If you drill the top 1.5mm of the M8 threaded hole (before threading) with an 8mm drill then the top part of the thread will not protrude above the top surface of the plate, even when the screw is tightened, leaving the plate surface flat. This is a common practice on aluminium parts in engines (apparently).
Very nice. Looking forward to the next part of the build log. I hope for you that there will be no need for tilting "forward and backwards", that is where the "fun" begins...
James, thank you for all your nice uploads. One suggestion; why not reduce the diameter of the head of the shoulder bolt to accommodate more room for the cam bolt. The hex of the cam bolt can be rounded of also to create more space for mounting the spindle plate. Maybe for others who want to have some more room to move. Best, Job
Such a clear demonstration of how essential a DRO is for a vertical mill. I recently performed almost the same operation as you. It was the first time I used my newly installed DRO to machine an adapter plate for my CNC router. It’s such a thrill to do something so precisely. eyeballing center punch marks just won’t cut it anymore
@@JasperJanssen I have ADHD. I can’t count revolutions if my life depended on it. At this point I’d say that if your mill doesn’t have a DRO, your machine is incomplete.
Good looking assembly, James! I’m glad to see someone else do sanity checks when making things that aren’t intended to go together. Although I have a 3D printer, I work in 2D on a Mac for my machining design work and use free, online 3D CAD for models for the printer. For real-world checking I use use heavy card stock (junk over-size postcard mailings work great, and it’s an excellent way to put the political advertisements to good use) and glue-stick a 1:1 printout to try things out.
I was short on ideas as to how to build in some precise tramming in the ZX plane. Upgrading the better part of the Z axis Ass'y and was struggling with the means to do so. Never heard of Eccentric Bushings. It'll be tight dealing with the 3/4" hex mind you. Thanks Clough42
Machine tool builders would drill and ream tapered pins that have a tapped hole in end between two aluminum plates after tramming. Adds rigidity, then if you wreck it and need to tram again you slide hammer pins out, retram, reream holes and reinstall pins. The motor would be spring pinned to plate
A lot of pinning would be needed--all the way through to the Z axis of the machine, and then the Z axis would need to be pinned to the X axis. Since everything is in T slots, getting that done right would be a pretty good trick.
@@Clough42 na...i got faith in ya. Once its done rigidity would be greatly improved. Once that stuff is straight and tight, a Milwaukee and a hand reamer is all it takes.
That only covers the b axis. How do you handle the a axis? Also, look into vibratite for a threadblocker. Personally I would use progressive packs of full width shim stock to handle the a axis if there is no adjustment and I'd consider adding more bolts and t nuts, you will want to use a torque wrench, a consistent tightening pattern, and progressive tension to make multiple reassembly consistent. Once it's dialed in and consistent I'd use a low strength epoxy like gflex to try and make it monolitic, it will help a bunch with harmonics. If you plan on using this as a mill or drilling steel you will probably want to buy a proper iso30 test bar to get it trammed and square after it's on a permanent stand and set in it's permanent place. Routers flex a ton when moving them around. Personally I'd disassemble the whole thing after it's on its stand and in the final place to square all the linear guides. To get really good results, get an autolevel and a real optical scale if you can't build it on top of a surface plate to square it up.
I have a FM30C spindle for my router (that I found thanks to you) and I love it. The tool changing is a game changer. Gets a little hot sometimes but other than that, it’s awesome
A consideration regarding a washer on the shoulder bolt: for that bolt to act as a "precision" pivot it needs to bottom on its shoulder. To maintain that the washer's thickness can not exceed the current gap under the head... McMaster to the rescue again with round shims!
It wouldn't matter after the other 3 bolts are tightened down. Without a washer under the head, only the other 3 bolts are holding the plate on. By adding a washer after, you gain an extra fastener.
It really doesn't need to locate perfectly in this scenario. I'm going to be pushing the spindle around until it's trammed, and if it wanders a bit on the pivot, it doesn't really matter.
You should use a tapping head. Tapping on a milling machine in this way can completely kill the threads, especially the first few millimeters. Without a tapping head, manual tapping is the best option.
@@Clough42 No reason to feel attacked. If you use a marker to be sure not to ruin the original Avid mounting plate while drilling, then some caution when tapping makes sense to me. Sorry to bother you with my well-intentioned comment.
I don't know if this is a "pro tip" or not, but if you ever find the spindle is slipping a bit against the back plate you can use a tiny bit of the friction paste that comes with carbon fiber bikes on the interface between the spindle and the tramming plate. Works good in other bolt-together assemblies, too.
10:35 .200" diameter edge finders are 5.08mm diameter and thus 2.54mm radial which should be an easy number to remember since its the same (other than decimal shifted left one place) as the 25.4 conversion factor number for switching between inch and mm so you really shouldn't need to switch to imperial to get on center from edge
If someone were to give me a quality set of metric drills, I'd use them. Given that drills aren't really precision tools, I can get close enough with the three sets (fractional, number, lettter) drills I already have. If the size really matters, I'll be running a reamer through it anyway.
James, since you do so much with metric threads, you need to bite the bullet and invest (or start investing) in a complete set of high-quality metric drills. I'm thinking of doing the same since I doubt that I have _any_ metric drills in my shop. Cha-ching! $$$ ;)
If anyone is looking for those cam thingies, they're called "Hex Flanged Eccentric Bushings" or just "Eccentric Bushings" at places like McMaster and Misumi.
Hi James, in the metric world it is deemed superfluous to state the number of threads when speaking of metric bolts and nuts. M6 always has the same amount of threads. If it differs, it is refered to as metric fine. Thén stating the number of threads.
For basic stuff maybe but that's simply not true. I've worked with M16x.75mm and M16x1mm and M16x1.25mm, none of which are standard M16 threads, and that's just the most varied example, there are many different thread pitches for metric bolts. When you're talking about machined threads it's especially true. When I cut threads I tend to stick to the same thread pitch over a range of sizes, so for M12 to M18 I almost always pick 1.5mm, for M6 to M11 I tend to prefer 1.25mm. Non-ISO thread pitch metric fasteners are a thing.
