Teknatool International

After using the  tapping feature of the Nova Voyaget DVR drill press, I can see where there are a few essential enhancements that should be made to how it functions.

First, the depth stop functionality that is present should map to the tapping function to trigger reversal and back out.  This is absolutely essential for blind holes and would be a real benefit for through holes as well.  I find that when using a high quality gun taps in materials such as aluminum, a 1/4-20 or 6mm x 1.0 tap doesn't register enough load for the system to properly recognize completion of the tapping cycle.  This can lead to disastrous outcomes if you don't hit the button in time to reverse the spindle.  I would also add that tapping in this case takes three hands.  One to hole the workpiece/drill vise, one on the quill handle, and a third to hit the button. electronic depth stop to the rescue.

Another feature I would consider adding is some kind of configurable electronic torque limit.  While this may be possible already by manupilating other parameters, it really should be a simple to use feature, like setting a maximum load percentage.  I can think of several features, especially tapping that would benefit.  Something goes wrong with a tapping operation?  Software torque limit set in advance might help prevent a tap from breaking off in the part, affording you the chance to remove the tap by hand without ruining a part.

Third, how about having some way to allow users to upload additional speed information that can be added to the built in speeds, perhaps specifying new materials as well.

Fourth, a more flexible braking option should be added.  Braking should be configurable so that the user can set the aggressiveness of the braking and the speeds at which it is applied.  Also very useful for tapping, especially if the depth stop feature is tied into tapping and you are doing blind holes.

As you can tell, tapping was a huge feature reason that I purchased this specific drill press and I've had to come up with some workarounds to feature deficiencies right out of the box.  Noting that the tapping feature is now hidden under a service menu, I'm curious what the future plans for tapping are and why this feature was taken out of the advanced menu?  Was it because there are known, siginificant limitations and it will be moved back once it has been updated or is it an attempt to phase out tapping?  I certainly hope the latter is not the case, as it was a huge reason that I bought this specific drill press.

I realize that there may not be a ton of folks with as much interest in tapping features, but please let me know if there is anything I can do to help with refining these features and/or testing.

The tapping feature is one of the key reasons that I am interested in purchasing this machine.

I subscribe totally to the previous contributors reservations and suggestions. Compared with the   many other much less expensive drill press models on the marked, by enhancing and adding the suggested features, this would greatly enhance the products USP.

Anything more specific as to when this updated firmware might be released or what other features are being evaluated?  There hasn't been an update in nearly 6 months.

Also, it would be nice for the release notes for each version of the firmware to be posted right alongside the download going forward.  That way, they are easy to find and review prior to upgrading.

Spencer,

Thanks for the reply.  I am aware of the current location of the release notes, but was suggesting that from a website usability perspective, it would be more appropriate for the link to the release notes to be right beside the firmware download link, rather than being located on some other tab or page.

Thanks!

Dave

I have been trying to work out the final message that appears on the home screen on initial startup i.e. the prompt for the user to calibrate the height sensor. This message appears after each operation. Does anybody know how this works & what steps to complete the operation?

I'm with David Persuhn...I too bought this drill press because of the tapping feature. I can't for the life of me figure out why they would offer a tapping feature that wouldn't reverse the tap at a programmable depth. It seems like everything should be there to do that. After all, the drill press already has a programmable depth stop (alarm) with a reversing feature once the programmed depth has been reached. Another thing I would like to see is a faster/easier way to get to the power spindle lock. I use a key-less chuck and there is a lot of button pushing and dial turning involved every time a drill is changed. It would be nice if a "favorites" key could be pressed for a spindle lock. I'm hoping other users chime in here, that's how things change and improve. Other than that stuff  I love this drill press!  

I posted earlier in regards to a tapping problem and as of me writing this, that post has not been posted (still waiting the moderator's approval) Anyway, I found an article on Teknatool's website.

"Alternate Workarounds for Firmware R2P05: 

- For small taps or those which do not work correctly in the tapping mode, use the "User Set Depth" function to set the desired tapping depth. Then, change the Set Depth Reached function to "Stop and Rev (top)". This will allow the Voyager to tap blind holes and reverse out automatically (more or less the same function as "load sensing", but it won't rely on the load sensing to trigger the reverse out)."

I just thought I would put it here to save others wasting their time trying to find answers.