Emco F1 Mill Upgrade

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Emgee, thanks for that info. I checked the DIP switches on my stepper drivers: I set them to limit the current to 1.5 amps (the driver is capable of 4.5 A). I recall that I set them to the low value to protect things whilst I got used to the machine. Perhaps I will leave them there! I am not chasing maximum feeds on this machine.

Regards

Dave

[BitzerAgainParticipant @bitzeragain]

Fair point about the stepper torque. I usually cut brass and copper so don't really push the limits.

I'm sure the dataplate on my motor says 3A @180V. There is a green mark on the ammeter at 2A and a red one at 4A (like DrDave's on the previous page). I will double check tonight.

Homann Automation bookmarked, thanks Emgee, but I will probably stay with the pot. for speed control (like the original).

Regards,

Bitzer

[Rod AshtonParticipant @rodashton53132]

Dave – Did you need the signal isolator board with the KBIC-125 please?

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Rod, you will need a signal isolator with the KBIC controllers because they are not designed for their "common" connection to be connected to your "chassis" and / or earth. If you try that it will create a loud brown smell.

There has been some discussion here and on other forums about this and I designed a simple circuit that can give the necessary isolation using an opto-isolator.

I don't use this myself but at least one person has built it and found it works fine. For the KBIC controller you need to connect the "+12V" line to the +10V output that normally goes to one end of the speed control potentiometer; the 0V to the )v on the other end; and the "0-3.7V" signal to where the wiper (centre) of the pot goes. Also omit the 330K resistor on pin 5 of IC1b to get a range of 0 – 10V on the output. The PWM frequency on Mach 3 needs to be about 25 Hz. This could be built on little bit of strip board, you need to take some care around IC2 to make sure that pins 1 & 2 are not accidentally connected to pins 4 & 5., since pin 4 has a high AC voltage on it. Yes, IC1 does need to be the specified type to get the full output voltage range.

If you could find the previous postings here there's more detail.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John Haine on 25/01/2019 10:33:52:

… If you could find the previous postings here there's more detail.

.

Although I have no immediate need for this, it's sure to be handy sometime … so I've found the [an] earlier thread:

**LINK**

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=114432

MichaelG.

[Rod AshtonParticipant @rodashton53132]

John & Michael – Many thanks.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Michael, thanks, you will have to provide a little tutorial on how you search on this forum! We would all find it most useful. And perhaps it could be made "sticky" so that in a few months' time we don't need to know how to search in order to find out how to search…oh, and there's a hole in my bucket as well…

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Rod,

Further to John’s reply, I used the SI-5 “Barrier Terminal Board Signal Isolator” with my KBIC240 controller. It provides the required isolation between the power & control circuits (or at least no smoke has escaped so far).

Regards

Dave

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John Haine on 25/01/2019 11:21:35:

 

Michael, thanks, you will have to provide a little tutorial on how you search on this forum! We would all find it most useful. And perhaps it could be made "sticky" so that in a few months' time we don't need to know how to search in order to find out how to search…oh, and there's a hole in my bucket as well…

.

It's often very simple, John

In this particular case, all I did [using the search box on the home page NOT the one at the top of a forum thread] was to insert the two words 'haine' and 'kbic' and hit return.

Try it, and look at the URL that it generates.

MichaelG.

.

For info. …

Buried in the HTML for the homepage, you will find a snippet which starts with:

form action="/search/default.asp" method="post"

[ hopefully that short extract will not be interpreted as html ]

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/01/2019 17:17:16

[Rod AshtonParticipant @rodashton53132]

Emgee – Here are a couple of photo`s of the unidentified frame from inside the mill cabinet. Fabricated from 5mm ~ Steel. Assumed at first it was some kind of mount for the remote cabinet. But nothing appears at first sight to be compatible in terms of fixings.

[Rod AshtonParticipant @rodashton53132]

Sussed it. Cabinet sits on and is angled backwards. My cabinet has frames attached to the base and so not immediately obvious.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Thanks Michael, I was completely unaware that the home page had that extra search box! The one at the top of the page seems to be just about useless but that one works very well.

[BitzerAgainParticipant @bitzeragain]

Resurrecting an old thread, but it's taken me 18 months to get this far…

Thanks to Dr. Dave's helpint theis thread I now have most of the hardware wired in

Today was the first live test of the first servo. I've plugged in the blue, red, green and black wires to the drive, set dipswitch No5 and run the Acorn software but nothing is happening. After 10mins the servo gets quite warm so there is power getting to it (!) but no movement.

