CNC 6040 Controller Board Upgrades

[Pete1977]

Hi,

I’m new to the forum and was hoping for some advice.

I currently have a serial bus controller card running a USB cable and would like to upgrade to either a USB or Ethernet controller card, could anyone recommend one?

Reason is I would like to run Mach 3 on Windows 10 but currently does not support the USB to Serial Bus lead. I have the Planet CNC USB Mk1 software but prefer Mach.

Below is a pic of my current controller card.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JAZZCNC]

The perfect Motion controller for this machine is AXBB-E from CNCDRIVE. This is an Ethernet Motion controller with a built-in breakout board and spindle speed controller. It as 4-axis on the board or up to 6-axis with an extra breakout board that plugs into the expansion port on the side. See it here.
https://www.cncdrive.com/AXBB.html


It can use Mach3 or their own software which is UCCNC which is much much better than Mach3 and works very similar, it's also much cheaper.
I used to fit Mach3 on all the machines I build but have now completely switched to UCCNC and CNCDrive motion controllers as it's so much smoother and much more reliable than Mach3 or Mach4.
To be honest, Mach3 is too long in the tooth and unsupported, UCCNC has surpassed it in every area and is fully supported with good backup.

If you want to buy one of these I keep them in stock for the machines I build/sell and offer to sell to forum members so drop me a PM.

I also keep other cncdrive products, like the uc300ETH which is the Big brother to AXBB-E, it's exactly the same controller but with more inputs/outputs and in a different card format. Though to be honest I prefer the AXBB-E if don't need lots of I/O because it's a very neat little package. See pic.

Other products are the UCR201 wireless pendant, Wireless tool height setter.

[Kitwn]

That looks very neat. What are the connectors you're using on the end of the wires there Dean?

[JAZZCNC]

That looks very neat. What are the connectors you're using on the end of the wires there Dean?

Just box standard bootlace ferrules Kit.

[Kitwn]

Just box standard bootlace ferrules Kit.

Thanks Dean.
I don't remember hearing that term in nearly 40 years of professional electronics (except on the subject of walking boots!) or seeing that particular style with the insulated boot. Way better than the bare twisted wire you will find on a surprisingly wide range of professional gear or solder-dipped ends of wire.

I've always said half the trick of any specialist field is knowing the jargon. Having put that name into Google I have a host of options to choose from. Must order some.

Kit

[Neale]

They are a great way to avoid those odd strands which short out on their neighbours, and I found that they made wiring into terminals in confined spaces much easier. I bought a cheap Chinese crimping tool off eBay but without realising, ended up with a 6-jaw tool. I believe that quite a lot of them have 4 jaws which doesn't feel as if it would give as good a crimp. Anyway, a great thing to have discovered - and I found it thanks to this forum as well!

[Kitwn]

They are a great way to avoid those odd strands which short out on their neighbours, and I found that they made wiring into terminals in confined spaces much easier. I bought a cheap Chinese crimping tool off eBay but without realising, ended up with a 6-jaw tool. I believe that quite a lot of them have 4 jaws which doesn't feel as if it would give as good a crimp. Anyway, a great thing to have discovered - and I found it thanks to this forum as well!

It's a design I'm surprised I haven't come across before (unless senility is setting in sooner than I'd expected) but as soon as I saw Dean's photograph it was obvious that all such wiring should use that kind of insulated ferrule to prevent adjacent shorts as you say.

Apologies to Pete1977 for hijacking your thread.

Kit

[Clive S]

The very small ferrules are the hardest to crimp I have several crimp tools but this is the type of one that works the best for me

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/800Pcs-Cr...Cclp%3A2334524

[JAZZCNC]

The very small ferrules are the hardest to crimp I have several crimp tools but this is the type of one that works the best for me

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/800Pcs-Cr...Cclp%3A2334524

To be honest I hated using bootlace ferrules for a long time because they caused me loads of grief with bad connections on small ferrules. It was actually Clive S who pointed me in the direction of this type of tool when I was at his house and saw the difference between my tool type, the difference is night and day to the pliers' type tool I was using. The tool type makes a massive difference and for the small ferrules, they can be adjusted to give a better crimp.

[Pete1977]

The perfect Motion controller for this machine is AXBB-E from CNCDRIVE. This is an Ethernet Motion controller with a built-in breakout board and spindle speed controller. It as 4-axis on the board or up to 6-axis with an extra breakout board that plugs into the expansion port on the side. See it here.
https://www.cncdrive.com/AXBB.html


It can use Mach3 or their own software which is UCCNC which is much much better than Mach3 and works very similar, it's also much cheaper.
I used to fit Mach3 on all the machines I build but have now completely switched to UCCNC and CNCDrive motion controllers as it's so much smoother and much more reliable than Mach3 or Mach4.
To be honest, Mach3 is too long in the tooth and unsupported, UCCNC has surpassed it in every area and is fully supported with good backup.

If you want to buy one of these I keep them in stock for the machines I build/sell and offer to sell to forum members so drop me a PM.

I also keep other cncdrive products, like the uc300ETH which is the Big brother to AXBB-E, it's exactly the same controller but with more inputs/outputs and in a different card format. Though to be honest I prefer the AXBB-E if don't need lots of I/O because it's a very neat little package. See pic.

Other products are the UCR201 wireless pendant, Wireless tool height setter.

Hi,

Thank you so much for the info, that does look like a great setup.

I’ll PM you as I’m interested in the card.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk