Rock solid now

Everything 4th Axis

Moderators: al wolford, sbk, Bob, Kayvon

Post Reply
Ronwoodson2
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Somerset Ky

Rock solid now

Post by Ronwoodson2 »

Decided to beef up the mounting system for my new toy. I had to raise the gantry to clear the headstock, and took it up one notch, or about an inch. I mounted the headstock and tail stock on half inch flat aluminum. This gives me an extra
Inch of diameter, and it really beefs up the stability. It is very sturdy.
The little bolt next to the stepper prevents stress on the connections
Attachments
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
Ron Woodson
Somerset ,Ky
Ronwoodson2@aol.com

studio-n
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2014 4:25 pm
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Re: Rock solid now

Post by studio-n »

I like it!
I'm going to have to do the same thing and raise mine a bit. cheers!
"Out of my mind.....back in 5 minutes"
Rockler 60th Anniversary CNC Shark
w/digital probe, and 4th axis attachment.
ULS M300 Laser Engraver 50 Watt
Aspire and Corel Draw
NextEngine 2020i 3D scanner

User avatar
bill z
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Spring, Texas USA

Re: Rock solid now

Post by bill z »

Ron,

Tell me some about your lathe 4th axis setup. Is this the hardware that Next Wave sells? Where did you get it?

How does it work with your controller (what did you have to get)?

I am really interested but so new to all of this, I'm trying to learn as much as I can.

Ronwoodson2
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Somerset Ky

Re: Rock solid now

Post by Ronwoodson2 »

Bill.
Mine is the Rotary axis provided by NextWaveAutomation. I have it mounted on the Shark Mako ((HD2).
It comes with everything needed to run, including the post processors for cutting on the rotary.
It has limitations as it is shipped. The primary limitation for me was the very limited diameter of the workpiece.
As shipped, you can only use material that is about 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter (speaking from memory, as I am
not at my machine right now0. This is fine for spindle work, but I prefer to work on bowls, boxes, etc that are larger.

I wanted more diameter, so I raised both the headstock and the tailstock a half inch by mounting each on a piece of
aluminum flat stock. (Shown in pictures above) This had two benefits. It really solidified the mounting
for both the headstock and tailstock, and it increases the maximum diameter from 3.5 to 4.5 inches. I liked the
results so much that I doubled down. I now have added another inch of aluminum under each, and can work
with stock up to about 6.5 inches. I also had to raise my gantry to its maximum height to use the cnc
on stock that large.

This has worked well, except for one major issue.
NextWave has engineered into its software a feature called 'Move to Offset'. Selecting this option, the router moves to
the startpoint for cutting. This is the edge of the workpiece. The issue is that the Maximum Z elevation allowed at
'Move to Offset' is about 2.1 inches. (This measures from the center of Z axis [or the middle of my bowl]). Move to Offset
moves the bit into the workpiece. Then, when the machine starts to mill, the bit goes directly to the correct XYZ,
cutting its way to the startpoint. The workaround is to go through this procedure before mounting the workpiece,
pausing just before the cutting would start to mount the workpiece.
Nextwave Support or software folks have promised repeatedly to address this issue, but after waiting for 4 months, I am not
hopeful, and I have decided to not add to my numerous requests for assistance.

Overall, it's a fairly good solution for my needs. Hope this helps.
Ron Woodson
Somerset ,Ky
Ronwoodson2@aol.com

Post Reply