April 2023 - Progressing on with the CNC conversion.

In these next stages we continue to make more progress on the enclosure and fit a coolant system, we also choose  what type of tool holder system to use and how to implement it in to our spindle using a standard 3/4" R8 collet.

We needed to cover all the electrical parts inside the machine, here are some of the servo covers we made. 

Next is some finishing touches to the enclosure.

Next up is the coolant system,  We went quite basic on this one but it does work very well for our needs. 

We originally went for a full neat cutting oil flood coolant system but that was way too messy and very expensive for the oil at around £130 for 25L so after about a month of everything completely coved in cutting oil we gave in and went to a water based coolant, we settled on Qualichem Xtreme Cut 250C a premium, heavy-duty semi-synthetic fluid suitable for most applications. 

After a few months of running this system we added an inline filter to the output of the coolant pump to help with clogging and spraying metal particles back in to the cutting tool. 

Once all this was out the way the machine was basically ready to use but there was one very big problem! if we were going to make anything in reasonable quantities there will need to be a way of changing the tools over quicker as the machine only had a manual draw bar to secure the tools in to its R8 collet this involved allot of repetitive strain so something had to be done about it.

We decided to go with the TTS style tools and make our own power drawbar system that uses compressed air to operate.  We also found a very reliable source of TTS style tool holders in the UK from the following company..  https://emvioeng.com/ 

With that we needed to design and make a compete system that will allow us to remove and install tools at the press of a button.  An automatic tool changer would be nice but that is off the cards for now.

Below are some photos of the power draw bar system we designed and made with a combination of the CNC machine and manual lathe.

So now we actually might be able start work on the prototype of the tonearm and record clamp we have been designing.

We also still need to complete the 4th axis install but even up to this day in April 2023 we haven't done this so it will be on the list of things to complete in the 2nd half of 2023.

Here are some more photos of the rack for our TTS tool holders, when we designed this we thought 12 tools would be plenty but this very soon filled up and with some parts taking up to 15 tools or more we will be sure to make another one to attach to the opposite side of the machine. 

Again with all the sheet metal parts we had the rack laser cut and bent at a local engineering firm, they were then deburred and painted with epoxy paint for long service life and durability.