@@WillemvanLonden those are ISO standard yes but bolts in many threadpitches, as I just told you I worked with M16x.75mm LH, as you can imagine it was a very fine thread and totally non-standard. When you deal with a lot of weird threads like I do or non-standard ones it's just easier to specify the thread pitch. I always do it, especially since there is fine and course already. If you asked me to make you an M16 bolt but didn't specify the pitch,I would ask what thread pitch you wanted, I wouldn't just assume you wanted 2mm because maybe you wanted 1mm,2.75, 3mm et cetera. When you're used to dealing with many different pitches you just instintually call out the thread pitch too.
It's also referred to by pitch. I order from McMaster Carr, and they divide their M8 offerings into sections, labeled M8 x 1mm and M8 x 1.25mm. If you prefer to just say M8 and assume the other person knows what you mean, feel free to do that. When I call it out precisely, I know for sure the other person knows that I mean.
@@Clough42 It is not what I prefer, per se, but what is common in the mechanical world in, in my case, Europe. M8, M6, etc. are always standard pitch, unless otherwise specified.
Hi, I love watching you solve challenges like this, lovely stuff. Not sure I would have gone the same route, seems to me you had to drill so many holes, I would have just built the two plates from scratch and had a custom piece that worked without compromise. I also have some concerns about that cam to tram the head, it seems to have to loosen too much to operate it, so I am not sure how easy it will be to be accurate with it. I would have simply put some flat bar on the top on bottom edge of the outer plate and use set screws to push the plate (in the tram arc), which I think will give you greater control (I am sure I have seen you do that on a mill, I could be wrong). Looking forward to hearing how this actually works and hope its perfect. Take Care D
Cuts my man let then roll your holding out! Really looking forward to seeing how it does with aluminum as thats my particular use case and funny enough I wanted to use a cnc depot spindle as well.
If it were me, for the sake of rigidity, I'd eliminate the adjustment plate all together and either mount the spindle to the bottom plate, or even to the z-axis itself if the extrusion was thick enough in the right spots. Then just use any clearance in the holes in the spindle for tramming adjustment. It would definitely make tramming more difficult, but its not something you would have to do often.
James you rember that I told you about me building a radial arm mill ? What I have been thinking a lot about is what I'm going to use for a spindel.i think I found it ! What I would like to know is can that spindel be used easly as a dumb head and use it as old machine and as knolage / experience a person can expand its capabilities..
James, looks like there should be enough room to drill the spindle plate for access to the base plate screws so they could be loosened or tightened while the spindle motor is in place. The only thing is your plate may start to look like swiss cheese.
With the spindle mounted, I don't think there's any way to reach any of the base plate screws. The spindle itself extends past the screw centerline on both sides.
I level my machine bed and use a digital (Wixey) level make my router perpendicular. It gets you close but I always surface the spoilboard. I have a homebrew CNC design. I really like the cam for tramming. My lightbulb turned on! I have some ClearPath stepper killers in stock and an Adept robot slide waiting on me to upgrade my unit. I really enjoyed your ClearPath video also. Thanks for being so good at explaining complex ideas regarding electronics, SW, and mechanicals. What is your education background & your "real" job If I may ask.
Just an FYI, the S30 and S30C will mount on the Avid tramming mount without any modification. Apparently, you ran into this issue because you purchased the FM (front mount) version of the spindle.
Hi James. Great video, as always. Not sure, but I believe you took that spindle from your VMC mill. What are your plans for the replacement? Do you want to have a beafier one on the VMC? Just in case you were happy with the 3HP spindle on the VMC, you might consider to actually buy a new spindle for the AVID router and put this one back to the VMC. Because I believe that in the long run you will not be happy with a 12000rpm spindle on the router. The FM30F was a perfect match for the slower VMC and the higher torque was apprpriate on that machine. But for a router the 24k rpm FM30C would probably be a better match. With such a fast router (and boy...these Clearpath servos are real beasts) sooner or later you want to go HSC. And I am afraid that 12k rpm will just not be fast enough for that...
@@Clough42 Most spindles tolerate a reduction of the base frequency in the VFD, especially the water cooled ones. I have a 4-pole, 3HP, 30k rpm spindle and have set the base frequency to 600Hz, instead of 1000Hz. This way I have the torque increased by 60% for rpms up to 18k, which is gradually reduced to nominal until 30k. Best of both worlds. This comes in handy when I face parts with a bigger face mill. Other end mills up to 12mm dia run with much higher rpms. Feed rates in Alu around 5.5 m/min and in steel 3.6 m/min, woc in Alu 1 mm, steel 0.4 mm, doc 10-15 mm. HSC is easier on the tools and with the higher feed rates the total job time is more or less the same...
Do you have plans to create any more videos on this build (besides glass cutter vids) that show its ability to mill harder non ferrous materials such as acrylics and aluminum? I just completed my own Jianken ATC build using a Masso G3 controller and Onefinity Woodworker X50 hobby CNC, and would like to know your thoughts on the rigidity of the Avid, as well as the performance of the pairing with the servos. I am looking to this setup for my next build. As an aside, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into creating these videos. There is no way I could have completed my electronics, pneumatics, or VFD set up without your support. Tom from Toronto.
@@Clough42 I continue to enjoy your videos - thank you for taking the time to produce them and share your insights and work. I also am looking forward to your continued Avid build, and am hoping the delays you mentioned will soon be over.
You worry about the stability of the backplate with the mounting holes in the middle 2 rails, yet you have not 1 but 2 plates between spindle and Z-axis , which are only mounted together with a pivot bolt and clamped down with 2 bolts in 2 corners? Wouldn't it have been much more stable by making one custom plate between Z-axis and spindle ? Normally you only tram a spindle once (unless you crash the machine) and it stays in place so I don't see any point in the 'easy adjustment'
The two plates are clamped together in all four corners. The shoulder bolt will get a shim so it clamps, and the cam already clamps. I try to tram the spindle as little as possible, because it's a pain, but it's definitely not a one-time operation.
When you bought the Avid CNC did it come with the electronics and control board? The minimum they sell is 7000 dol, but you did not needed none of the electronics. I am wondering how expensive is the metal setup itself was.
Looking good......How flat and true are the SMW bed platens overall once they are mounted in the Avid carriage, are they bolted all along the edge....?
Hi I have been watching your channel for a while and have found it very helpful and extremely interesting, I have a question about Servo motors, I am planning on using a servo motor on a build I am about to start, is it necessary to use a brake on a servo motor for a spindle? Your input will be gratefully received.
If I'm not mistaken, your old cnc mill no longer has a spindle! Are going going to reinstall the one you had before you replaced it with the one you moved in this video, or is there some other plan?
@@Clough42 oh okay, thank you for your reply. I asked because I have a Jianken 2.2kw ATC spindle and a home made DIY CNC. I’m having some issues with surface finish. So I have try almost everything and the only thing I haven’t try is a different spindle lol.
Given how much modification you had to make to this mount, I'm curious why you opted to buy and modify rather than make from scratch, which seems like it might have been more ideal and less trouble, and only a few more holes.
Nice work as always. Question about the spindle; Does it have sensors for to show the 1. Drawbar state (clamp/unclamp) especially, and 2. Tool holder state (tool in/tool out). Thanks.
Would luv a discussion of settling on acorn instead of Mach3/4 (which you already use) or LinuxCNC (Tormach/PathPilot use). All good choices, just interested in your thoughts
I'm fed up with MACH3 and want to try something different. I set up LinuxCNC, and then found out that the realtime kernel I installed wasn't the right realtime kernel and I remembered all the fiddling that Linux often entails when dealing with hardware and decided to try something more commercial and prepackaged. So far, I'm impressed with the Acorn. Time will tell.
@@Clough42 Thanks! I have found LCNC pretty plug and play (with the MESA hardware at least). Bit of confusion out there with the Preempt kernel, but its fine with hardware stepping (Mesa, smoothsteppers…) Looking forward to seeing Acorn do its thing
Thanks for all the great content James, I really enjoy watching your videos! Did you ever find a pull stud solution to use BT30 toolholders in your ISO30 spindle?
just thinking - 3k+ for chassis, 3k for electronics/motors + 3.5k for spindle - thats almost 10k - for a project? tormach 22k done, i did same - tossed all and finally bit bullet - no more projects! what was your thought process on this or am i off? great builds though
The applications engineer at Clearpath asked me the same question. Looking at them, they have the characteristic double ridge of a rolled screw. I'm measuring .0002" backlash on all axes, with consistent torque input over the length of the long screws, so that's pretty good, but I don't know the grade.
12:25, I usually get the watermelon flavored taps, but to each their own. By the way, what are you going to do with your Grizzly now that you've taken off the spindle?
Great modification James. Now that you can tram the tilt, how is adjustment of the nod achieved? I was kind of expecting to see a jack screw arrangement on the spindle motor's mount. Is there adjustment on the X axis, or can the whole gantry be nodded? Great production as ever.
While I'm sure the gantry can be nodded, that doesn't work to nod the head. You need to nod the gantry to get the z-axis vertical (perpendicular to the y-axis), then nod the spindle somehow to get it parallel to the z-axis. I'm assuming all the parts have parallel enough surfaces that nodding the spindle is not needed.
@@ADBBuild Indeed, nodding the whole gantry not only upsets the perpendicular relationship of the Z axis, but also needs careful attention not to twist the X axis too. I see your point about parallel surfaces, but I'm not sure it's safe to assume everything is square, especially when the machine is modular, and needs assembly. Even the stoutest of cast machines need some fettling before they are true. I'm interested to see exactly how true the tramming works out on this machine, although I don't expect James to be surfacing large stock with a fly cutter for example.
It remains to be seen how flat the travels truly are over long distances, and that will be the limiting factor for surfacing--at least in machine flatness terms. As a router, if it looks flat, it is flat. For the nod, Andrew is right. The first concern is getting the Z travel perpendicular to the X and Y travels, which also need to be parallel to the fixture plates. Once that's done, if the spindle axis isn't parallel to the Z axis travel, shimming or shaving the mount to a slight taper would fix it. I expect the spindle to be parallel enough to Z for this kind of machine, given that I will probably end up surfacing with a 1/2" end mill, or maybe a fancy Datron surfacing tool that will be at most 1" in diameter.
Is it worth adding loctite (or similar) to the spindle plate screws and the plate that mounts to the z to minimize (eliminate) screws shifting? Will you torque to a specific foot pound or nm, Or will that be later?
What is the reason for having both the grizzly CNC mill and the AVID CNC mill? Given the limited shop space, I'm assuming there is a specific need here rather than just collecting cool things. I'm not really knowledgeable about these machines so I'm curious as to the pros/cons of each and the intended use case for each. If there is too much to explain in the comments then maybe this is a good topic for a video.
MILL usually = Much more rigged to cut hard metals aluminum, and steel, but smaller cutting area. You also want to use a motor that has around 12,000 RPM and lower with horsepower to take a bite out of hard metals. Router = Good for cutting larger parts, like a 4x8' but depends on how big your machine is. Also great for wood, plastic, aluminum, flat stock, but not as rigged as a mill and they usually have a higher RPM spindle. 16,000 +
@@Jeralddoerr, understood, but what is throwing my off is the CNC router is fairly small format and VERY rigidly built. He made a comment in this video or another that he wouldn't be surprised if it's more ridged than the Grizzly. So there is a lot of overlap between the capabilities of the two I think. It just makes me wonder what he has planned for it.
You crack me up sometimes.. FYI you don't have to 3D print for a sanity check... You can print your part from CAD to your inkjet printer to scale on paper and cut it out if you want. 5 second print.
My concern was the accuracy of the model I had for the mount, the actual finished dimensions of the hardware, etc. The spindle fits with only .005" of clearance. If you feel confident judging that by eye with a piece of paper before modifying a $150 part, feel free to do so.
James, why do you never tap down your parts in the mill vice with a soft hammer? Or maybe you do it sometimes and I just missed it. And, you probably already answered this question. :)
Depends on the situation. In this case, I'm drilling a plate and using 1/4" parallels, so it just doesn't matter. If I'm using the talon grips in the CNC, it also isn't needed. When it is, I have one of Randy Richard's knockers and a couple hunks of copper that I use.
Almost seems like it would have been less work to make both plates from scratch, seeing as you didn't need most of the features on them, and the ones you did need you basically made yourself anyway. Would have alleviated worries about clearances and metric threads too.
When caming what angle accuracy should be achieved? I measured that number on my 6090 cnc and was accurate to the wixey gauge resolution of 0.1 drgree. Do you think that accuracy is adequate? Thanks
Depends what you're trying to do. If you're V-cutting signs out of MDF, that's probably fine. If you're machining parts with tall sides that need to be square or trying to face a surface with a large tool, that's not nearly close enough.
I have the same machine and an S30C spindle. I had to add about .021 of brass shims behind the top of the spindle mount to trim in the Y-Z. I was trying to think of a better way and thought about adding holes for some set screws.
I think I should be able to loosen the 14 of the 16 screws holding the gantry to the side plates and push it around. I might need some fixturing to make that possible. Not sure yet. That will get the Z axis vertical. If I need to do something to get the spindle axis in line with the Z axis, I'll probably CNC shave the mount rather than use shims, just to get full bearing so it's more rigid.
Check out videos on the "Breaking Taps" youtube. The spindle won't be the limitation on a machine like this. Also the FM30F is a 4-pole motor, with twice the torque of the standard 2-pole, especially useful for work at lower RPMs like CNC drilling or facemills. For reference, on the Breaking Taps youtube channel, he has an S30C from CNC Depot, a 2-pole motor.
Man thats an expensive little cnc you going there. I am not saying I don't appreciate your choices and goals. Just that I personally could afford it at this point in my life. Do you think its going to be capable of meeting your expectations, and still come in as a value for the money you have spent? (assuming that most of this is coming heavily out of your own pocket, rather than just a mostly subsidized influencers agreement) Any plans to build an umbrella style tool changer by chance?
Nothing on this machine is sponsored. I always clearly disclose when I receive products free or discounted. My goal here is to build a solid metal cutting CNC with a large working area. Other options on the market cost many times what this machine will cost in the end. That said, if Tormach wanted to send me an 1100MX, I would sell this machine in a heartbeat. :)
Drilling, tapping and counterboring a couple of holes makes up for a 25 minute long video with excellent production, love your channel.
I suggest adding some steel flat washers here, there and basically everywhere there is a socket head cap screw tightening against aluminum.
My drawer is empty at the moment, but I'll put some in when I get some.
That was my thought when he said the screws were 1mm too long 😀
It's not critical like a hex head, but I agree
If you drill the top 1.5mm of the M8 threaded hole (before threading) with an 8mm drill then the top part of the thread will not protrude above the top surface of the plate, even when the screw is tightened, leaving the plate surface flat. This is a common practice on aluminium parts in engines (apparently).
Very nice. Looking forward to the next part of the build log. I hope for you that there will be no need for tilting "forward and backwards", that is where the "fun" begins...
James, thank you for all your nice uploads. One suggestion; why not reduce the diameter of the head of the shoulder bolt to accommodate more room for the cam bolt. The hex of the cam bolt can be rounded of also to create more space for mounting the spindle plate. Maybe for others who want to have some more room to move. Best, Job
Such a clear demonstration of how essential a DRO is for a vertical mill. I recently performed almost the same operation as you. It was the first time I used my newly installed DRO to machine an adapter plate for my CNC router. It’s such a thrill to do something so precisely. eyeballing center punch marks just won’t cut it anymore
In principle, using the graduations on the hand wheels should be just as accurate. It’s just a lot more work without the DRO.
@@JasperJanssen I have ADHD. I can’t count revolutions if my life depended on it. At this point I’d say that if your mill doesn’t have a DRO, your machine is incomplete.
Good looking assembly, James!
I’m glad to see someone else do sanity checks when making things that aren’t intended to go together. Although I have a 3D printer, I work in 2D on a Mac for my machining design work and use free, online 3D CAD for models for the printer. For real-world checking I use use heavy card stock (junk over-size postcard mailings work great, and it’s an excellent way to put the political advertisements to good use) and glue-stick a 1:1 printout to try things out.
Very cool that mods like this can make off-the-shelf thing A work with off-the-shelf thing B, where A and B were on different shelves.
Nice work!
Always a pleasure to see your workmanship and dedication to accuracy.
I was short on ideas as to how to build in some precise tramming in the ZX plane. Upgrading the better part of the Z axis Ass'y and was struggling with the means to do so. Never heard of Eccentric Bushings. It'll be tight dealing with the 3/4" hex mind you. Thanks Clough42
Machine tool builders would drill and ream tapered pins that have a tapped hole in end between two aluminum plates after tramming. Adds rigidity, then if you wreck it and need to tram again you slide hammer pins out, retram, reream holes and reinstall pins. The motor would be spring pinned to plate
A lot of pinning would be needed--all the way through to the Z axis of the machine, and then the Z axis would need to be pinned to the X axis. Since everything is in T slots, getting that done right would be a pretty good trick.
@@Clough42 The machine tool axiom, if you can't make it perfect, make it adjustable.
@@Clough42 na...i got faith in ya. Once its done rigidity would be greatly improved. Once that stuff is straight and tight, a Milwaukee and a hand reamer is all it takes.
