2021 Most Practical Guide for Wood CNC Lathe with Automatic Feeder

EagleTec automated wood lathe has been favored by most of our customers. With the hopper feeding mechanism, the wood lathe can automatically load and unload materials without stopping the process. Based on this feature, there is no doubt that it is a wood cnc lathe with the highest productivity. And today's post, I'm going to show you how to operate it, step-by-step. I hope it helps!

EagleTec CNC is committed to building cnc wood turning lathes of great quality and providing best after-sales support to our users.

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The automatic wood turning machine here is equipped with the F136 handheld controller from RichAuto. Before learning this tutorial, please be sure that your lathe has the same control system.

Step 1. Hook Up Power Cord & Connect the Compressed Air

When we use the wood turning cnc machine for the first time, the first thing we need to do is the setup. Please note that the wiring work must be carried out in a non-energized state. At the same time, make sure that the air switch in the cabinet is also cut off.

Please follow the video demonstration here.

Transcript

• When wiring, make sure that the air switch is off.

• Please connect the machine to AC380V electricity. Four terminals should be connected to L1, L2, L3, and N from left to right.

• After the connection complete, please turn on the switch.

• Please connect the compressed air hose.

• Please adjust the air pressure to 0.5MPa.

Step 2. Manual Actions Introduction

After the first step is completed, we can switch on the cnc wood turning machine. After that, let us first learn how to operate a few actions. They will often be used in subsequent machine operations processes. This part mainly includes these three actions: how to active electric spindle, how to perform feed in manual mode, and how to lock/release the air-actuated spike manually.

Transcript

• Press "mode & 7" at the same time to activate the electro-spindle manually.

• Press the combination keys of "mode & 6" to perform auto-feed in manual mode.

• Combination keys of “Mode and 8” are used to lock or release the air-actuated spike of the tailstock manually.

Step 3. Lock Tailstock Position – The Preparation for Auto Feeding System Adjustment 

In this step, we should lock the tailstock in a proper position for the cnc wood lathe machine, according to the length of the wood blank. It is also the preparation for the adjustment of the automatic feeding rack.

Transcript

• Place the left end of the material on the headstock, leaving a gap of 3 to 5cm between the tailstock and the right end of the material.

• Tighten the tailstock nut to lock it in this position.

• Pull out the fixing pin on the right. Pull the fixed rod to hold the workpiece.

• When clamping the workpiece, make sure that both ends are exactly fixed on the center point.

Step 4. Adjust Feed System According to The Wood Blank Dimension 

This is a crucial step as it determines whether the automatic feeding action can be performed smoothly. Please follow our tutorial here step by step.

Transcript

• Please adjust the left side first. According to the length of the wood blank, adjust them to the appropriate position and lock them.

• Please press “mode and 6” at the same time to perform auto-feed action.

• First adjust it to a suitable tilt angle and position, then lock it.

• Adjust the bolts to a suitable height to ensure that the two ends of the workpiece are clamped in the center position when the automatic feeding is running. Lock it with nut.

• Adjust it to a suitable tilt angle and position, then lock it.

• Adjust the bolts to a suitable height to ensure that the two ends of the workpiece are clamped in the center position when the automatic feeding is running. Lock it with nut.

• According to the length of the wood blank, adjust them to the appropriate position and lock them.

• Please press “mode and 6” at the same time to perform auto feed action.

• According to the length of the wood blank, adjust them to the appropriate position and lock them.

• Check if the top and bottom are the same; if not, please adjust it. If the upper and lower ends are not the same width, the feeding will not proceed smoothly.

• Put the wood blanks, adjust the feeding trough to a suitable position, and then lock it.

• Check if the top and bottom are the same; if not, adjust it.

• Adjust the feeding trough to a suitable height and position and then lock it.

This is the valve for adjustment. 

• Press the mode and 6 buttons at the same time to control the push out and withdrawal of feeder.

• Please check whether the two pneumatic push rods are synchronized. If not, please adjust according to this demonstration.

• Adjust the speed of the pneumatic rod by adjusting the air intake.

• After the adjustment is completed, lock the air intake regulating valve.

Step 5. Install Woodturning Tool

This step is about to mount the carbide wood turning tool and grooving router bit on the cnc lathe for wood. After the installation is complete, we still need to adjust their position properly.

Transcript:

• Please lock the carbide turning tool on the tool rest with bolts.

• Manually run the X and Y axes (Press Y+, X+) to make the tip of the tool close to the point of the spike.

• Loosen the nut and adjust the height of the tool. Make the tip of the tool 3-5mm higher than the point.

• Then lock the height.

• Install the grooving tool.

• Tighten the spindle nut.

Step 6. Perform Turning & Grooving in Manual Mode

To make the system memorize all the processing parameters, we must run the cnc wood turner in manual mode for the first time. This is also the preparation for the next automatic processing. So it is a very important step.

