Rotary Indexer
Moderators: al wolford, sbk, Bob, Kayvon
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- Posts: 191
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:28 am
Rotary Indexer
Any chance we will see a rotary indexer for the shark?
Ed McDonnell
Ed McDonnell
Re: Rotary Indexer
I assume you mean a 4th axis which would allow you to create a pen set or a chess piece.
Yes there is one planned soon an is being tested at Next Wave Automation.
This is an ad on feature to an existing Shark or Pro.
Yes there is one planned soon an is being tested at Next Wave Automation.
This is an ad on feature to an existing Shark or Pro.
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- Posts: 191
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:28 am
Re: Rotary Indexer
Hi Tim - A rotary indexer on a 4th axis would be ideal for what I had in mind.
Does the current shark controller support a 4th axis or would a new controller be required?
Ed
Does the current shark controller support a 4th axis or would a new controller be required?
Ed
Re: Rotary Indexer
Ed;
You can run a rotary axis on the shark by just disconnecting the X axis and connecting it to the stepper on the rotary axis. Of course your G code will need to reflect axis rotation in degrees instead of linear inches.
Doc
You can run a rotary axis on the shark by just disconnecting the X axis and connecting it to the stepper on the rotary axis. Of course your G code will need to reflect axis rotation in degrees instead of linear inches.
Doc
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- Posts: 191
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:28 am
Re: Rotary Indexer
Hi Doc - My preference would be to have a turn-key solution for a rotary 4th axis for the shark. Before I bought the shark I considered building my own machine. I decided I wanted to spend my time making things with the machine instead of making the machine. Rolling my own rotary indexer might just be barely within my abilities. I even have a spare lathe that could be cannabalized, but it's a slippery slope. It would be way too easy to suddenly find that I'm spending all my time tinkering with the next great revision to the machine instead of actually making stuff with the machine.
Tim has indicated that he's beta testing something now. If nothing materializes by early next year I'll have to decicde what I'm going to do. Either roll my own (TTT) or look at moving up to something other than a shark ($$$).
Ed
T = Time
Tim has indicated that he's beta testing something now. If nothing materializes by early next year I'll have to decicde what I'm going to do. Either roll my own (TTT) or look at moving up to something other than a shark ($$$).
Ed
T = Time
Re: Rotary Indexer
Hi Tim
Any Idea when and what the cost might be for the rotary indexer?
Also will we need a different controller?
Thanks
NoHoRez
Any Idea when and what the cost might be for the rotary indexer?
Also will we need a different controller?
Thanks
NoHoRez
Re: Rotary Indexer
Last reply on this subject was Sep. last year. Anything new since then?
Re: Rotary Indexer
The 4th axis is something we have been working with for almost a year now. One of the things I am concerned with is that Vcarve is difficult to use to get it to work properly. We have been trying to get together with Vectric programmers and our schedules have not worked. However, Next week Vectric is coming to Next Wave to go over some of these issues and I am confident that after this meeting we can again move forward with the 4th axis. I will keep you informed.
Tim
Tim
Re: Rotary Indexer
I am a noob to this forum, but have many years as a desktop cnc 4-axis user. I was going to build a system for 3D jewelry design, and got into woodworking (guitars, etc.) and would be interested in a combo unit that could serve both needs. I need rotary axis control, and accuracy in 0.001" in any axis. Will this system provide this? It would be nice to do flat 3D wood or wax, and also small rotary waxes on the same basic rig. Thanks.
Re: Rotary Indexer
The system is designed to have a resolution of .0005 of an inch in the 3 axis. The Rotary should have the same precision at about 2 inches with it going up as you radiate out. I dont think this would be a problem for you in your application. The issue you might have is that routers can have runout the can give variance unless you use a high precision collette to minimize the effect. Also be aware that this is not designed for harder metals but for light engraving or removing metal at about .03 at a time to prevent bit damage from the high speed routers.
Tim
Tim