With the previous experience of replacing the Sherline gib, the process of drilling the holes for the gib locking wires was pretty quick. But I took my time to make sure the hole on each gib is at the right location and at the right angle. No precision needed here; just mark and drill through.
Here is a pic of the Z and Y axis done.
The X axis completed. Spindle mounted for show.
The spindle motor was taken out of the box for the photo taking session.
While putting the belt onto the slots in the pulley, I saw an unsightly defect.
I don't know how this happen. The plastic housing should have protected the motor pulley from any knocks during shipping. I've been getting items from Sherline with scratches starting from the 8-direction column. Even the QCTP I bought recently has a scratch mark on it's top face. The pulley of the spindle came discolored (oxidation?). Those that are cosmetic don't bother me. But the cut on the motor pulley looks quite bad. Let's hope it doesn't affect anything.
After putting on the belt and tensioned it, I mounted the spindle assembly on the mill for some simple test. There was some high pitch resonance when I turn the speed control knob to it's max. You got to tune up the volume to hear it. Recorded using my iPhone.
I'll be tramming the mill in my next session. Time to clean up the work bench to make way for the mill.
I also took some time to upgrade Mach3 to the latest lock down version and install the latest plugin for SmoothStepper. Had some problem with the lathe settings on Mach3. Couldn't get out of the blinking Reset button. Since the mill profile works fine, I duplicated the XML and change the screenset to lathe. Simple tests were done to determine backlash and the compensation applied. Works beautifully! Thanks Greg! Good job with the plugin. If you have some time, hope you can work on the manual.
Ok. Time to sleep. Meeting a client at 8.30am.
Parting pic - my lathe, after cleaning up the mess:
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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