Setting Up A Tormach PCNC Mill With ATC

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

I am currently installing a PCNC 1100 mill which seems to be taking me forever, mainly because I have so little time of late to devote to getting it fully set up.

Building it up after delivery was fairly straight forward despite a severe lack of space to move it around and the initial set up was ok. Last time I was home I ran the demo programme and all went well.

I decided to order the ATC shortly after I ordered the mill and this arrived in time for me to. Getting the ATC fitted without anybody to help me was not too bad a task, however the set up and the installation of the software was fraught with problems which resulted in me having eventually to re-install the restore disc and re-load the software again which proved difficult and took quite a few attempts before I got it installed.

With this done I started the set up process again, during which I noticed that the spindle nose with the Z axis zeroed was about 1/16" below the top of the tool holder in the tool tray. In order to give the desired clearance I adjusted the stop point of the limit switch on the Z axis. Further into the set up process I went to set the spindle height at which it point the auto Draw bar clamps the tool holder shank. It is here that I get the message "Cannot set position Insufficient distance from Z"

I think that I might have to run the restore disc again then install the software for the mill with ATC but am reluctant to do so as it is not easy to do, given that the controller runs at 110 volts and it is switched via the 240 volt supply from the mill and I do not have a suitable plug to go directly from the computer to my 110 volt transformer.

I have been in touch with Tormach but of course it is a weekend and nobody is at home and would like to press on and get this sorted as I still have the fourth axis to instal.

Am I on the right track, is it worth trying to re instal again?

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Set Up Problems

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

I managed to get a decent cable so that I could load up restore disc. independently from the 250/110v supply via the machine.I did this and then ran the set up disc for a new machine with ATC (which Mine is). Once loaded with the New machine with ATC software I started the set up process again and got one step further. While trying to set the point at which the spindle stops when picking up a new tool from the tray. This time it actually worked but didn't stop in the right place, breaking a nylon bolt that is used to hold the tool trays in position (Obviously designed to do just that in a collision). After recovering from that shock I thought I would have to try again but on trying a second time I get the same old error message about distance from Z being insufficient.

I know one thing, I,m certainly loosing a few Zeds at night thinking a bout this one.

Everything else is working, the draw bar works as it should and the ATC tray moves from slot to slot perfectly. It's all very frustrating this, I guess I shall have to wait until the USA opens for business tomorrow so that I get some answers to questions.

[Jim NolanParticipant @jimnolan76764]

Bob

There is a guy on YouTube who documented fitting the ATC to his PCNC 1100, just search for NYCCNC. He has a load of videos starting from the day the machine was delivered. I used the one on fitting the power drawbar when I got mine.

You seem to be having a number of computer problems associated with the ATC. Are you using the Tormach controller or a home PC? I did read somewhere there have been issues with windows and the Tormach software.

Any problems I have had with the machine have always been resolved by the Tormach people. So I would not worry on that score the after sales service is superb in my experience.

Jim

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

I got a response from Tormach this afternoon with some tips as to what could be the problem. There were four suggestions, 2 were suggesting that the whole ATC was mounted too high on the column but I was fairly sure this was in fact not so, similarly that the ATC was tilted so that the ATC was higher at the spindle side than at the back. Again I new this wasn't the case because I had checked the alignment using a level and it was OK.

The fourth suggestion was that the Draw bar wasn't adjusted to proper preload, I did suspect this to be true so I re-adjusted the draw bar and tried again and still got the same message about it being insufficient distance from Z.

The fourth suggestion was that the limit switch trip dog on the Z axis was set too high on the column. I had previously tried altering the position of this to give more clearance above the tools in the tool tray but this didn't work, however this time I set it as low as I could on the column and Hey Presto ! eureka? Yippee! it works. I immediately was given a distance to the reference point of tool pick up on the display screen.

Next job is to sort out the A axis, followed by the scanner and the Tool setup stuff.

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

I see from your profile that you are UK based. Is your Tormach a personal import or is there now a dealer for these machines in the UK?

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Hi Niloch,

it is indeed a personal import and as yet Tormach do not have a dealer in the UK. I found the whole process of importing very straight forward. I arranged shipping through a company called ACC Shipping who looked after all of the form filling in and payment of import duties and VAT for me, they even held on to it until I was ready to receive it into the workshop at no extra charge.

I am a firm believer in buying the biggest and best that you can afford, I did just that in this case going for the full works including auto tool changer, fourth axis, Tormach tooling system,scanner etc.

