Denford Novamill 1996 Conversion, Hints & Tips Appreciated

Thanks once again, m_c. I really do owe you a beer or two for taking the time to help!

Quote:

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5 - Not sure. Looks like it plugs into the Controller, so could be some kind of interface board. Where do the wires go?

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http://i.imgur.com/5SDIjaRl.jpg

It has a ribbon cable going to the Motion controller, it only has the two wires coming in at the bottom.

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I'm currently looking at these options:

KFLOP & KSTEP Bought in the US and stuffed in my case for £333.
SmoothStepper & 3x G251X 3.5A 50VDC Step motor drive Bought in the UK for £370
CSLABS CSM Bought in the UK £250. Still don't know if I can use this direct with the existing stepper board?

As much as I really want to go for the KFLOP as it looks like a neat package at a decent price... I would really want to buy from the UK if I can so I have easy support if something is faulty or goes wrong.

The next option would be the CSlabs box, that is if it will work with the existing drivers which I'm still not sure on.

Finally at the more expensive end of the spectrum there's the SmoothStepper, can buy from the UK and it seems a lot of people use them.


I might head over the the Denford forum and ask there now I know a bit more... Thanks :) I'll keep you updated.

EDIT: Found the correct page referencing the layout.
http://i.imgur.com/E7A9gSm.png

Something tells me that extra board could be for the 0-10V for the spindle drive, with the big ribbon cable simply being convenient for connecting things.

I've got to admit, I do have concerns for if any of my Dynomotion stuff dies, as delivery usually takes a couple weeks or so, mostly due to Customs clearance. However, I've not yet killed anything, and I do currently have a spare KFlop/Kanalog/Konnect bundle.

the step and direction signals on the cslabs controller are 5V. just the outputs are up to 30v.
Personally i would still go for the cslabs controller

Go for some of the leadshine M542's, they are cheaper and better than the Gecko drives and if you do get trouble you can get a replacement fast.
If you fancy going the Kflop route, contact me as I have a brand new board here, never fitted to anything.

The leafboy board is a BoB and not a motion controller. They are very good. Sieg have been fitting these in thier KX series CNC mills for about 5 years and AFAIK only one failure which was a wiring fault anyway.

Watch out if you are using the original spindle speed controller and want to run it from Mach 3. Its 0-10v input is not isolated from the mains, so a BoB with a ground referenced 0-10v output can't be connected without blowing something up. You will need an isolating buffer, there are a couple of circuits around that takes the PWM speed control through an opto isolator and smooth it to produce the dc signal. There is a thread somewhere on this forum I think, or maybe on cnczone.


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Found it. Look for a thread called Denford Novamill Mach3 Conversion on this forum. There's a circuit there I designed which has been built and works.


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I'd forgotten about that issue.

It won't be an issue if you use a KStep, as the 0-10V analog output is isolated, however I'm not sure about the CSMIO/IP-M. I've just had a quick scan of the manual, and it's pretty vague. It certainly doesn't mention isolation.

this is everything you need for a good conversaion

Ethernet smoothstepper

http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Sm...ernet-794.html

3x drivers

https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Stepper-Mo...tepping-CW5045


Breakout board

http://diycnc.co.uk/cnc-boards-uniport-v3/

48v psu

https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Breakout-B...U-48Volt-12Amp

total £450

oh forgot and you will need a spindle v4 or v5 board

One of the major benefits of a KStep, is it combines controller, stepper drives, and 0-10V on the one board. My only complaint is all the IO and 0-10V is on IDC header, so you do need a small BoB to make life easier(about £10 upwards on ebay - search for "16pin IDC breakout board")
As this is a Novamill conversion, space in the cabinet is limited, unless you're willing to alter the cabinet layout. I'd need to measure to check, but I think you should be able to squeeze a KStep into the existing controller space.

Power supply wise, a bridge rectifier and capacitor is all that's needed to get a supply for stepper drivers. I just checked the wiring diagram, and the transformer outputs 28VAC, which should give about 40VDC. I also noticed the diagram shows a 24VDC supply for the control electrics. Not sure why I thought it was 12V...

If you don't want to rely on USB for 5V, you'll need to add in a 5V power supply. I personally use switched mode DIN rail mount ones, as they do the job in a nice compact format. Not the cheapest option, but easy to install.

To give you an idea of how compact the KStep setup is, here's a photo of my prober/CMM control cabinet -
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/...c73a54d1f2.jpg
I made my own BoB with what I had lying around, but then I only needed two inputs (EStop and Probe). If I wasn't in a rush to get the machine running at the time, I would of ordered a ready made BoB.
The build thread can be found at http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...c,27732.0.html with some info about running it closed loop at the bottom of the first page.

Or Pokeys 57CNCdb25 for 79 Euro

https://www.poscope.com/PoKeys57CNCdb25

Cheap breakout board from China for £5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Axis-CNC...-/272041782661

This does spindle control and speed.

Then add the power supply and 3 drivers.