That only covers the b axis. How do you handle the a axis? Also, look into vibratite for a threadblocker. Personally I would use progressive packs of full width shim stock to handle the a axis if there is no adjustment and I'd consider adding more bolts and t nuts, you will want to use a torque wrench, a consistent tightening pattern, and progressive tension to make multiple reassembly consistent. Once it's dialed in and consistent I'd use a low strength epoxy like gflex to try and make it monolitic, it will help a bunch with harmonics. If you plan on using this as a mill or drilling steel you will probably want to buy a proper iso30 test bar to get it trammed and square after it's on a permanent stand and set in it's permanent place. Routers flex a ton when moving them around. Personally I'd disassemble the whole thing after it's on its stand and in the final place to square all the linear guides. To get really good results, get an autolevel and a real optical scale if you can't build it on top of a surface plate to square it up.
I have a FM30C spindle for my router (that I found thanks to you) and I love it. The tool changing is a game changer. Gets a little hot sometimes but other than that, it’s awesome
Excellent workmanship. It is nice how nice a project can turn out when you have the right tools.
A consideration regarding a washer on the shoulder bolt: for that bolt to act as a "precision" pivot it needs to bottom on its shoulder. To maintain that the washer's thickness can not exceed the current gap under the head... McMaster to the rescue again with round shims!
It wouldn't matter after the other 3 bolts are tightened down. Without a washer under the head, only the other 3 bolts are holding the plate on. By adding a washer after, you gain an extra fastener.
It really doesn't need to locate perfectly in this scenario. I'm going to be pushing the spindle around until it's trammed, and if it wanders a bit on the pivot, it doesn't really matter.
Man, watching these late at night in a dark room, then the LOGO APPEARS! "I'm blind!"
Thanks for taking the time to share this.
You should use a tapping head. Tapping on a milling machine in this way can completely kill the threads, especially the first few millimeters. Without a tapping head, manual tapping is the best option.
Somebody better warn Tom Lipton, then.
@@Clough42 No reason to feel attacked. If you use a marker to be sure not to ruin the original Avid mounting plate while drilling, then some caution when tapping makes sense to me. Sorry to bother you with my well-intentioned comment.
Really digging your videos. Your instruction goes down easy.
I got the CNC Depot S-series instead of the FM. Same motor, but no clearance issues on that front plate.
When I bought mine, the FM30F was new, and they did not yet have a 12KRPM version of the S series.
I don't know if this is a "pro tip" or not, but if you ever find the spindle is slipping a bit against the back plate you can use a tiny bit of the friction paste that comes with carbon fiber bikes on the interface between the spindle and the tramming plate. Works good in other bolt-together assemblies, too.
I haven't seen any slippage in my other installation, but I'll keep an eye on it.
10:35 .200" diameter edge finders are 5.08mm diameter and thus 2.54mm radial which should be an easy number to remember since its the same (other than decimal shifted left one place) as the 25.4 conversion factor number for switching between inch and mm so you really shouldn't need to switch to imperial to get on center from edge
Or I could push one button on the DRO and eliminate an opportunity to make a mental error. Or I could dig the 4mm edge finder out of the drawer. :)
Interesting series.
Almost rage-unsubscribed when you said you don't have any metric drills.
Just kidding James, I don't own any inch drills, so I guess we're even. :D
If someone were to give me a quality set of metric drills, I'd use them. Given that drills aren't really precision tools, I can get close enough with the three sets (fractional, number, lettter) drills I already have. If the size really matters, I'll be running a reamer through it anyway.
Very impressive so far .
Well done as usual.
James, since you do so much with metric threads, you need to bite the bullet and invest (or start investing) in a complete set of high-quality metric drills. I'm thinking of doing the same since I doubt that I have _any_ metric drills in my shop. Cha-ching! $$$ ;)
I like and learn very much from your videos! Greetings from Switzerland
Hi James! Great video as usual! You really know how to fix problems you have! I am relaxing and enjoying my day! Take care!
Thank you James! You are awesome!
Very cool!! Love the atc spindle.
If anyone is looking for those cam thingies, they're called "Hex Flanged Eccentric Bushings" or just "Eccentric Bushings" at places like McMaster and Misumi.
I enjoy all your effort on this vid . thank you for this ! Skip
I enjoy the way you do things.
Great work, its a joy to watch you work on this stuff. Your layout work is some of the best I have seen.
Great work James, loving the videos 👍🏽
Hi James, in the metric world it is deemed superfluous to state the number of threads when speaking of metric bolts and nuts. M6 always has the same amount of threads. If it differs, it is refered to as metric fine. Thén stating the number of threads.
For basic stuff maybe but that's simply not true. I've worked with M16x.75mm and M16x1mm and M16x1.25mm, none of which are standard M16 threads, and that's just the most varied example, there are many different thread pitches for metric bolts. When you're talking about machined threads it's especially true. When I cut threads I tend to stick to the same thread pitch over a range of sizes, so for M12 to M18 I almost always pick 1.5mm, for M6 to M11 I tend to prefer 1.25mm. Non-ISO thread pitch metric fasteners are a thing.
@@JoshuaNicoll I beg to differ, Joshua: M16 is 2.0 threads standard, so if you were to order M16 bolts, you'd be supplied with M16x2.0.
@@WillemvanLonden those are ISO standard yes but bolts in many threadpitches, as I just told you I worked with M16x.75mm LH, as you can imagine it was a very fine thread and totally non-standard. When you deal with a lot of weird threads like I do or non-standard ones it's just easier to specify the thread pitch. I always do it, especially since there is fine and course already. If you asked me to make you an M16 bolt but didn't specify the pitch,I would ask what thread pitch you wanted, I wouldn't just assume you wanted 2mm because maybe you wanted 1mm,2.75, 3mm et cetera. When you're used to dealing with many different pitches you just instintually call out the thread pitch too.
It's also referred to by pitch. I order from McMaster Carr, and they divide their M8 offerings into sections, labeled M8 x 1mm and M8 x 1.25mm. If you prefer to just say M8 and assume the other person knows what you mean, feel free to do that. When I call it out precisely, I know for sure the other person knows that I mean.
@@Clough42 It is not what I prefer, per se, but what is common in the mechanical world in, in my case, Europe. M8, M6, etc. are always standard pitch, unless otherwise specified.
Nice work! This is coming along nicely.
