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As you plan your new CNC retrofit, you might find that you have a need for rapid peck drilling or rotary axis
operation. Both of these capabilities have been worked out and adaptable to your clone knee mill.
In addition you can use your new CNC retrofit to help produce these parts....
The rotary axis motor mount serves as both motor/drive shaft guard and the 90:1 worm gear backlash
adjustment. I have used this rotary axis drive arrangement for quite a few jobs and it is very accurate and easy
to use.
The new quill drive will allow fast peck drilling and quick retract movement for engraving operations where you
must raise and lower the tool often. Because it uses the rack and pinion drive on the spindle it cannot compete with
a Z axis ballscrew drive in terms of accuracy in all conditions. I have measured the "unloaded" accuracy
in the 5" travel and have found it to stay within .001 or so within 1 inch travel and about .003 or .005 in
the whole 5 inches of travel...for my purposes, I would trust it to drill or engrave.
Since there is approximately .015" of spring loaded freeplay in the quill...small diameter tools will
be probably work OK , but heavily loaded tools could leave .015" in "Z" ... a finish
cut here would fix this small amount of error in most cases. Keep in mind however this mount system is
very easy to produce and very inexpensive. This afterall is the basis for this retrofit strategy....great
utility at a low cost. If you were using the four axis Logitrol system you would use the knee to position with
precision, and then use the quill to peck drill and faster vertical positioning. I am doing it routinely and remain
very pleased!
The Quill Drive can be Removed and the Machine Returned
to Normal Lever Operation of Quill in Minutes
| Quill Drive Prototype in Production |
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| Quill Drive Prototype Shown Without Cover |
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| Quill CNC Operation is Quick, Quiet, and Smooth |
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| The Cover Mount is CNC Milled, Tabs Bent 8 Degrees |
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| Mount is a Light Press Fit on Black 2.750" Dia. Quill Boss |
| Cover Finished, This Design is Easy to Make !!! |
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| The Rotary Knob Will Allow Simple Manual Quill Axis Positioning such as Setting Tools Off the Work! |
| Cover Fits Close and is Easy to Make!!! |
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| Quill Axis Moves to +/- 45 degrees and +20 Through - 20 Degrees Positioning |
Click Here: Face Milling at 20 Degrees Tilt of the Milling Head. "A" axis is in Control of the Depth of Cut.
Click Here: Quill Drive Rotated to 20 Degrees to Drill Multiple Hole Pattern in an Alumium Block
Click Here: Finished 20 Degree Hole Pattern, This Used X,Y,Z location and Then "A" axis Quill Drilling!
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