Trained monkey looking to level up!

Hi there! I've been lurking for a little while and scratching my head, I just figured I'd come and say hello :monkey:

I've been using a 3 axis CNC router made by Marchant Dice (I understand that's a bit of a swear-word around here) for several years now, but I realise I know next to nothing about how it operates, the parts it uses and why, or how I'd repair a catastrophic failure... that sort of thing. I've just been going through the motions and doing what I was taught/managed to figure out, I'd like to upgrade from trained monkey to competent technician. The knowledge some of you guys have is staggering!

I have an engineering degree and a can-do attitude. The machine has a 2.2kw water-cooled spindle and 1.2x1.2m machine bed, the control box is a Tonman Superbox (pretty sure it's obsolete) and the PC is old as balls running Mach3 on XP, and all my toolpaths are made in VCarve. Looking to learn! If anyone has any resources that have helped them out over the years I'd be glad to be pointed towards them.

First thing I'm going to ask, is do you have a backup of the Mach3 config files?

The most likely thing to fail is the PC, so make sure you have a back up of all the critical files. Main one is the machine config (.ini file IIRC - it's been a while since I've used Mach3!), and the macro directory for that machine. Easy option is just copy the entire Mach3 directory to a memory stick, but upload the critical files somewhere safe as well.

Next would be to make sure you have a plan should the PC/control box fail.
Is the control box parallel port, or some form of USB controller?
I'd probably start by making a wiring diagram of the existing setup, as should something fail, it then removes a big part of diagnosing/replacing things.


Other than that, the mechanics should be pretty simple. Given it's a MD machine, they're not likely to be ideal, but should be simple to identify any problems and find replacement parts.

Hi m_c, thanks for taking the time to read and respond! :adoration:

I'm fairly sure I have backups, I'll double-check. Regarding the control box- it's parallel port. I don't have a wiring diagram, that's a great idea, I'll do that tomorrow.

As it's parallel port, you probably want to have some kind of plan in place should the PC die.
Getting a replacement PC with parallel port is doable, but they are getting a bit rarer and generally only available second hand, plus you can't go any newer than Windows 7 32bit.

What you'd potentially replace it with is more a case of how much you'd want to rework the control cabinet.
Something like a CNC drive UC100, or PMDX-411 should be a pretty much direct replacement for a parallel port.
Or you could switch to LinuxCNC which would allow you to keep using a parallel port on newer hardware.

Off course, you could do a more major rework of the control cabinet.
It all mostly depends on if you feel you'd benefit from a more involved upgrade.

Thanks m_c. We're pootling along just fine at the moment, but you are right: there is the ever-present worry of PC failure and lack of parts. We've had some close calls.

I've never seen those motion controllers before, I'll have a read up on how I'd go about integrating one of those into our setup. Where did you learn about all this stuff?

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Originally Posted by Mammers

Thanks m_c. We're pootling along just fine at the moment, but you are right: there is the ever-present worry of PC failure and lack of parts. We've had some close calls.

I've never seen those motion controllers before, I'll have a read up on how I'd go about integrating one of those into our setup. Where did you learn about all this stuff?

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You could change controller to an ethernet one like a UC400eth. (Better than USB) .
Get a couple of IDC26 to DB25 cables. Then use your existing parallel board with it on one of the ports and just change the pin numbers accordingly. You then have a second port for another parallel board if you want to add any other items later on.
Chances are you'd only need to deal with power supplies in the box that's all.
I'm assuming your system is using 5v? that all stays the same.
You'd just need a small extra one to power the new controller. (the UC400eth needs 24v I believe).

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Originally Posted by dazp1976

You could change controller to an ethernet one like a UC400eth. (Better than USB) .
Get a couple of IDC26 to DB25 cables. Then use your existing parallel board with it on one of the ports and just change the pin numbers accordingly. You then have a second port for another parallel board if you want to add any other items later on.
Chances are you'd only need to deal with power supplies in the box that's all.
I'm assuming your system is using 5v? that all stays the same.
You'd just need a small extra one to power the new controller. (the UC400eth needs 24v I believe).

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That's really helpful, I'll certainly look into this aswell. Thank you.

I upgraded from an old XP machine with PP to a Dell Win10 machine last year, using UC100s. (One for mill and one for lathe.) Process was painless, I just transferred the xml file that defines the machine configs, installed the UC100 Mach 3 plugin, and was away.

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Originally Posted by Mammers

Where did you learn about all this stuff?

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I've been around this stuff for far longer than I'd care to admit :hopelessness:

The main driver for how much you plan for replacement/upgrade will be how reliant you are on the machine.
If you can't really afford any down time, I'd probably look at creating a completely new control box with more modern drivers, and a suitable motion controller. The controllers already mentioned are only a couple of lots of options. More modern drivers are also likely to allow you to get a bit more performance out of the machine, but you are then heading towards the rabbit hole of how much you upgrade.

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Originally Posted by JohnHaine

I upgraded from an old XP machine with PP to a Dell Win10 machine last year, using UC100s. (One for mill and one for lathe.) Process was painless, I just transferred the xml file that defines the machine configs, installed the UC100 Mach 3 plugin, and was away.

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That sounds like a winner, thanks for sharing your experience

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Originally Posted by m_c

I've been around this stuff for far longer than I'd care to admit :hopelessness:

The main driver for how much you plan for replacement/upgrade will be how reliant you are on the machine.
If you can't really afford any down time, I'd probably look at creating a completely new control box with more modern drivers, and a suitable motion controller. The controllers already mentioned are only a couple of lots of options. More modern drivers are also likely to allow you to get a bit more performance out of the machine, but you are then heading towards the rabbit hole of how much you upgrade.

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Hopefully one day I can be where you're at :eagerness:

It is our only machine, so we do rely fairly heavily on it. We're not so busy that any downtime is a real killer, but the prospect of machine failure is always in the back of my mind. Everything just seems so daunting!

No problem, let me know how you get on if you need more help. There is also a CNC Drives forum at http://www.forum.cncdrive.com/ which is very helpful.

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Originally Posted by JohnHaine

No problem, let me know how you get on if you need more help. There is also a CNC Drives forum at http://www.forum.cncdrive.com/ which is very helpful.

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Excellent, thanks for that

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnHaine

I upgraded from an old XP machine with PP to a Dell Win10 machine last year, using UC100s. (One for mill and one for lathe.) Process was painless, I just transferred the xml file that defines the machine configs, installed the UC100 Mach 3 plugin, and was away.

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Recently just did this as per your and m_c's recommendation, couldn't be happier with how it worked out. Thanks so much.

Good stuff, glad to help.