Denford Orac and CS Labs controller

Hi all
Please bear with me as this is my first post and start of my journey into CNC
I've just bought a Denford orac lathe with ATC, mechanically it appears in very good condition but is missing all the control gear and electronics etc.

Unfortunately i have almost no knowledge of CNC , computers or electronics so after several weeks of reading all i can i am starting to realise this is going to be a very steep learning curve, but i'm hoping where there's a will there's a way and this can be made into a fairly capable and accurate machine to produce small parts in mild steel , ali and acetal.

As this is all very new to me i'm trying to break the project down into manageable parts,
so after a general clean / check over the lathe and hooking the spindle motor up to a VFD to test it the next step seems to be to choose some form of control hardware.

As my limited computer experience is with windows machines I'm fairly keen to use mach 3 software as i think i will find it easier to get my head around than linux based software ,although after lots of reading it seems that there are issues with most controllers and mach 3 when used with a lathe , mostly seemingly based around there accurate threading abilities.

So far from what i can tell the best option seem to be with a CS labs CSMIO/IP-S controller + CSMIO-ENC threading module,
which although seemingly the most expensive option if this saves me months of head scratching and trying to choose various pieces of compatible hardware its probably worth the extra money.

Before i bite the bullet though I would be very grateful though for anyone's thoughts or experiences with using this controller on a lathe, are there better options or equally is this completely over the top and would i do just as well with something else ( like an ethernet smooth stepper and BOB etc).

Finally am i likely to be able to get the ATC to work with the CS labs controller and Mach 3 , i don't know the model name for the ATC but its the one driven by a small DC motor that is fitted to some orac lathes as standard.

Apologies for the rather long winded first post but it seemed to make sense to give a little background if only to explain my lack of knowledge at the moment.

CS-Labs stuff is good, and if you have the budget for it, then there's no real reason not to use it.

Does the spindle have a full incremental encoder, with A and B outputs?
I know my cyclone only had an A output, and I had to connect up the additional terminals in the encoder to get the B output.

Toolchanger should be relatively simple IIRC. If it's the type I'm thinking off, then it simply rotates the motor one direction to change position, then reverses the motor at reduced voltage/current so it stalls against the ratchet/pawl. I think I've seen macro's over on the mach forum to implement it. I think it's just done on time delays, as they don't have any position sensor.

Attachment 22485Attachment 22486Attachment 22484

To be honest i've not really looked into the encoder yet and how it works. ( hopefully a few photos are attached !)
But it appears to have 2 sensors , can you enlighten me anymore from the pics ?


Yes that sounds like the ATC i have, it's good to hear i should be able to get it to work as that was a large part of the reason i bought the orac.

I have a csmio-ip-s, enc, + extra io on a lathe, chicom 12x24 semi-industrial.
+ mpg.
+ lightbar using the cslabs macro on m3.

I use ac brushless servos, 750w x + z, 32 mm screw-z, 25 mm coming on x, and have 2 toolchangers, 4 tools + 7 tools ... the toolchanger mounts are being made, after first upgrading the x axis ballscrew (major metal-stuff).
10.000 count servos, with 1:2 belt drives HTD 8-30 mm, on x and z, and 1:3 belt drive on the servo spindle c axis - spindle - 2.5 kW.


The csmio solution is the best there is.
Unlimited io, great support, best hw, great drivers/firmware.
The cslabs hw is not cheap, but everything-else in hw (toolchangers, 32 mm ballscrews, good mounts, etc..) for a retrofit costs 5x more for a really good solution, industrial level.

I am really happy with everything-cslabs...
It tracks perfectly, as I did expect.
Very high resolution works really well, ie perfectly, 0.2 microns theoretical for me, for now.
FRO/SSO in hw is great, via analog log pots on MPG module.

Nevertheless, a lot of stuff is learning and fitting.
A lot of stuff is very laborious, my IO without inputs is == 110 wires, now, only 3 servos in use so far of 5-7 overall over time.

But cslabs are happy to help ...
and I tried with multiple excellent steppers, 2 types of ac servos, etc---
not because I need them, but to get good docs for me.

Todo...
- I need to get servo-inputs into the cslabs controller. Critical.
Not running yet.
- Optical homing via servos or optical limits. Critical.

Toolchanger 1., 4. of, needs mounts yoke etc etc. 60% done. Critical.
X axis new screw needs toolchanger base plate and mounts etc... 30% done. Critical.

And right on cue at the mention of a lathe and CS-Labs, we have the internets most advanced lathe builder, complete with the usual rambling post with endless specifications about something nobody has ever seen any proof of existence of, and which is of little to no use to the original question asked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hanermo2

I have a csmio-ip-s, enc, + extra io on a lathe, chicom 12x24 semi-industrial.
+ mpg.
+ lightbar using the cslabs macro on m3.

I use ac brushless servos, 750w x + z, 32 mm screw-z, 25 mm coming on x, and have 2 toolchangers, 4 tools + 7 tools ... the toolchanger mounts are being made, after first upgrading the x axis ballscrew (major metal-stuff).
10.000 count servos, with 1:2 belt drives HTD 8-30 mm, on x and z, and 1:3 belt drive on the servo spindle c axis - spindle - 2.5 kW.


The csmio solution is the best there is.
Unlimited io, great support, best hw, great drivers/firmware.
The cslabs hw is not cheap, but everything-else in hw (toolchangers, 32 mm ballscrews, good mounts, etc..) for a retrofit costs 5x more for a really good solution, industrial level.

I am really happy with everything-cslabs...
It tracks perfectly, as I did expect.
Very high resolution works really well, ie perfectly, 0.2 microns theoretical for me, for now.
FRO/SSO in hw is great, via analog log pots on MPG module.

Nevertheless, a lot of stuff is learning and fitting.
A lot of stuff is very laborious, my IO without inputs is == 110 wires, now, only 3 servos in use so far of 5-7 overall over time.

But cslabs are happy to help ...
and I tried with multiple excellent steppers, 2 types of ac servos, etc---
not because I need them, but to get good docs for me.

Todo...
- I need to get servo-inputs into the cslabs controller. Critical.
Not running yet.
- Optical homing via servos or optical limits. Critical.

Toolchanger 1., 4. of, needs mounts yoke etc etc. 60% done. Critical.
X axis new screw needs toolchanger base plate and mounts etc... 30% done. Critical.

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