I'm pretty new to machining, and lately it seems I have more time to daydream about machining than actually machine. But I just had an interesting idea. I have a Bridgeport BTC1 mill that runs LinuxCNC. It seems that one of the only disadvantages compared to a manual mill (IMHO) is that there is no quill handle for quick and dirty drilling operations. It seems like sometimes, instead of calculating the z-feed for a drilling operation it would be nicer to have a manual quill control, like a drill press. I don't mind just typing in g codes to move to an xy position compared to a handwheel, but for some reason programming a z-axis plunge into material with a drill seems more scary than doing it with a manual quill.
Has anyone tried creating a quill arm that mimics a manual one, but just sends z-axis commands using LinuxCNC? Also, it seems like the force feedback is nice on a manual mill, I wonder how hard it would be to add force feedback to an electronic one? Perhaps using a DC motor, and varying the current to the motor in proportion to the measured current to the z-axis servo?
Anyway, just wondering if anyone has tried something similar.
-Hunter
HunterWLong.com