Headscratcher for me?
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:01 pm
Hey Folks,
First post here and needed to get onboard as a means to try and hunt down an issue that is puzzling me.
I started this Next Wave journey by picking up a used SD110.
Had absolutely zero knowledge on CNC machines in general but have learned a lot over the past year.
And just like that, I now own 3 x Next Wave machines. Two of them are SD110's and the 3rd is a SD120XL
On top of that, 2 of the machines (1 SD110 and the XL) have now been upgraded to 24000RPM spindles and this is where I am having a problem.
I will do this in bullets, so it shows the timeline:
- The main caveat to this thread is that I cut aluminum almost exclusively which I understand the machines weren't necessarily designed to do but with practice and patience they do a pretty decent job.
- I started by picking up a spindle for the single SD110 as I had not purchased the other 2 machines yet.
- Machine was running very old firmware - 2017 - but I was new and didn't think anything of it. The machine worked fine.
- was on that steep learning curve but eventually got that machine cutting nicely.
- When I picked up the other 2, I needed to move the SD110 to a new bench as the original spindle was hardwired in and the bench area was the right size for the XL.
- So now the XL runs the original spindle I purchased and the SD110 has a brand new one. Exactly the same brand and model and exactly the same VFD settings (confirmed this)
- I had learned some practices for aligning the spindle to the bed but I also make waste boards out of MDF to do any cutting I do. This levels out the machine further.
- I had been working the XL for quite a while and it worked / works perfectly. Go it cutting just as good as the SD110 did. Finally moved on to getting the original SD100 setup and cutting.
- Was surprised and shocked when the SD110, with the brand-new spindle started galling the aluminum and this started to really impact the machine. Started to hog in and such. Anyway, it was truly horrible.
- Files were all using the same feeds and speeds as I had used before and as stated above, I went through every single parameter against the other machine.
- I did the deeper dive on aligning the head and even went so far as to tap in a couple of M4 screws to allow for a more accurate alignment fore/aft. Side to side was pretty aligned anyway but I also enlarged the
holes to the next size up so that I could more accurately align the spindle to the bed. None of that has helped and I have even reduced and increased speeds and feeds to try and find new settings that work but alas,
this just resulted in breaking a couple of 3.175mm end mills bits.
On one more note, all three machines have now been updated to the most current firmware and the pendants have all been upgraded as well. The XL continues to cut perfectly and the SD110 is sitting - waiting for an answer.
The only question I have that may help is whether or not the pendant / controller relationship may have something to do with it? All three pendants are physically, exactly the same and all 3 have the most current firmware.
The only oddball difference is that one of the pendants continuously asks me if anything is plugged into the front port of the controller (4th Axis and such). The other 2 pendants do not.
Hoping that someone out there has a similar situation and may be able to shed some light on this.
Great to have this forum.
Bernie
First post here and needed to get onboard as a means to try and hunt down an issue that is puzzling me.
I started this Next Wave journey by picking up a used SD110.
Had absolutely zero knowledge on CNC machines in general but have learned a lot over the past year.
And just like that, I now own 3 x Next Wave machines. Two of them are SD110's and the 3rd is a SD120XL
On top of that, 2 of the machines (1 SD110 and the XL) have now been upgraded to 24000RPM spindles and this is where I am having a problem.
I will do this in bullets, so it shows the timeline:
- The main caveat to this thread is that I cut aluminum almost exclusively which I understand the machines weren't necessarily designed to do but with practice and patience they do a pretty decent job.
- I started by picking up a spindle for the single SD110 as I had not purchased the other 2 machines yet.
- Machine was running very old firmware - 2017 - but I was new and didn't think anything of it. The machine worked fine.
- was on that steep learning curve but eventually got that machine cutting nicely.
- When I picked up the other 2, I needed to move the SD110 to a new bench as the original spindle was hardwired in and the bench area was the right size for the XL.
- So now the XL runs the original spindle I purchased and the SD110 has a brand new one. Exactly the same brand and model and exactly the same VFD settings (confirmed this)
- I had learned some practices for aligning the spindle to the bed but I also make waste boards out of MDF to do any cutting I do. This levels out the machine further.
- I had been working the XL for quite a while and it worked / works perfectly. Go it cutting just as good as the SD110 did. Finally moved on to getting the original SD100 setup and cutting.
- Was surprised and shocked when the SD110, with the brand-new spindle started galling the aluminum and this started to really impact the machine. Started to hog in and such. Anyway, it was truly horrible.
- Files were all using the same feeds and speeds as I had used before and as stated above, I went through every single parameter against the other machine.
- I did the deeper dive on aligning the head and even went so far as to tap in a couple of M4 screws to allow for a more accurate alignment fore/aft. Side to side was pretty aligned anyway but I also enlarged the
holes to the next size up so that I could more accurately align the spindle to the bed. None of that has helped and I have even reduced and increased speeds and feeds to try and find new settings that work but alas,
this just resulted in breaking a couple of 3.175mm end mills bits.
On one more note, all three machines have now been updated to the most current firmware and the pendants have all been upgraded as well. The XL continues to cut perfectly and the SD110 is sitting - waiting for an answer.
The only question I have that may help is whether or not the pendant / controller relationship may have something to do with it? All three pendants are physically, exactly the same and all 3 have the most current firmware.
The only oddball difference is that one of the pendants continuously asks me if anything is plugged into the front port of the controller (4th Axis and such). The other 2 pendants do not.
Hoping that someone out there has a similar situation and may be able to shed some light on this.
Great to have this forum.
Bernie