My local friends hobby is model railways.He builds everything from kits and I step in now and again if he needs lathe, mill ,3D work doing. See video link and if time permits see all his You tube videos Byford model trains.videos. Very impressive, again another (how I envy) electronics engineer. All his locos (30 +) are controlled by a hand held box, the locos have a recognition system inside with a IPS code and he just taps in a 4 digit code, and away goes the loco in either F and R. The track switching is also electrically controlled in conjunction with the red and green traffic light system. IE The trains come up to a red light, it stops, and will not move until the lights turn green, how crazy is that. All trains have individual sound systems etc etc.automatic turn table again see videos. Full marks to Richard Hollows of Spain for the hours hes has spent.. Richard being from a Yorkshire wool mill town, Byford, wanted some realistic looking wool baskets. So he asked me if I could 3D print some scale basketsI said, I will give it a try.Size 12mm Long 9 mm wide 9 mm high. Tiny. So after designing from a 1945 photo of a wool basket and using a .2 mm dia nozzle, (first time) on the 3D printer the weaving details came out reasonably well.and I printed 28 at at a time.time to print 1 3/4 hours. Also printed 4 baskets with a hinges and hollow inside, the wool seen inside is a "q" tip.Tiny. Already Richard has sprayed them with a mini paint gun to simulate that "worn" effect. Hope of interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g698qmUhd0Y -- John

Posted as maybe of interest to our members. Just run a trial cutting ally, brass, plastic, PCB, laminates. Quite impressive. Solid carbide. Maybe OK for mild steels, I will let you know. https://www.banggood.com/5pcs-6mm-Shank-Single-Flute-End-Mill-Cutter-Set-CEL-32mm-Tungsten-Steel-CNC-Bits-p-1098432.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN -- John

Steps. see drawing. but the principle is good for any size keyway to be cut. Turn the outer holder shank to suit. In this case, drill and ream 4 mm dia. Open up the end to 5 mm dia, finish with a 5 mm end mill to create flat bottom.depth important. Turn a up a spud, note dimensions. Slot with a 4 mm wide slitting saw to 4.2 mm deep. as you need a bit of daylight between the end of the brazed spud and the cutting bit, this ensures the grub screw holding the bit comes down fully. Push the spud into the slot of the holder, and braze. This creates the square (rect) for the bit. 4mm x 4.2 mm. Final op, back onto the lathe and drill and tap the end 4 mm x .75. Tool bit made from 8 mm dia drill rod, or Silver steel.using a 5 or 7 degree end mill. Hold in a J Stevenson 4 sided block. Mill all sides to 4 mm square. IE important remove 2 mm per side.using the base of the endmill. Turn 90 degree in the JS block. Using the side of the endmill mill the side rakes. to leave a witness. Mill the front rake using the side of the mill. Rotate the JS block 180 degrees and tilt using a angular parallel say 5 degrees and with the end of the mill, finish the top rake again to a witness. Harden and temper the bit and slice off with a Dremel. to suit the final length required. I prefer to leave the drill rod longer during making the bit, you need to allow extra length when holding in a collet, and something to grip on when dunking in oil during harden and temper process, put the bit into the holder after HT and Dremel off.Sparks will also tell you the HT is correct. Naturally the bit cannot be longer than the bore of the keyway to be cut, neither can the diameter of the holder bit end. Example, 10 mm dia gear bore, 4 mm wide keyway. holder entering the bore, will be 7.8 mm. or slightly less. The cutting end of the bit can be exposed say 1.5 mm. This means you can cut 1.5 mm deep of key, move back to start position, move the bit out 1.5 mm and repeat to final depth. Normally keyway depths be it in the spindle (slot) or gear are 1/2 the size of the key.The idea of square bits is that you can slide in and out of the holder without fear of rotating it and losing side position. Sounds confusing but doing it you will get the idea. Very quick to make, and reliable. Hope of interest. -- John

