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van norman cnc

aefriot

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
I own a Van Norman 22L. It needs cleaning, truing and lubrication. Most likely it will be disassembled to do this. I figure that since it will be disassembled, I might as well paint and reassemble it with some updates like ball screws and add motors for a CNC conversion. I also own a Cincinnati #3 horizontal mill with vertical head and have an old South Bend 13 x 60 (or so) to help with the machining of parts.

I own the Van Norman. I am not planning to produce parts in any quantity. It will be for play and making more intricate parts for friends and neighbors (Lots of Amish and other farmers). Is there a valid reason why the VN22L would not make a good candidate for CNC knowing it is primarily for hobby use?

I own a four axis 1200 oz/in stepper motor with all proximity switches, electronics and power supplies. I purchased the kit years ago for a router that never materialized. Would these steppers be able to move the weight of the mill parts provided I install ball screws? Am I correct in my calculations that 1200 oz/in is 6.25 ft/lb? I understand that steppers lost torque at higher speed but does a mill need high speed motors? Lost steps are a concern. If they do become a problem, I can add encoders and change out the stepper drivers for a closed loop system, right?​

If steppers will not work, I have a local source used Fanuc servos from old welding robots.

Two each:

Fanuc A06B-0371-B075 a1/3000 AC Servo Motor 90 V 0.3 kW​

Fanuc A06B-0371-B175 a1/3000 AC Servo Motor 90 V 0.3 kW​

Fanuc A06B-0123-B175 a3/3000 AC Servo Motor 127 V 0.9 kW​

Fanuc A06B-0162-B075 aM6/3000 AC Servo Motor 144 V 1.4 kW​

Then I will need to find proper electronics to drive them and harnesses to hook them up.

Being just a hobby, I prefer to use stuff I already have. But if I will be disappointed with performance, even for an occasional use hobby machine, I would try to use servos instead of steppers even though the cost is much higher.
 
I find the lack of a quill and limited space between the spindle and table two good reason not to mess around too much with the 22l. Also top rpm is quite slow.
I would look for something else.
Of course maybe the condition of my own 22l colors my opinions.
 
When other have experience with the machine I want to use, I tend to take that experience seriously. Guess the VN22L will remain a manual machine until it is sold.
 








 
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