CNC Lathe

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Revision as of 16:03, 2 April 2017 by Ad (talk | contribs) (→‎Gearing)
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CNC Lathe
Boxford-tcl160.jpg
A small CNC training lathe from the early 90s retrofitted to work with LinuxCNC.
Equipment Information
Status Unknown
Manufacturer Boxford
Model TCL 160
Hackspace Information
Induction Required No
Card RFID Enabled Not yet
Owner Aidan

This small CNC lathe is a Boxford TCL160 that has been stripped of its original electronics and now runs from LinuxCNC. Work can be held in an ER40 collet or a 3 jaw chuck.

https://youtu.be/iYVwLWzdDlU

Induction

For an induction you should ask Aidan either in person, via the mailing list or on Slack/IRC. You must be a Hackspace member and a competent user of a traditional metal lathe.

Gearing

There are four speed settings, changeable by a series of pulleys in the gear cover. To change gear during a program you must use the following series of commands. If you change the gear setting without changing the gear on the controller, or vice versa, then the actual spindle speed will be greatly different to the commanded spindle speed.

Change the gearing to increase the torque available to the motor for operations like grooving, threading and parting.

Gear Command Min. Speed Max. Speed
1 M101 320 3200
2 M102 160 1600
3 M103 80 800
4 M104 40 400

Fusion 360 Configuration

You can find a tools file for importing into the Fusion 360 tool library and a post processor on the Google Drive.

Tools

This lathe doesn't have a automatic tool turret, so tools must be changed manually. For this reason it's important to order operations that allow the minimum changing of tools while still allowing for secure work holding.

The tool holders with numbers engraved on them have had offsets set in the controller and are known to cut accurately. If you are working on something important it is recommended that you buy your own inserts and swap them out when appropriate. If you break a communal insert please buy a new one.

Tool Offsets, or, do not move the tool in the tool holder

The tools have specific offsets set in the software, listed below. If you move the tool in the holder even a little bit then you will need to reset the offsets which is, frankly, a massive pain.

Fore more information on setting the offset for a tool, please ask. Also read the relevant section of the LinuxCNC documentation.

# Insert Type Offsets Usage
1 CCGT 09T302 General turning and facing.
2xx External Threading Tools Where xx is the pitch of the thread insert. General turning and facing, specifically for shaping.
300 Parting & grooving, 2 mm width, with a slight radius. Straight cut.
301 Parting. 2 mm width, with a slight radius. Angled cut with the intention to part off with minimal nub on the part.