Deckel NC Milling Machine Web Site

... where-in he addresses the Deckel gear change issue, a subject which has failed many a noobs conversion project.

For any technical questions please use the Technical Forum. Wessley is standing by for your convenience... 

Technical Note:

So far the gear change still seems a bit slower than in the original Deckel set-up. But Deckel also did experiment a lot with this. Some retrofitters are also employing a spindle stop sensor now, because of the danger of trying to engage a gear when the spindle is still turning. This can happen if the motor is jogged too fast or the spindle brake is not engaging enough.

The second video should be helpful to anyone in understanding how the gear shift works. If shifting is unreliable or really slow, often the shift motors do not turn correctly due to bad relay connections.

The site has not expanded much recently due to time issues and a painful internet connection (I am in a somewhat remote location right now).

Both may change soon.

I have received a lot of new literature relevant to this site and I need to scan in lots of it. Particularly the newer and bigger machines are becoming clearer. BUT still I have no decent material on the FP2/3/4NC with Dialog 11 series. Also NOTHING on the FP4NC Dialog 11. These black holes seem difficult to fill.

I will provide new pictures of machine moving crashes, this time self inflicted (did I mention I have a new forklift?).

I have acquired 2 of the rare Deckel high speed heads, made by IBAG. Getting them hooked up is a different story. I have no wiring diagrams and no idea how to mount them on an FP4A D11. Who else has an original IBAG/Deckel set-up? Please step forward.

As far as site progress is concerned, please bear with me and I will come through.

Wessley has made progress and documents this in chapter 2.

I will fix the picture size soon, since as usual site provider functionalities are unreliable.

A new page:

I have added a new page on which I am happy to host the project reports by Wessley from the UK, who is tackling the conversion of a pristine FP4ATC to a Heidenhain control.

Wessley will provide updates as the work progresses and so it is worthwhile to check up on him at least every few weeks.  No pressure Wessley!

See his exploits here:  Wessley's Project

As I am only hosting him on my site, please do not e-mail me with in this regard (except when important), but use either the guestbook or the technical forum for comments, whichever is more appropriate.

Site re-shuffling:

As the software to modify this site is extremely agitating and buggy, I had to re-shuffle some parts of the lay-out. I hope it works, but can not be sure. It appears the sidebar is still unreliable at times and so it is better to rely on the main index, which has been merged with the home page.

I have added some more scans to the FP CC series section: http://www.dialog5.com/fpccseries.htm

I have also added some more items in the documentation section.

I am in need of sales or technical literature for the last generation FP NC machine with Dialog 11 (FP2NC, FP3NC, FP4NC) from approx. 1987 to 1993. I hope someone can help me close that gap.

Site issues:

The web site has some technical issues. Sometimes the side bar will not come up, pages that are deleted are linked where they should not be, the guestbook has entries not visible to my browser, people can see pages that should be invisible.

I blame my site host. "Webs" seems terminally incapable to create a stable system before they change everything and force people to migrate into a new even more unstable format, whereby the migration looses data or creates gost copies of pages, which then pop up later for no reason, long after they are obsolete. I can no longer recommend them.

Anyway I have tried to fix stuff, but there are surely some issues left.

Forum:

I have established a Forum page so that people can talk to each other and answers remain visible.

The Forum is here: Forum

Note that I have transfered some stuff from the guestbook to the Forum site. I encourage participation.

Kattenes

An FP4NC found its way to me, and since it has no table it probably makes more sense to part it out then to sell it whole.

I have set up a separate page to document the parts available and where I will post pictures.

See this page here: http://www.dialog5.com/partingoutanfp4nc.htm

I have gotten a whole batch of material on loan for the subjects of tool changers, CADCAM, Deckel Training System and FP CC machines. I need to scan stuff in, but will have to be selective.

FP CC series: I will start a new page dedicated to this series. It should not be confused with the FP NC series, eventhough there is some overlap.

FP A machines: I got two nice sales brochures for these in. These include some info on the Heidenhain 355 and the Contour 3.

Tool Changer: I purchased a complete toolchanger from an FP4TC. I am not sure I can make it work on an FP3NC, but I have no FP4NC. In any case it was very cheap and is educational and I will provide pictures. I am looking for the orange book infos on the tool changer.

CADCAM and DTS: The CADCAM stuff keeps getting more complecated. Deckel had so much stuff out there for such short periods of time, that it is like a very complex jigsaw puzzle. I will document, but can not yet claim full comprehension.