To cold to play here this Sunday morning, relatively I know even colder or hotter for other Aussie members, so i am messing about playing catch up on the forum. GR Mk 2, photo and video of the system when powered up. I have a spare motor and control box, ( this one just repaired by Richard UK) thanks mate. -- John

Probably should have changed the subject rather than hijacking your post. Sorry. Two other parts of this project are the HV power supply control. The board on the left has a relay and FET that shunts the power supply to either clamp an over voltage transient from a decelerating motor or when power is removed to discharge the capacitors as quickly as possible. The board on the right receives it's control signal from the PIC processor on the Power Control board to limit inrush current on the AC side into the transformer. Two seconds later it closes and shorts out this relay. I also 3D printed a box that sits on the back mill power control box (Grizzly G3616 mill) and has two electronic circuit breakers that show voltage and current. One supplies 220VAC to the 24V power supply, PMDX-126 and the PC/Monitor. The other supplies AC to the big supplies for motor motion. An ESTOP/FAULT removes power from all motion components while leaving the PC alive. John

Always a popular topic. Swapped my original plastic handwheel after it broke at the hub, made an aluminum large replacement. Then got around to fit on a graduated ring, engraving done with an #ESI Interesting, one complete turn moves the saddle 19.07 mm, that is why the grad collar reaches 19.not as you would expect 20 This graduations on the handwheel was very useful as a guide in the past, but now has become secondary, but 3 years ago I fitted a DRO?s on the X and Z axis. but no DRO on the Y axis as i do not have a compound slide anymore., IMHO not necessary with the ELS fitted.A real flimsy design. Also a few years ago, I dumped the knuckle buster X and Y axis handwheels IMHO ( an awful design) for the larger conventional round types. from the photos, Note the feed screw covers, these really work out well keeping the chips and crud off the split nuts. Some Real Bull lathes shipped to Australia, this was a standard fitting, but got mine through Amadeal UK. Hope of interest. -- John

Hello, All, I have been busy pushing to get my RELS system up and running. The mods to the lathe are all done. As to the electronics, I have finished the power supply and joystick modules, and am working on the control module now. See photos. Topmost display in the control module is a tachometer; I didn't realize it was so large when I ordered it! The blue, plastic "cap" on the top of the power supply module is a 3D-printed exhaust port. A 120 mm fan is mounted in the bottom of the module, and acts to blow air into the module through a filter. (The module will be mounted suspended off the floor, so there will be ample space for it to draw air.) This creates positive pressure inside the power supply, and should help prevent the entry of dirt, dust and chips. The exhaust port makes the air take a 180 degree turn before exiting, in order to further minimize dirt, dust and chips from entering the module. This module itself contains the stepper power supply (36 volts/11 amps), two stepper drivers, a voltage "buck" converter to provide 12 volts for the other modules and the fan, the fan itself, and a circuit breaker and a power switch. I happened to have the very large housing; it originally contained a HUGE Israeli linear power supply from 1950-something, which I stripped out to reuse the housing. And, before anyone comments, "yes", the power supply design is definitely overkill! The joystick module housing is 3D-printed; the design is John Lindo's, I just rearranged the components to suit my needs. -- Regards, Charlie New Jersey, USA *MURPHY'S CONSTANT: Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.*

Here is an example of some very simple printing to allow me to mount PCB's onto a chassis plate or wherever. Just a couple of pieces of Industrial quality double sided (foam) tape on the back and the job is done. The PCB's are Superglued onto the backings. Richard

Les and forum. Please see attachments.not in any order. I will ask Charlie to send photos (jpg?s) of the nut installed as i cant find any in my files. I made 2 versions, solid cast iron and a 2 part phosphor bronze which i prefer. The CI nut was back bored to produce the spigot with a Whaulopter "wally" boring head. A full article is available from Home Shop Machinist, I am sure G Bulliss editor and forum member will oblige if you need any further help Charlie meticulously prepared the article for publication as he is brilliant at this technical write up stuff, I am useless, also he fitted a conning tower nut to his lathe. Hope of interest -- John