milltronics gig

[shooter]

 was at my Brothers 60th, passing it around all the gray hairs 
said something about my career, wound up meeting a tube builder, champ n kit form dynaco(sp?),  Next guy, um you think....
spent some time isolating a problem on one of these

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MILLTRONICS-VM-16-CNC-Vertical-Machining-Center-Mill-COOLANT-THRU-CHIP-CONVEYOR-/143266484600

If anyone has had their fingers in these I'm interested in tips 

hoping to pick up at least routine maintenance, it was just great having one with folks you had one with 45yrs ago 

[Ritchie200]

They came with a variety of controls over the years - I think... proprietary, fanuc, siemans if I remember correctly.  Never heard a bad thing.  They are kind of in the Haas range of capability.  They are chip makers but not as capable as a high end mills like Mori or even a Mazak.  A lot of off the shelf parts but some control boards are specific to Milltronics.  Factory support is legendary.  I would call them.

Jim

[shooter]

I would call them.

I did, and they were great, talked geek for a few minutes on what I found/did, n ya, happens to be a proprietary part, but have to send back the whole brain!

I did ask if there was anything I needed before I pulled the CPU, nope.  This morning I had to put it back, relearn DOS commands 
kinda fun getting back to system work.  It's off to the pdf's 

[shooter]

chips are flying 
I got the problem close, but don't have the cool kid toys for the system so passed it off to the pro's.  1 Zdrive and 20 parameters tweaked later, joy!

looks like I will land the maintenance contract in the spring, fun with oil, grease n sharp sheet 

working on an R&D project over the winter.  Shop needs a stand alone automated multi angle light duty (aluminum n plastic) drill (1/16" - 3/16") so the big gear can be freed up.
so got out the modern day outrageously priced erector set so I can work up a controller n software.
maybe I can re-use the proto-type to solder 

[shooter]

updated arm
tested 1st joint, needs the worm gear, added, working on 2nd joint 

[shooter]

2nd joint working, still need some small tweaks on 1st joint, adding a cheap on-hand servo for joint 3, then it's wiring n software

[Ritchie200]

Ok, this project is starting to look like the robot arm Wollowitz built on the Big Bang Theory....  Are you SURE this is for the shop?

Jim

[shooter]

 
one of my straight-laced exec. type friends asked what I was up too last week, told him about the arm, when he asked why, gave him my cheezy smile n told him my own was getting tired 

what Greg needs is a gantry table with extra axes, but I don't have that erector set so i'll get the software dialed n if I'm confident, put together a hardware order with His card 

this is my 5-6th bot build, the arm was originally conceived as a tracking platform to launch model rockets, or 4th July mortars at drones 

[Ritchie200]

Ok, that looks exactly like this one....

Jim

[shooter]

 
saw the show, for some reason I equated that show with 3rd rock sitcom
btw, his has 6 joints, I'm a light-weight at 3 (with LOTS of torque:) 

[Ritchie200]

Just don't program it for the screwdriver move!

Jim

[shooter]

Just don't program it for the screwdriver move

I code like I "design" amps, steal cool stuff, stitch together, call it mine-ish 

feel free to edit what I have so far, which is nothing 
(didn't bother formatting the txt file so there's wrap around)

[shooter]

the things you forget 
been over 40yrs since I last laced anything, not a very good comeback but hey, I'm trying 

I blame it on the So. GA chiggers I'm combating 

[shooter]

Finished the octopus, wired it to the uP board, not authorized for LVpower til morning 
software 

[sluckey]

Looks like a big light dimmer!   

[Ritchie200]

The tea bottle for overflow lube?


Jim 

[shooter]

a big light dimmer

 

overflow lube?

It's my camo-bong 
those motor controllers are fused at 25A ea, that's ALOT of dimming 

 

[shooter]

got tired of holding n swapping wires to switch direction 

cobbling a PS together that will power the uP board (9vdc) and the motors (12vdc)
the cute C_made boards were $8!
still need to load test, add some front panel switches for direction, n more

both boards read 98.2% of Fluke so that's a good start

[DummyLoad]

Ok, that looks exactly like this one....

Jim

"'cause that's all you needed, right?"   

--pete

[shooter]

I'm in So. Fl, you can find humans WAY less expensive than this project 

Gotta say not many ppl stop and ask questions though and I shower every day 

[Ritchie200]

That episode is such a classic!


Jim