The Acorn software is running with default settings. do I need to reconfigure anything?

Is there anyone who can help, please?

Bitzer

[BitzerAgainParticipant @bitzeragain]

Oops, there was supposed to be a picture there:

The main addition to Dr. Dave's setup is the 12V control circuit, which gives me a no-volt relay to interrupt the mains using low voltage to a couple of stop buttons around the mill. The black box will sit on top of the mill and has the spindle speed control, manual override and a plug for a remote e-stop.

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Hi Bitzer

Have you watched Matryscncgarage on youtube? I found his videos very valuable when I was setting my controller up.

Regards

Dave

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

I have done a few mods to the machine since updating the controller. I got fed up with swarf going everywhere, so a bit of bendy MDF came to the rescue. The lighting was also quite poor, so I have added a couple of led lights (they are intended to go under wall units in the kitchen) and now I can actually see what is going on!

[BitzerAgainParticipant @bitzeragain]

Hi DrDave,

Thanks for the link. I haven't got a WiFi adapter on the PC so it was offline when I set up the software and it hasn't downloaded the license or the wizard while the ethernet was only connected to the Acorn unit.

There will now be a short intermission while I order a WiFi card…

Bitzer

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

I dare not connect the controller PC to t’internet! Any software that I need to put on it (I have just upgraded to Centroid’s v4.50 software, which also required .NET Framework) I download on another computer & transfer using a USB stick.

DrD

[BitzerAgainParticipant @bitzeragain]

Quick update: Managed to set up the Acorn software today using a temporary USB to Ethernet converter to give me a connection to the web while the inbuilt Ethernet was connected to the Acron board (so that idea works!)

The Acorn site is bookmarked as the homepage so I don't nget tempted to wander off to anywhere dodgy.

Still cooking the stepper though. remains locked and not moving and after 10 mins it is too hot to handle. I thought I had followewd DrDave's "words and music" so I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, unless I have the wrong steppers?

Looks like I will have to consult the Acorn forum. Will keep you all posted.

Progress is very slow as the only place I can lay everything out is on the spare bedroom floor and I keep finding excuses to do more modelling instead!

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

Hi Dr Dave, What is the capacity of the F1 mill? What sized cutters are you normally using and what Sized cuts in what materials?

There is one for sale at the moment and looking at the possibilities for it. It has all the original controller, not sure if the software is still there. I know nothing about the Emco F1 mills.

Thanks, Neil Lickfold

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Hi Neil,

To be honest, I haven’t used my F1 for a while, so I am working from memory. I normally use 6 mm or 10 mm cutters, occasionally a 25 mm insert slot drill. I don’t feel the need for larger: just get your CAM software to program a suitable path (I use Fusion 360).

Feeds and DoC? In the higher strength aluminiums, I would think that full-width on a 6 mm HSS cutter, I would be conservative and have a depth of 0.5 – 1 mm. The machine has an ammeter for the motor current. I find that very useful to tell me how hard it is working. And when the cutter is getting blunt!

I have milled steel (up to En8, nothing fancy), but I forget the details. It seemed to take forever, so I might have been pussy-footing. 0.25 mm DoC, perhaps and trying not to use the full cutter width.

I hope that this helps

Dave

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Posted by Neil Lickfold on 03/03/2022 18:09:15:

Hi Dr Dave, What is the capacity of the F1 mill? What sized cutters are you normally using and what Sized cuts in what materials?

There is one for sale at the moment and looking at the possibilities for it. It has all the original controller, not sure if the software is still there. I know nothing about the Emco F1 mills.

Thanks, Neil Lickfold

Hi Neil

You can see my F1 making chips at this link **LINK**

There are several videos there showing the same machine doing other tasks, the MB backplate is 1 you may know.

The machine is well built using mainly cast iron for the main components, there are chip shields on the sides with a sliding door to close off the front of the machine, tapered gibs are adjustable on all axis.

The work envelope is XYZ 200x100x200, not large but fits most of the sort of milling jobs I do, spindle motor is 400W PMDC with manual speed control 50-2000rpm on the spindle.
Quick change tooling is SKF30, BT30 holders with pull stud are an alternative.
Full machine spec is available FOC in the F1 Manual available at https://emcof1cncmill.groups.io/g/main

I am still using the original controller so writing G&M coded programs, to me it's all part of the fun, I use an editor called MFI which is designed around the early Emco cnc lathes and milling machine.
Programs can be uploaded to the machine by computer using an RS232 link.
For simple jobs with only a few lines these are entered direct into the controller using the on-board keypad.

Emgee

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