Evening all,

Really need some advice and help on how and what I need to control the spindle on my new Triac with MACH3. The machine as received is completely stripped of all electronics except for the spindle motor (SEM MT30U4-36) and drive card (Sprint 1200). So far I have managed to wire up the spindle motor and drive board and control it via a 10k pot and verify all works OK (Phew).

The Mill also has an ATC unit that I will add to the conversion later on. What I'm trying to understand is how to control the spindle for the ATC alignment.

My other question is could this setup be used for ridged tapping? I read somewhere that you would need to convert the spindle to an axis via software so the Z and spindle movements can be synchronised.

The spindle motor has a Taco built in, can MACH use this for position or would I need to make a separate encoder disk with a slot and sensor?

Lastly what BOB would people recommend, I would need this to control the spindle and ATC plus limit switches etc or would a PLC be better for the ATC??

Lots of questions I know, if anyone could point me in the right direction I would be most grateful.

Cheers

Mike