Re: ATM hydraulic grinding machine

["Bill T." <twentiethwave@hotmail.com>]

Richard Foulk wrote:

>a machine around one linear actuator and a couple limit switches would
>be far simpler than all those gears and motors and pulleys and stuff.
>
>Incredibly simple.  Small, light and probably a lot safer.

One of the simplest and most elegant grinding machines I ever saw was based 
on a simple turnable for the mirror, and a single arm carrying the tool.  
One end of the arm was fixed on a stationary pivot about 1.5 meters from the 
table.  A tool post was mounted about 500mm in from the other end.   The end 
of the arm near the tool had a threaded swivel nut attached.  The nut was 
driven by a motorized screw, back and forth between two limit switches, 
which moved the tool over the mirror.  Whenever a limit switch was 
encountered, the motor reversed direction.  It was easy for the operator to 
change the position of the limit switches, to adjust the focus and spread of 
the tool travel.

This machine performed very well, and except for the table drive, it was 
essentially free of belts, pulleys, bearings, and much of the mechanical 
complication usually found in a grinding machine.  All the parts could be 
obtained at the local mega hardware store, except for the motors and 
gearboxes.  No computer was involved, just some old-fashioned pin-ball relay 
logic to flip-flop the motor power leads.

Bill T.






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