Hi, I love watching you solve challenges like this, lovely stuff. Not sure I would have gone the same route, seems to me you had to drill so many holes, I would have just built the two plates from scratch and had a custom piece that worked without compromise. I also have some concerns about that cam to tram the head, it seems to have to loosen too much to operate it, so I am not sure how easy it will be to be accurate with it. I would have simply put some flat bar on the top on bottom edge of the outer plate and use set screws to push the plate (in the tram arc), which I think will give you greater control (I am sure I have seen you do that on a mill, I could be wrong). Looking forward to hearing how this actually works and hope its perfect. Take Care D
The pusher screws are exactly how I trammed it on the G0704. It worked fine. This already existed, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Hi James! Great video! You are definitely good at fixing problems! Take care and have a great weekend!
Can't wait to see the chips flying! 😁
Cuts my man let then roll your holding out!
Really looking forward to seeing how it does with aluminum as thats my particular use case and funny enough I wanted to use a cnc depot spindle as well.
Waiting on a couple of parts related to the spindle transplant.
If it were me, for the sake of rigidity, I'd eliminate the adjustment plate all together and either mount the spindle to the bottom plate, or even to the z-axis itself if the extrusion was thick enough in the right spots. Then just use any clearance in the holes in the spindle for tramming adjustment. It would definitely make tramming more difficult, but its not something you would have to do often.
Very good video. Fusion saves a lot of headache
James you rember that I told you about me building a radial arm mill ? What I have been thinking a lot about is what I'm going to use for a spindel.i think I found it ! What I would like to know is can that spindel be used easly as a dumb head and use it as old machine and as knolage / experience a person can expand its capabilities..
Nicely done again!!
Still watching the video but I wonder why not take a bite out of the spindle flange to free more space around the eccentric bolt?
Or, put the eccentric bolt on the lathe and round off the bottom hex part of the bolt enough to clear the spindle flange.
Probably not needed. Only a small adjustment should be necessary, so better not to make an irreversible mod unless it's actually needed.
This. The irreversible mod is always possible later if attempts to avoid it fail.
You motor holes are a nice spacing in traditional units: 3.375"
Vertically, yes, but horizontally, I measure 99.97mm, which is likely a nominal 100mm, but it's too narrow to be 4". It's an oddball.
@@Clough42 That’s close to 3-15/16” but I agree that 100mm is more likely.
Thanks for sharing
Nice work as usual !
James, looks like there should be enough room to drill the spindle plate for access to the base plate screws so they could be loosened or tightened while the spindle motor is in place. The only thing is your plate may start to look like swiss cheese.
With the spindle mounted, I don't think there's any way to reach any of the base plate screws. The spindle itself extends past the screw centerline on both sides.
@@Clough42 I was thinking ball drive allen wrench
Nice. Nuff said.
I level my machine bed and use a digital (Wixey) level make my router perpendicular. It gets you close but I always surface the spoilboard. I have a homebrew CNC design. I really like the cam for tramming. My lightbulb turned on! I have some ClearPath stepper killers in stock and an Adept robot slide waiting on me to upgrade my unit. I really enjoyed your ClearPath video also. Thanks for being so good at explaining complex ideas regarding electronics, SW, and mechanicals. What is your education background & your "real" job If I may ask.
Just an FYI, the S30 and S30C will mount on the Avid tramming mount without any modification. Apparently, you ran into this issue because you purchased the FM (front mount) version of the spindle.
I purchased the FM spindle many years ago for a different project, specifically because it has a four pole motor better suited for cutting metals.
Hi James. Great video, as always.
Not sure, but I believe you took that spindle from your VMC mill. What are your plans for the replacement?
Do you want to have a beafier one on the VMC?
Just in case you were happy with the 3HP spindle on the VMC, you might consider to actually buy a new spindle for the AVID router and put this one back to the VMC.
Because I believe that in the long run you will not be happy with a 12000rpm spindle on the router.
The FM30F was a perfect match for the slower VMC and the higher torque was apprpriate on that machine.
But for a router the 24k rpm FM30C would probably be a better match.
With such a fast router (and boy...these Clearpath servos are real beasts) sooner or later you want to go HSC. And I am afraid that 12k rpm will just not be fast enough for that...
I specifically didn't go with the 30KRPM spindle because I want torque to machine steel. We'll see in the long run how that works out.
@@Clough42 Most spindles tolerate a reduction of the base frequency in the VFD, especially the water cooled ones. I have a 4-pole, 3HP, 30k rpm spindle and have set the base frequency to 600Hz, instead of 1000Hz. This way I have the torque increased by 60% for rpms up to 18k, which is gradually reduced to nominal until 30k. Best of both worlds. This comes in handy when I face parts with a bigger face mill. Other end mills up to 12mm dia run with much higher rpms. Feed rates in Alu around 5.5 m/min and in steel 3.6 m/min, woc in Alu 1 mm, steel 0.4 mm, doc 10-15 mm. HSC is easier on the tools and with the higher feed rates the total job time is more or less the same...
That’s awesome
Well done.
Do you have plans to create any more videos on this build (besides glass cutter vids) that show its ability to mill harder non ferrous materials such as acrylics and aluminum? I just completed my own Jianken ATC build using a Masso G3 controller and Onefinity Woodworker X50 hobby CNC, and would like to know your thoughts on the rigidity of the Avid, as well as the performance of the pairing with the servos. I am looking to this setup for my next build. As an aside, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into creating these videos. There is no way I could have completed my electronics, pneumatics, or VFD set up without your support. Tom from Toronto.
Yes. A few factors have delayed the project on my end.
@@Clough42 I appreciate the reply, and look forward to the video.
@@Clough42 I continue to enjoy your videos - thank you for taking the time to produce them and share your insights and work. I also am looking forward to your continued Avid build, and am hoping the delays you mentioned will soon be over.
You worry about the stability of the backplate with the mounting holes in the middle 2 rails, yet you have not 1 but 2 plates between spindle and Z-axis , which are only mounted together with a pivot bolt and clamped down with 2 bolts in 2 corners?
