CNC Apprentice
I am interested in setting a point that the spindle will always return to when stopping, using the hardware on the machine, is this a possibility? So for transparency, I am considering making a device to automatically unlock a manual chuck, pull a bar forward, and then lock it once again. I have toyed with the idea of mounting a pneumatic chuck on this, but the cost of that, along with no pass through means that I would still need to come up with some kind of automatic loader. If the machine is capable of this, I assume there is a certain code to control it. Alternatively I am considering a far less elegant solution involving a "controlled crash" where the spindle is stalled in a known location, and then the square spindle key is inserted. This could be done as the spindle is spinning down with a bit of careful timing, but I don't like the idea of any impact being put on the bearings like that. Any thoughts on a way to accomplish this would be entertained!
CNC Guru
The spindle has an encoder fitted to it but that will only read the relative position.
When the motor is asked to stop it just decelerates at a given ramp & stops. It could be anywhere so you would need to stall it somehow.
When the motor is asked to stop it just decelerates at a given ramp & stops. It could be anywhere so you would need to stall it somehow.
CNC Apprentice
That's kinda what I suspected, I think it might be reasonable to stall on any of the 3 jaws, as there will be a corresponding key hole no mater what jaw is hit. I think I will try to code it to reduce to the lowest non stall speed it can accommodate, then cut power and jog in the stalling device. Alternatively I could add a motor to orientate the spindle without mechanical braking, but it starts to get awfully complex. Maybe a through spindle collet closer is a better solution, as orientation isn't important for anything but the key. It quickly starts to make sense why tooling is so damn expensive hahaha