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procedure for sliding upper part of Y axis on a flip head fp4nc

legoboy

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Location
Alberta
I am looking for the proper procedure for sliding the upper part of the Y axis back on the flip head. I would like to do some maintenance as well as take a peek inside. Thanks for any insights.
 
Call a tool change and insert the spindle plug if you have it. While the tool change is called, change the spindle selector switch on the operator main console from Vertical to Horizontal, then depress the tool change button again to "un-call" the tool change/spindle change.

Loosen the outside 4 bolts on the face of the head (not the (6) head angle retention bolts) , then pull the spindle up 90 degrees on its hinge so it points horizontal.
Push the head straight back, suggest using finesse to slide back, as the internal shift linkage can be damaged by exuberant slamming attempts to slide back.
If the shift mechanism doesn't want to cooperate, you can release the spindle brake and rotate the horizontal spindle to help the shift linkage mesh and the head will slide back easier.

Once the head is all the way back on its track, tighten the captive 12mm retention bolt at the front, top of the flip casting (operator side). Install the sheet metal cover plate via the captive thumbscrews, this protects the face of the horizontal spindle housing (end of the Y ram)

Make sure you have "S1" selected in the Mode 16 display so the spindle speed displays correctly.
 
Goes like this, assuming you are currently running vertical.....

Unscrew the 4 Allen bolts that are on the perimeter of the rectangular plate that is hinged.....(Not the bolts that pass through the vertical head or the protractor)

When unscrewed, if all is correct the bolts will sort of pop out so that their heads are out of their counter bores...There are steel sleeves around those bolt heads that are spring loaded and if
they are not damaged the springs will extract the bolts. All will (or should) remain in the plate, but they will move out so that they will not interfer with the plate sliding back.

Once the bolts are unscrewed, pull the entire vertical head forward..straight toward you, till it stops....plate should clear the "Y" slide face by about 2'' or so..

Be gentle here, some mass involved and you don't want to get a run at the stop...Might be reluctant to move is it has not been moved in some time....

Once its froward, tilt the vertical head up like a hinge...leaving the spindle facing froward and the cover of the tool release cylinder setting horizontal.

Now, push the vertical head assembly to the rear...should move back until the bottom surface of the flip plate (now facing forward) is just past flush with the front face of the "Y" slide.....

There is a cam plate and eccentric shaft under the sliding plate that engages the vertical spindle when the assembly is moved to the rear....This can often have damage and might make moving the upper slide plate
difficult....Be gentle moving the head and crashing the cam and eccentric can lead to real trouble.....

Once the vertical head is moved back, the bolt in the flip plate that is most forward on the operators side can be threaded into the top of the "Y" slide. This "parks " the vertical head and prevents it moving while using the
machine in horizontal....

There is also a drain connection in this position to allow oil from the vertical head gearing to return to the "Y" slide.....


To return to verticaql...loosen the parking bolt..and slide the assembly forward till the hinge is about 2" forward of the face of the "Y" slide...close the hinge to bring the vertical head back to vertical....

Then push the assembly straight back...you my have to rotate the spindle (vertical) slightly to allow the drive coupling to engage.
Tighten the 4 perimeter bolts....


Note: If you should move the upper section of the "Y" slide, you must tram it true ,top to bottom on the vertical mounting face before making up teh vertical head assembly...
Cheers Ross
 
Thanks for the detailed write ups they are very thorough. I have managed to flip the head what I was wondering is how to slide the upper casting as to mount an accessory, like the boring head or the like. On the older deckel it is more intuitive because you have to slide it out of the way to use the horizontal.
 
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Ok , mounting an accessory goes like this....
Once the vertical head is "flipped" and parked,you must loosen the clamp screws that secure the two parts of the "Y" ram together.
The "Y" ram is built in two sections...an upper and lower. Loosen the 4 clamping bolts accessible from the operators side of the "Y" ram...There are two in the rear half of the upper section (part that carries the manual speed range change knob) and two bolts in the forward half of the lower section of the Y" ram....

Once the clamps are loose, you can push the upper section to the rear, exposing dovetails and drive gearing that is there to accommodate spindle driven accessories.
Be sure to clean the rear portion of the dovetails that extend to the rear of the "Y" ram before moving the upper. These dovetails should be covered by an aluminum segmented cover (often missing)
I often squirt a bit of way lube on the dovetails before moving the top over it.

If your machine has not had the upper section moved in some time, likely its tight and difficult to move...coolant and dried lube can stick the upper and lower together making any move difficult....might
have to work at it a bit...but it will move once the clamps are loose......

On returning to use without accessory, be sure to tram the vertical face of the upper and lower portions of the ram...they should be flat to each other when trammed vertically within .001" or better.....
This can be a bit taxing as making small movements of the top can be difficult (stiction)....especially if the surfaces have residual oil or coolant on their mating surfaces....

Unlike the earlier FP4NC and FP3NC, there is no cute little chain drive setup to easily move the upper section of the "Y" ram...Its just an "Armstrong" thing.....

Cheers Ross
 
Ok , mounting an accessory goes like this....
Once the vertical head is "flipped" and parked,you must loosen the clamp screws that secure the two parts of the "Y" ram together.
The "Y" ram is built in two sections...an upper and lower. Loosen the 4 clamping bolts accessible from the operators side of the "Y" ram...There are two in the rear half of the upper section (part that carries the manual speed range change knob) and two bolts in the forward half of the lower section of the Y" ram....

Once the clamps are loose, you can push the upper section to the rear, exposing dovetails and drive gearing that is there to accommodate spindle driven accessories.
Be sure to clean the rear portion of the dovetails that extend to the rear of the "Y" ram before moving the upper. These dovetails should be covered by an aluminum segmented cover (often missing)
I often squirt a bit of way lube on the dovetails before moving the top over it.

If your machine has not had the upper section moved in some time, likely its tight and difficult to move...coolant and dried lube can stick the upper and lower together making any move difficult....might
have to work at it a bit...but it will move once the clamps are loose......

On returning to use without accessory, be sure to tram the vertical face of the upper and lower portions of the ram...they should be flat to each other when trammed vertically within .001" or better.....
This can be a bit taxing as making small movements of the top can be difficult (stiction)....especially if the surfaces have residual oil or coolant on their mating surfaces....

Unlike the earlier FP4NC and FP3NC, there is no cute little chain drive setup to easily move the upper section of the "Y" ram...Its just an "Armstrong" thing.....

Cheers Ross

Thank you, that is what I was after. I did get to the stage that you are describing but the top casting wasn't moving with any ease so I wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something before applying a lot of force.
 
Suspect its just gummed up ...Unlike the earlier "Camel Back" machines i would bet that the upper portion of the "Y" rarely gets moved on most "Flip" machines.
A bit disappointing IMO that Deckel did not incorporate the chain drive slide mover on the later machines ...That is a nice little feature and it works very well...

Cheers Ross
 








 
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