Wouldn't it have been much more stable by making one custom plate between Z-axis and spindle ? Normally you only tram a spindle once (unless you crash the machine) and it stays in place so I don't see any point in the 'easy adjustment'
The two plates are clamped together in all four corners. The shoulder bolt will get a shim so it clamps, and the cam already clamps. I try to tram the spindle as little as possible, because it's a pain, but it's definitely not a one-time operation.
G'day, love your work, cheers.
Curious how this CNC is working and if you were able to cut steel with it successfully?
When you bought the Avid CNC did it come with the electronics and control board?
The minimum they sell is 7000 dol, but you did not needed none of the electronics. I am wondering how expensive is the metal setup itself was.
Looking good......How flat and true are the SMW bed platens overall once they are mounted in the Avid carriage, are they bolted all along the edge....?
Hi I have been watching your channel for a while and have found it very helpful and extremely interesting, I have a question about Servo motors, I am planning on using a servo motor on a build I am about to start, is it necessary to use a brake on a servo motor for a spindle? Your input will be gratefully received.
Are you looking at doing an enclosure for this? Would love to see that build.
Yeah. Still trying to figure out how, but I definitely don't want an aluminum snowstorm in the shop. Been there. Done that.
If I'm not mistaken, your old cnc mill no longer has a spindle! Are going going to reinstall the one you had before you replaced it with the one you moved in this video, or is there some other plan?
Undecided. It depends how well the new machine works. My shop is pretty small.
When did you get the bridgeport type mill. I remember watching the bed mill coming into the shop but not this one, nice.
Yeah, unfortunately the '940 had issues and had to go back. I'm much happier with the '935.
Hello James
Sorry Edit, how long did it take you to receive the spindle? Is it 8-9 weeks waiting time?
I bought mine in November of 2019. It did take a few weeks longer than promised, but I have no idea what the wait time is like today.
@@Clough42 oh okay, thank you for your reply.
I asked because I have a Jianken 2.2kw ATC spindle and a home made DIY CNC. I’m having some issues with surface finish. So I have try almost everything and the only thing I haven’t try is a different spindle lol.
Given how much modification you had to make to this mount, I'm curious why you opted to buy and modify rather than make from scratch, which seems like it might have been more ideal and less trouble, and only a few more holes.
first project for the CNC? :) also looks like there is plenty of room to make the backplate longer, or eliminate it all together
Nice work as always. Question about the spindle; Does it have sensors for to show the 1. Drawbar state (clamp/unclamp) especially, and 2. Tool holder state (tool in/tool out). Thanks.
No. It's a blind pneumatic actuator.
Would luv a discussion of settling on acorn instead of Mach3/4 (which you already use) or LinuxCNC (Tormach/PathPilot use). All good choices, just interested in your thoughts
I'm fed up with MACH3 and want to try something different. I set up LinuxCNC, and then found out that the realtime kernel I installed wasn't the right realtime kernel and I remembered all the fiddling that Linux often entails when dealing with hardware and decided to try something more commercial and prepackaged. So far, I'm impressed with the Acorn. Time will tell.
@@Clough42 Thanks! I have found LCNC pretty plug and play (with the MESA hardware at least). Bit of confusion out there with the Preempt kernel, but its fine with hardware stepping (Mesa, smoothsteppers…) Looking forward to seeing Acorn do its thing
Thanks for all the great content James, I really enjoy watching your videos! Did you ever find a pull stud solution to use BT30 toolholders in your ISO30 spindle?
CNC Depot has them available now. Alex sent me some a while back, and they work great.
I sent Santa a note on your behalf. It reads: "Power tapping head for the new mill please" :-)
just thinking - 3k+ for chassis, 3k for electronics/motors + 3.5k for spindle - thats almost 10k - for a project? tormach 22k done, i did same - tossed all and finally bit bullet - no more projects! what was your thought process on this or am i off? great builds though
24x24" working area, compared to 14x7.6" for the Tormach.
@@Clough42 fair enough and anticipated - lets see some cuts!!!
Great video again! What's the grade of the ball screws on the benchtop pro? The people at avid cs didn't know
The applications engineer at Clearpath asked me the same question. Looking at them, they have the characteristic double ridge of a rolled screw. I'm measuring .0002" backlash on all axes, with consistent torque input over the length of the long screws, so that's pretty good, but I don't know the grade.
Can you show the router in action in a future video?
12:25, I usually get the watermelon flavored taps, but to each their own.
By the way, what are you going to do with your Grizzly now that you've taken off the spindle?
Depends how capable this machine is. If it can replace everything I did with the Grizzly, it'll need to find a new home.
Great modification James.
Now that you can tram the tilt, how is adjustment of the nod achieved? I was kind of expecting to see a jack screw arrangement on the spindle motor's mount. Is there adjustment on the X axis, or can the whole gantry be nodded?
Great production as ever.
While I'm sure the gantry can be nodded, that doesn't work to nod the head. You need to nod the gantry to get the z-axis vertical (perpendicular to the y-axis), then nod the spindle somehow to get it parallel to the z-axis. I'm assuming all the parts have parallel enough surfaces that nodding the spindle is not needed.
@@ADBBuild Indeed, nodding the whole gantry not only upsets the perpendicular relationship of the Z axis, but also needs careful attention not to twist the X axis too. I see your point about parallel surfaces, but I'm not sure it's safe to assume everything is square, especially when the machine is modular, and needs assembly. Even the stoutest of cast machines need some fettling before they are true. I'm interested to see exactly how true the tramming works out on this machine, although I don't expect James to be surfacing large stock with a fly cutter for example.
It remains to be seen how flat the travels truly are over long distances, and that will be the limiting factor for surfacing--at least in machine flatness terms. As a router, if it looks flat, it is flat. For the nod, Andrew is right. The first concern is getting the Z travel perpendicular to the X and Y travels, which also need to be parallel to the fixture plates. Once that's done, if the spindle axis isn't parallel to the Z axis travel, shimming or shaving the mount to a slight taper would fix it. I expect the spindle to be parallel enough to Z for this kind of machine, given that I will probably end up surfacing with a 1/2" end mill, or maybe a fancy Datron surfacing tool that will be at most 1" in diameter.