Transcript:

• Remove the lock pin on the right so we can push the lever for clamping the wood piece.

• Put the wood on the lathe and then lock it. Please make sure that both ends of the wood are exactly fixed on the center point by the tip.

• Press Mode and 8 at the same time to perform pneumatic clamping.

• Please check the status of the two indicator lights on the tailstock cylinder. The right one should be off and the left one should be on.

• Now, the left one is on and the right one is off. This is because the pneumatic clamping action did not reach the preset position.

• Please adjust this way: loosen the locking bolt of the tailstock, move the tailstock a little bit to the right, and then tighten it.

• Put the wood on the machine, lock it by pulling the lever.

• Press mode and 8 to lock.

• It is correct now. Left one is on and right one is off. We can proceed.

• Press Mode and 8 to unlock the clamping.

• To ensure that the wood is firmly fixed on the machine, we also pull out the other locking pin. In this way, the cylinder keeps clamping the wood by compressed air.

• Press Mode and 8 to lock the work piece again.

• Copy the completed design files into the U disk, and then insert the U disk into the control card.

• Move the cutter to reasonable and safety position, and move Y axis to a proper position too. Press the key STOP POSITION to set it up.

• Move X,Y to the position which will start to process the file on workpiece. The rule is to make the tips of the cutter just contact the corners of the wood.

• Press CLEAR, move cursor to X axis clear, press OK; then move cursor to Y axis clear, press OK; then move cursor to Z axis clear, press OK.

• See, the coordinates of XYZ have become zero.

• Press MENU, enter into User Setup, then enter into LatheWrkSetting; move cursor to Safety Height, press OK. Move cursor to X axis, press DELETE and input value “-10”, minus ten. Press OK. Press CANCEL 3 times back to the coordinate interface.

• Press REF. The tool retracts a distance of 10mm. And we can see that the X axis coordinate has become to -10.

• Press MENU, enter into User Setup, then enter into LatheWrkSetting; enter into Turning Speed. Please set the WorkSpd to 500mm/min and the FastSpd speed to 1000mm/min.

• Setting method: Move the cursor to the item, press DELETE, then input the value, and finally press OK to complete.

• Press OK to return to the previous menu.

• Move cursor to Layer Count, press OK. This parameter determines how many passes the lathe will take to complete the job. Here we set 2 as an example. Press OK.

• We continue to set the cutting ratio for each layer. Please set like this: the first layer ratio is 0.7, and the second layer ratio is 1. It means the first pass takes 70% and the second cut takes 30%.

• Press OK to return superior menu. Press CANCEL 3 times back to the coordinate interface.

• Press FILE, and enter into U Disk File. Move the cursor to the correct file, press OK.

• Press RUN to start turning process.

• This knob can be used to adjust the spindle speed during processing.

• Press FILE MODE, select twist grooving, press OK. We activated the electro-spindle.

• Press MENU, enter User Setup, next enter Spiral Wrk Setup.

• Enter Sprial Spd, set the Spiral Spd to be 1000mm/min, press OK.

• Set the FastSpd to be 2000mm/min, press OK.

• Press CANCEL to return to the previous menu.

• Enter Spiral Wrk, select Twist Grooving 1, press OK. 

• Set SpiralCnt to be 4, press OK.

• Set SpiralAgl to be 0, press OK.

• Set SpiralTime to be 1, press OK.

• Press CANCEL, back to User Setup. Enter Multitask List, select number 1. Press OK.

• Back to the initial page

• Press FILE, select the required file, press OK.

• Reminder: the name of the twist grooving file should start with the letter S.

• Press X+, Y+ move the spindle to the workpiece and stop it at the position you want the grooving starts. The tip of the tool should contact the surface of the workpiece. 

• Press CLEAR. Move cursor to X axis clear, press OK; Move cursor to Y axis clear, press OK; Move cursor to A axis clear, press OK.

• Press CANCEL back to the upper menu, we can see that the coordinates of XYA have all become zero.

• Press RUN to start.

Step 7. Make it Work in Auto Mode

After the manual mode working is completed, we can let the woodworking cnc lathe work automatically. That means auto loading, auto working, and then auto loading, and then working, and continues.

Transcript:

• Install the locking pin on the right back

• Put the wood blanks on the feeding rack

• Press MENU.

• Enter into User Setup, move cursor to option – Spiral Cycle Set, press OK; move cursor to option – TurnCycl, select the file for turning (the file name should start with letter D), press OK back to upper menu.

• Move cursor to option – SprlCycl, select the file for twist grooving (the file name should start with letter S), press OK back to upper menu.

• Press the cancel key twice to return to the initial display interface.

• Turn on the knob switch of the automatic feeding function on the control cabinet

• Press key – TURNING MILLING CYCLE to perform auto working.

If you are looking for a wood cnc lathe machine of great quality with reliable after-sales support. Please contact us freely.

Well, today's sharing is over. See you next time.

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