4th axis

Hi,
I wanted a 4th axis but didn't want a new mortgage. Solution - make one. Took a bit of time and lots of help from good friends ( thanks Karl and Rene). Shown is the result. 5 microns deviation across the tilting axis unclamped, pretty happy with that. Tilt angle is set and locked. Drive unit is harmonic drive connected to servo motor all internal sourced surplus. Design is based on old Hauser unit but scaled down. Weight 22kg. Will be used mainly for small parts so should be good. Cheers!

Thanks! Mostly made with linuxcnc on my fs3mg then carefully finished by hand. Material is C45 steel, high speed trochoidial cutting, no coolant. All parts measured on surface plate and fitted with moulding compound and gauge blocks where necessary. That is how we got the desired accuracy. Next step is to learn how to use it with lcnc and make some parts!

Hi Andy,
a casting is for sure a very good start. My drive unit came from a robot, I will let you know how well it works after I have played with it. As my parts are usually small I considered it useful and feasible to add the tilt axis. I would be very interested to see pictures and hear your ideas for the D1-4 nose. This was also my intention but so far I have not had the chance to tackle that task!

cheers, MJ

Yes, very useful, thanks. I send you mail or a message, cheers!