I have had a few problems setting it up but the Tormach people in their support centre are very helpful and so far have got me over any problems without too much pain. Time is my biggest problem these days, there just isn't enough of it.

The Tormach is relatively expensive but buying from the USA is probably as good as it can get right now given the strength of the Pound more so for me because I can claim the VAT back as it is being bought for my company and it will be put to work as soon as possible.

It is physically a big machine and it is built like the proverbial brick netty. I am really looking forward to exploring it's possibilities.

If you are anywhere near Manchester and want to see one in the flesh drop me a reply.

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

I am one step nearer to getting the mill set up with a trouble free installation of the A Axis driver. Just a little unsettling when you read that you can fry the driver in .3 seconds if you manage to revers the polarity of the power wiring. Given the number of wires and that they are all blue apart from the green earth wire it's a good job they are all clearly labelled in the first place. Tormach also supply a few spare number stickers so that you can put them on the appropriate wires before cutting them to the desired length.

By following the wiring instructions and setting the dip switches correctly I had the rotary table running using the jog control within an hour. I think I have finished installing hardware now, all that remains is the software installation of the Scanner and the tooling assistant.

I will try to get the guards back into position before I go off on a weekend break with my wife, then next Monday/Tuesday I will move the mill into it's final position and fix the swing out tool tray/keyboard desk to the upper part of the splash guard. I will then be in a good position to stet the massive tidy up that is needed to get the workshop back into some semblance of order.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 22/07/2014 22:02:51:

. I will then be in a good position to stet the massive tidy up that is needed to get the workshop back into some semblance of order.

And trust me folks, far from Bob's usual semi-orderly cave, it looks like somebody tossed a hand grenade in there and closed the door behind them. In fact, it doesn't – more like two hand grenades!

graham.

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

I haven't had a great deal of time to get to grips with the mill, though I did eventually get the ATC working without it ripping itself to pieces (Thank goodness for the Nylon bolts and nuts that hold the tool trays in position on the carousel). I also sorted out an annoying noise coming from the spindle the source of which took me some time to discover. It turned out to be a slack drive belt, once tightened everything returned to normal.

I have still not had time to make anything in anger with the mill. The main reason for this is that I have still not got the workshop back to normal after the massive disruption installing the mill caused. I have so little time between offshore work and family commitments, however I am getting there.

I am currently exploring 3D software, I have a licence for Autocad LT for Mac which is not 3D capable but begrudge spending a small fortune to upgrade to full Autocad. I have downloaded a copy of ICadMac2014 and am beginning to produce the odd three D drawing, the commands for this are similar to those used by Autocad and files from it can be saved as either DWG or DFX files. I am pretty sure that the DXF files will be able to be downloaded into Sprut Cam which is the CAM programme I have opted for. Has anybody here experience of ICad Mac ? What are it's limitations? Is it any good?

I prefer Mac software as both my laptop and main computer at home are Apple Mac and I can take the drawing programme with me when I am offshore to practice and develop 3d drawings in my spare time. Unfortunately the CAM software is windows based but I have got a computer in the workshop that will run this. I will have to try and make the workshop a bit more comfortable so that I can sit in comfort to develop programmes for the Mill.

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

Bob – I am jealous of the Tormach

I also use a Mac and use Parallels to run Windows for some applications, including CamBam which I find to be good. CamBam may be too simple for your needs but it is easy to use.

Andy

[mike mcdermidParticipant @mikemcdermid41977]

Put boot camp on the mac if its Intel based, then you can run native windows programs without them being virtualized ,however I do know the cam software we use will run natively on a mac , nx is a pricey system but unsurpassed IMHO by any of the other systems I’ve used with the exception of work NC

Edited By mike mcdermid on 31/08/2014 23:13:18

[Luke GrahamParticipant @lukegraham30014]

Bob,

let me know if you have any questions when you get further along. I've got Series II of the same machine, without the ATC, had it for a couple of years now. I primarily use Alibre and Sprutcam 7. Sprut is a bit of a beast to use, I found I had to get exactly the right update number (build 1.6 rev 60551) to iron out as many of the crashes as possible. It still isn't perfect but it does the job now.

I'm not sure how experienced with CNC you are, but you might want to get hold of some machinable wax, I find it is a really good way to figure out how a new program will run without expensive mistakes.

Luke

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