ATC compatible spindles

Hey Doconefall, hey @SnidelyWhiplash, hey @johnhill30, hey all,

as with “spindles” you usually mean three-phase induction motors or three-phase synchronous motors, they all can run counterclockwise. This already happens if you swap two of the three contacts. It’s the duty of the VFD to offer counterclockwise rotation and all VFDs offer this. Usually there is a setting inside the VFD that can prevent counterclockwise rotation because it may be unwanted.

The other thing is, your CNC controller must be wired to the VFD in a manner to be able to request counterclockwise rotation. See wiring diagrams for ensuring that wiring for counterclockwise rotation is there.

No special wiring is necessary if your VFD is controlled via Modbus (like the Buildbotics CNC controller or the buildbotics-derived Onefinity PRO/Original CNC Controller).

Note that counterclockwise rotation is something that is needed only for RapidChangeATC (or “Easy ATC” as Onefinity calls it) in combination with standard, non-ATC spindles. This is different from “normal” ATC which works with pneumatics and requires ATC spindles like these or these.

1 Like