4th axis - getting it together at last

So here we go. All the parts are 100% CNC machined, no manual operations. What could possibly go wrong? Time to find out....

Quick trial with a handful of fasteners:

Looking good so far...

Well that went well. No "machine fitting" required to get the fasteners in, no filing of surfaces and opening out of holes. It does happen from time to time.

So let's start to actually assemble it for real. First fit the chuck backplate onto the harmonic drive.

Then fit the harmonic drive to the front plate.

Next, reassemble the chuck. Finally, with the various plates in place and the motor / pulleys / belt fitted. 

Runout is about 30um on the body of the chuck, which seems pretty reasonable. 

Here's the motor being jogged. Haven't checked what the jog speed it but at 3000rpm (top speed), the chuck should be spinning at 60rpm (once per second).

Next - set up the Servopack using the Yaskawa tuning software. Then see about wiring it up for real to the Centroid Acorn controller. I think this should involve some conduit, screened cable and a sensible connector, so it can be removed from the machine when required.