Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
I've just bought a Harrison M250 that has factory-fitted CNC system, but the control system didn't come with it. As a result I essentially have a lathe fitted with stepper motors, adjustable stop switches and an encoder on the spindle. I know enough about electronics to sort out drivers for the motors etc. but being new to CNC I really don't know where to start with the control system - I gather that Mach3 is a good option for the SW but ideally I want a controller that will use the features of stop switches and the spindle encoder - it would be easy to use just the two motors but it wouldn't be long before I wanted to do something like thread cutting, and as the lathe doesn't have a full set of change wheels I might as well put the money into improving the CNC features.
So, the question is whether anyone can recommend a control system that would work with Mach3 and interface to the stop switches and spindle encoder.
BTW FP on MYCNC, so Hi to all!
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Hi Adrian,
Welcome to the forum from down under. Looks like two of the better options for CNC Lathe Software may be:
- KmotionCNC
- Acorn Centroid
based on what I recall seeing in fairly recent threads which included:
http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/11430...9159#post99159
http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/11917...442#post102442
BUT, I'm NOT in the know on this, so please wait for more informed comments . . . . .
Andy
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Hi and welcome to the forum.
First Mach3 will only count one pulse on the spindle it will do thread cutting of a sort but not rigid tapping etc.
You would need some sort of motion control board to do the step making in hardware.
There are better controllers out there. I use a mesa card which is used with linuxcnc (free) but it does take some time to learn it. You can also put mpg's on it to be able to use the lathe manually.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AdrianW
I've just bought a Harrison M250 that has factory-fitted CNC system, but the control system didn't come with it. As a result I essentially have a lathe fitted with stepper motors, adjustable stop switches and an encoder on the spindle. I know enough about electronics to sort out drivers for the motors etc. but being new to CNC I really don't know where to start with the control system - I gather that Mach3 is a good option for the SW but ideally I want a controller that will use the features of stop switches and the spindle encoder - it would be easy to use just the two motors but it wouldn't be long before I wanted to do something like thread cutting, and as the lathe doesn't have a full set of change wheels I might as well put the money into improving the CNC features.
So, the question is whether anyone can recommend a control system that would work with Mach3 and interface to the stop switches and spindle encoder.
BTW FP on MYCNC, so Hi to all!
Ive just installed Centroid Acorn on a Harrison M300. I'd never look at Mach 3 again, not the same league.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
It all depends on how much functionality you want to add.
If you're happy with on screen jogging, and no fancy tool changer, Centroid Acorn will achieve that. If you want to add an MPG for jogging, then the Acorn is out (it only supports a single encoder input, and has limited inputs and outputs).
If you want more functionality, then a Dynomotion KFlop will give it, but it's not as easy a system to implement.
Mach is still an option, but being realistic for a lathe, you'd either have to ditch the spindle encoder and go single slot, or buy a motion controller that does support encoder threading with Mach. IIRC only the full fat CS-labs controllers with an additional MPG module support it, or a KFlop can work with encoders and Mach3. Some of the Galil controllers probably also support it, but I'm not sure on how well they work with Mach.
I think the CNC Drive UC controllers can support multi-slot threading, but not a full encoder. They also have their own control software, UCCNC, but I'm not sure how much support it has for lathes.
Out with that, you're into a bunch of controllers that can only support single slot threading, or controllers with no threading support. The best guesses I've seen for the number of turn/lathes users in the hobbyist/retrofit market, have all been less than 10%, so there just isn't the same level of support compared with mills/routers.
LinuxCNC with a Mesa card is another option.
Off course, the other option is a standalone controller.
It all comes down to how much money you're willing to spend, and what functionality you'd like.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
m_c
It all depends on how much functionality you want to add.
If you're happy with on screen jogging, and no fancy tool changer, Centroid Acorn will achieve that. If you want to add an MPG for jogging, then the Acorn is out (it only supports a single encoder input, and has limited inputs and outputs).
If you want more functionality, then a Dynomotion KFlop will give it, but it's not as easy a system to implement.
Mach is still an option, but being realistic for a lathe, you'd either have to ditch the spindle encoder and go single slot, or buy a motion controller that does support encoder threading with Mach. IIRC only the full fat CS-labs controllers with an additional MPG module support it, or a KFlop can work with encoders and Mach3. Some of the Galil controllers probably also support it, but I'm not sure on how well they work with Mach.
I think the CNC Drive UC controllers can support multi-slot threading, but not a full encoder. They also have their own control software, UCCNC, but I'm not sure how much support it has for lathes.
Out with that, you're into a bunch of controllers that can only support single slot threading, or controllers with no threading support. The best guesses I've seen for the number of turn/lathes users in the hobbyist/retrofit market, have all been less than 10%, so there just isn't the same level of support compared with mills/routers.
LinuxCNC with a Mesa card is another option.
Off course, the other option is a standalone controller.
It all comes down to how much money you're willing to spend, and what functionality you'd like.
On the iPad so quick response from me. Centroid now has an integrated MPG option, 240 usd or so, well regarded. You can also now use something like a shuttle controller as a supported interface.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chaz
Ive just installed Centroid Acorn on a Harrison M300. I'd never look at Mach 3 again, not the same league.
Thanks for the recommendation - the Centroid forum seems pretty good so it looks like I'm going to be looking for a decent spindle encoder (it's got an optical HP one that's way under the minimum spec.) and also a VFD that's compatible with the Acorn - if you have any suggestions for one that's not silly money I'd be very grateful. I'm liking the idea that I might be able to do rigid tapping!
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AdrianW
Thanks for the recommendation - the Centroid forum seems pretty good so it looks like I'm going to be looking for a decent spindle encoder (it's got an optical HP one that's way under the minimum spec.) and also a VFD that's compatible with the Acorn - if you have any suggestions for one that's not silly money I'd be very grateful. I'm liking the idea that I might be able to do rigid tapping!
Just get a cheap and cheerful Hyangyung one on Ebay. £100 ish and sorted. There is a guy on ebay, near me, selling good quality encoders for circa £45.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chaz
Just get a cheap and cheerful Hyangyung one on Ebay. £100 ish and sorted. There is a guy on ebay, near me, selling good quality encoders for circa £45.
Cheers - those VFDs look like great value. Do you have a link for the guy selling encoders? The minimum recommended spec is 8000p/r (seems excessive?) and even the 2000p/r ones I've found are in the hundreds of quid.
Re: Control system for Harrison M250 CNC
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chaz
On the iPad so quick response from me. Centroid now has an integrated MPG option, 240 usd or so, well regarded. You can also now use something like a shuttle controller as a supported interface.
I did have a look last night after I posted to see what they've been up to, and noticed that, but $240 for a XHC pendant you can get on Aliexpress for $99 does seem a bit steep.
Cheap and cheerful option for KMotionCNC is a gamepad. Quite a few people use wireless Xbox controllers.