I put some HDPE sheets down, surfaced them and then put the Saunders plates on top.
Is it worth adding loctite (or similar) to the spindle plate screws and the plate that mounts to the z to minimize (eliminate) screws shifting? Will you torque to a specific foot pound or nm, Or will that be later?
It'll probably come off again before I'm done, so I didn't bother.
What is the reason for having both the grizzly CNC mill and the AVID CNC mill? Given the limited shop space, I'm assuming there is a specific need here rather than just collecting cool things. I'm not really knowledgeable about these machines so I'm curious as to the pros/cons of each and the intended use case for each. If there is too much to explain in the comments then maybe this is a good topic for a video.
MILL usually = Much more rigged to cut hard metals aluminum, and steel, but smaller cutting area. You also want to use a motor that has around 12,000 RPM and lower with horsepower to take a bite out of hard metals.
Router = Good for cutting larger parts, like a 4x8' but depends on how big your machine is. Also great for wood, plastic, aluminum, flat stock, but not as rigged as a mill and they usually have a higher RPM spindle. 16,000 +
@@Jeralddoerr, understood, but what is throwing my off is the CNC router is fairly small format and VERY rigidly built. He made a comment in this video or another that he wouldn't be surprised if it's more ridged than the Grizzly. So there is a lot of overlap between the capabilities of the two I think. It just makes me wonder what he has planned for it.
You crack me up sometimes.. FYI you don't have to 3D print for a sanity check... You can print your part from CAD to your inkjet printer to scale on paper and cut it out if you want. 5 second print.
My concern was the accuracy of the model I had for the mount, the actual finished dimensions of the hardware, etc. The spindle fits with only .005" of clearance. If you feel confident judging that by eye with a piece of paper before modifying a $150 part, feel free to do so.
@@Clough42 Yeah, must be nice.. but an Inkjet printer prints more prices than a plastic glue gun. 😉
This doesn't tram the z axis movement to the table so is that something that has to be done separately?
Correct.
Hi James! Did you buy another spindle or did you reuse your old one and dismount it from your first cnc?
This one came off the Grizzly. The future of that machine depends on how well this one works.
James, why do you never tap down your parts in the mill vice with a soft hammer? Or maybe you do it sometimes and I just missed it. And, you probably already answered this question. :)
Depends on the situation. In this case, I'm drilling a plate and using 1/4" parallels, so it just doesn't matter. If I'm using the talon grips in the CNC, it also isn't needed. When it is, I have one of Randy Richard's knockers and a couple hunks of copper that I use.
AWESOME
Almost seems like it would have been less work to make both plates from scratch, seeing as you didn't need most of the features on them, and the ones you did need you basically made yourself anyway. Would have alleviated worries about clearances and metric threads too.
This would be a great first project for a CNC router. Oh, wait...
@@Clough42 Speaking of which, what's happened to your mills? It's been quite a while since we've seen any milling content.
I know you did but did you account for kerf/shrink in the 3D lol
I have the shrink factor built in to the default settings in my slicer for this material. What did you expect?
Where is the video where you add the pneumatics?
Do you plan on a full enclosure for this machine?
If I don't want to be knee-deep in aluminum snow, I'd better. :)
When caming what angle accuracy should be achieved? I measured that number on my 6090 cnc and was accurate to the wixey gauge resolution of 0.1 drgree. Do you think that accuracy is adequate? Thanks
Depends what you're trying to do. If you're V-cutting signs out of MDF, that's probably fine. If you're machining parts with tall sides that need to be square or trying to face a surface with a large tool, that's not nearly close enough.
@@Clough42 Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing how you achieve such accuracy.
I would like you to put an L Shaped Wrench on those bolts, because you will find they are not as tight as you think.
I'd be willing to bet that when he does the final assembly, he will be using a torque wrench to get them spot on.
Who is the manufacturer of the spindle?
Hi James! Great video! the only concern that I have is tapping into that aluminium plate, some heli-coil inserts would help the threads survive...
If they don't hold, that's the plan. But since they ideally only need to go in once, and they're coarse threads, it should be okay.
Is there a facility for tramming the spindle nod (i.e in the Y-Z plane) ?
I have the same machine and an S30C spindle. I had to add about .021 of brass shims behind the top of the spindle mount to trim in the Y-Z. I was trying to think of a better way and thought about adding holes for some set screws.
I think I should be able to loosen the 14 of the 16 screws holding the gantry to the side plates and push it around. I might need some fixturing to make that possible. Not sure yet. That will get the Z axis vertical. If I need to do something to get the spindle axis in line with the Z axis, I'll probably CNC shave the mount rather than use shims, just to get full bearing so it's more rigid.
I suspect these spindles are like all of these scale ones not made for Steel..
Check out videos on the "Breaking Taps" youtube. The spindle won't be the limitation on a machine like this. Also the FM30F is a 4-pole motor, with twice the torque of the standard 2-pole, especially useful for work at lower RPMs like CNC drilling or facemills. For reference, on the Breaking Taps youtube channel, he has an S30C from CNC Depot, a 2-pole motor.
👍👍👍👍👍
👍😎👍
Man thats an expensive little cnc you going there. I am not saying I don't appreciate your choices and goals. Just that I personally could afford it at this point in my life. Do you think its going to be capable of meeting your expectations, and still come in as a value for the money you have spent? (assuming that most of this is coming heavily out of your own pocket, rather than just a mostly subsidized influencers agreement)
Any plans to build an umbrella style tool changer by chance?
Nothing on this machine is sponsored. I always clearly disclose when I receive products free or discounted. My goal here is to build a solid metal cutting CNC with a large working area. Other options on the market cost many times what this machine will cost in the end. That said, if Tormach wanted to send me an 1100MX, I would sell this machine in a heartbeat. :)
What happened to this machine? Not one video of it making parts.
im shocked you dont have m8 by 29mm bolts handy (-'
I make them on demand. :)