Shop Holmes

[JohnRobHolmes]

Whew, been busting ass running the machine and assembling a matched pair of these VTOL stabilizer motors. 36v main bus, 56 turn delta configuration. Not the most fun pair of motors to wind, but some pretty slick stuff to build. On the whole a lot easier to process than a brushed motor, but more time consuming because of the feedback sensors, wire strain relief, and extremely tight tolerances.

Should be good on these puppies for a few more months. Next year the UAV company expects 100 to 200 motors if the aircraft passes all tests. All systems go!

Tomorrow morning we have a conference call with an engineering group that has patented a new motor topology that I believe will change the motor industry. They are claiming test results of 4x torque density increases over existing permanent magnet machines without affecting top speed efficiency or rpm limits. We will be discussing methods to mature the controller topology and enable affordable motor manufacturing from the USA. Exciting times!

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Oh yeah, the most expensive motors I've made...

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

And then...

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Small victory for me, I nailed the right speed while changing every aspect of the magnet and back iron configuration. Managed to eliminate flux leakage almost entirely and didnt add extra weight because of how sexy curvy the can is. 0.025" wall at thinnest and my secret sauce thicknesses in the middle.

 

[mtdriver]

Awesome for you John! You keep impressing! I dont know about anyone else but I like watching this stuff you post about your business. Keep it up.

 

[SkaldidDog]

May we see/hear a video of one spinning?

Tasty goodness.

J

 

[BigSki]

....36v main bus, 56 turn delta configuration. Not the most fun pair of motors to wind, but some pretty slick stuff to build.

Sounds interesting, but what does it translate to in engrish? "thumbsup"

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Already shipped them out, there was a very tight timeline and other than some pics I didn't think of doing more. I don't have the industrial controllers they are matched for right now, so the in house testing was sensorless for phase quality/balance and a bench testing device for the sensors. The drive system is a combination servo/stepper/BLDC control that has me green with envy, but at $800 each it isn't something that the average toy would have!

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Sounds interesting, but what does it translate to in engrish? "thumbsup"

Teeny motor + 3x voltage that it is design for = lots and lots of turns.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I'm tellin ya, this machine is horrible for my impatient attitude. Started cutting puller cans today and just kept tweaking the program. Now we have easier assembly, 3.3 grams less, and not a watt of power sacrificed. Plus it's sexier than before! All in just a day, no waiting for parts.

We are getting some sandvik insert drills and carbide boring bars next week. I've been extremely impressed with the finishes possible with wide ranges of speeds and feeds. Ingersol is a close second. Everything else is just crap to me now, I'm totally spoiled! Nothing like a stream of .15" wide chips pouring off a part at 20mph!

 

[mtdriver]

Now do you get why every time you asked for a change all I had to say was OK? No whining or grumbling from a g-code guy... No asking and waiting for weeks just to see what the slightest change can make...

I really, really, really miss running the Mazak. I also really miss good tooling... Sandvik always worked. You could be 2x too slow or 2x too fast (maybe a little exaggerated) but still, it always cut. And when you figured it out, man did it work! I was cutting .300" per side on some 6" cold roll with the same insert that I used to cut .200" per side on some 316 SS. Even ran that insert for roughing aluminum sometimes.

I cant even pronounce some of the crap I run now. Cant push the junk near as hard. But they're used to slow progress and don't care it seems. Whatever floats their boat I guess.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Conversational programming is pretty dang nice! Almost as fast as drawing the change in 3d cad. Went through 8 revisions before settling in on the shape.

I'll have to see what the max cut is on my roughing inserts. Although in this case it is running the outside profile in one pass.


Fun little fact, when the machine spindle speed is working hard to regulate surface speed on small diameters, it makes HID lights sing along. Standing on the dock I can hear the machine through the lights!

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

When I have some spare time, each day I like to study power engineering or machining. Since I purchased the lathe I wasn't able to go back to college this fall for an EECE as planned, so the power engineering has taken a back seat while I get better at machining operations. Today's one hour study, helical and interpolated milling VS plunge and ramped. The goal is to reduce the machining time without affecting surface quality, while working within the limits of the machine. I stayed up way to late last night researching how it affects chip loading and have been calling tool makers today for their input.



I know, so riveting :lol:

 

[rob_b]

I know, so riveting :lol:

It is! Keep it coming.

 

[SkaldidDog]

New Holmes for my current armatures.

Can't wait.

J

 

[BigSki]

Today's one hour study, helical and interpolated milling VS plunge and ramped. I know, so riveting :lol:

Interpolation, hands down! Remember the product that we were talking about a few months ago? You seemed to get super busy with other things and I was having a hectic summer. Would it be possible to pursue it at this time? The other manufacturer that I contacted just seems to be blowing it off.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I would like too, but after looking at the tooling needed it will cost about $5000 to set up and that's pretty steep to ask for a small run. Two groove tools, dual side live tool, dual side holder, and spindle liner are needed to do it right. Otherwise its chucking work and we are still in $700 tooled to making them one at a time.

 

[BigSki]

I understand. "thumbsup"

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Over time I'll tool up enough to get there. Its a reality check on each feature of a design and how it fits in with the machine and shop tooling. I'm set up for motors primarily!


In a week and few days time, we will have a new worker coming into the fold. He is talented with many electronics and has experience that I can learn from. His base focus will be armatures, tooling, and making tech/instructional/whatever vids. His opportunities/interests for growth are in learning CNC, CAD, and other fabrications. We processed some armatures last Saturday and he did an awesome job for his first time, smooth sailing!


Today I followed up on chip loading and tool path by going through a program and checking the feeds and speeds against manufacturers specs. Although the Mazak is smart and has lots of auto set feeds and speeds, with IMCO and Sandvik tooling they aren't optimized yet. Evidently I have some really killer aluminum two flute mills, I was doing the calculations and the standard Mazak autosets are 8x slower material removal than what IMCO recommends on the top end!

 

[mtdriver]

When I was new to the Mazak (also new to CNC at the same time, lots to tackle for a newbie!) I relied heavily on autosets. I started noticing how much slower some of my programs were than ones that were already proven when I came to that shop.

I started reading up on my selection of tooling, talking to tech guys at MSC and the like about every tool I purchased and how to use it properly and this drew my suppliers attention and I started getting free visits from tooling reps from Sandvik dealers, OSG techs, coolant salesman, etc etc. I learned a lot for free as they wanted me to buy so I let them talk about their stuff. They would show me examples of how I could use my current tooling differently or new tooling altogether to improve efficiency. I played the I dunno? game a lot and that usually led to "let me go to my car and grab you one of those and you can try it out" types of situations.

I was much more willing to push free tooling till it quit working well or failed instead of learning on the stuff I was asking the shop to buy.

In the end I became familiar with what I could do in certain materials with certain tooling and rarely used the auto speeds and feeds anymore. Plus I was getting work done much faster and cleaner.