Now that you have reduced your cutting time by a third, you are going to have to drastically improve your work holding method as the change over times will be longer than the cutting times - break out the wallet for the vacuum clamping system...:D:D:D

"No more Mr nice guy farting around with 2.8mm cuts per pass.":D:D:D

Hey does that mean the customer gets his work done cheaper too? I mean less machine time? :):rolleyes:

Heath, surely you realize that it means the customer pays more for expedited service :) ;)

Thats a common error, the customer pays per finished job, if you know how to do it faster then you have the option to charge less or to charge the same, but its YOUR choice. In fact you can charge MORE for a faster turnaround.

I know I know, you comment was sarcastic :D

Yeah I know guys, :) I just like poking at Kobus. :)

Pay he will pay...I can do it he can't :p

A very rough rule of thumb is that the pass depth can be 1.5 times bit diameter in soft material, provided that you have enough power to keep the bit turning at the right speed. A big router will manage this as well as that spindle/VFD combination you have now.

I was always afraid of loosing steps when you push to hard. I have also noticed it because of my cheap scrapyard springs that I had on the machine for about 2 years.
I have now got the correct springs as per Gerald's spec and I must say that after my little experiment last night, I have more confidence that I can cut deeper per pass.

On the other hand I still believe that too much stress on the machine in the long run will lead to premature failures of parts and therefore will not go for MAX....will stay in the AVERAGE zone.

1 to 1.5 in soft wood is average. 2-2.5 is max :)

I doubt the input voltage is absolutely accurate but it should not be miles off, & if the meter shows 3phase reading then I'm running 3 time over the rated power 80% of the time & if that is true, I'll down junk all non-Chinese spindle + inverters & convert everything to 1hp rated Chinese stuff religiously, that will save enough for my kid's annual school fee.

Mr. Nice-Guy-No-More, you are now bestow with extra-ordinary power :D
10mm per pass... hmmm... Wait till fly through wood at 180mm/sec :D

Anyway, every up-grade will bring new discovery, some are good, some are less desirable, eg, cutting more aggressively (because you can ) will bring many previously over-shadowed blemishes to the surface such as chatter, burnt marks, poor finishings... surely you will solve those previously hidden issues eventually & when that happened, you will see issues buried even deeper previously... Its a never ending epic journey... which makes life interesting.

Thanks to Vectric...Another of their monthly project.....just very difficult to find good quality clockworks over here.
Made the face in CORELDRAW.

Attachment 11774

Attachment 11775

Hi Kobus

It not only looks great, it is personalised with the Kobus brand.

Regards
Ross

Fifth driver
 

Hi Kobus,
Please send me some details how you manage to install the fifth driver on your board. I'm starting to upgrade the MechMate and also to build another project and both of the projects must have 4 axis.
Thank you,
Marius

Hi Marius, I am using the LOCAL BOB from Greg www.cncdirect.co.za
Think I can handle up to 6 steppers on this board.
Buy them and you will have no problem.

Or you can buy from me the new UIM-Robot BOB that can handle 5 steppers.

Ok. Give some details about your board (pics, tech data, etc). I prefer to buy from someone I know :).

Hi Marius, I am still testing the new BOB and will only sell if I am happy with the product.
In the meantime the BOB from Greg has been running my machine for 3 years without any problem, and I can strongly recommend it.

I did my little girl in a piece of Australian Blackwood..a bit bigger than the last one in pine.

Attachment 11785

OK. I'll ask that guy about the board. Thank you.
Marius

IK visited one of my woodworking buddies looking for clock movements. He had some surplus stuff.
My eye caught this little one and I knew it will work with the free ships wheel file that came with Aspire.

Attachment 11801

Great looking project there…
You keep on amazing me as for how your creative and devoted to not only show us what you do, but how devoted to our community you are…

For many, I’ll say…..
THANKS Kobus for being around and sharing your time and…nice projects

Amicalement, Robert ;)

I am alway watching your post first ,wondering what you going to come out with next!
and it is always great .Bravo Kobus

Thank's guys.. I am fortunate to have a machine dedicated to HOBBY and EXPERIMENTING....when the odd job comes around, I will decide if I want to do it......it does helps in buying more TOOLS..;)

There is one more thing I want to do...a life size 3D carving.....If human it will be life size, but if I do an animal I will scale it down a bit.
With Aspire the LAYER function still needs my attention.

got this link from my buddy that helped me build my machines. http://www.divine-jones.com/

Sean, Thanks for the great Link! Never thought of that before...

Schematic of MACH 3 BREAKOUT BOARD
 

Hi Kobus,
I spoke with the company who sells the board like yours but there is a problem with the manual (dutch language)...
Please give me a schematic in order to understand how I can wire five drives on this board and other stuff.

Thank you,
Marius

Here is the English version of the CNC Direct manual.

Great looking Guitars Sean....will have a closer look.

Thank's Alan. Here is another file that show the connections for the Mach3 BOB from Greg.

Attachment 11805

I was away today visiting the NAMPO show near Bothaville. 10000 times better than the pathetic Rand Easter Show that we have these day's in Johannesburg....430 km later dead tired tonight.
http://www.grainsa.co.za/nam_index.php

Thank you, now it is clearer but still there is a small problem: how I should make the Mach3 settings. most likely this will be the BOB for me first I need to see how it works.
Marius

This board is straight forward to setup in Mach. The numbers on the BOB corresponds to the numbers in Mach.
Setting up 4th Axis is no problem either...will help you there once you have your BOB.
The only thing is your Post Processor must change when you do indexing,,,but it is available in Aspire.

Hennie will know what this is :

Attachment 11868
Attachment 11869

Vectric people will know this :

Attachment 11870
Attachment 11871

The Dutch will know this :

Attachment 11872

Ooooohhhh Nice box! :)
Im sure that will get you some brownie points with the wife!:rolleyes::):D

Kobus do they fit together.I am waiting for a reply from the bearing man for the costing of 2 of them 6060 and a 12090 all 16 mm rails.

Kobus, are those for A-axis fixture?

Hennie, will cut the rest tonight and try and put it together.

Ken: No, new project for small CNC....experimenting :)

That is cool, my I participate?

Hennie will sell you the plans when it is tested and working.:D

:D:D:D
No problem with that.

Ken Board and food when we visit Malaysia would be good fo payment:D

Wow! Consider that a done deal!