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retired disable person looking for mini milling machine that will run on mach3 etc
ether one already done or something I can convert, need to machine alloy plastic nylon and may be odd bit of steel must be small as needs to fit in spare room workshop could it be done for under £750
You should be able to pick up a Denford Micromill for that sort of money, that is based on the Sherline mill. A nova mill (easy mill etc. upgraded) is likely to cost a bit more, but is a far stronger machine and is a fair bit heavier. The micro mill may well struggle a bit with steel, but will do it if you take it very steady. Most of the Denfords would probably benefit from a Mac conversion. Good luck with your search. G.
Just noticed that there is a Novamill currently being offered on this forum. G.
thanks for the reply, I took a look around on here before the ones in for sale section had been sold when I asked unless its newly listed.?
ill keep searching
I got a Novamill on eBay without its electronics for £610. Another 100 odd for electronics from eBay and it's working very nicely. As the other poster said, the Novamill is really excellent.
pm sent to you
thanks for all the reply's manage to get a boxford vmc300 now how and what to buy to get it on mach 3 ???
Attachment 12198Attachment 12199Attachment 12200Attachment 12201Attachment 12202
ok here it is nice clean tidy machine shame to rip it apart but a mach 3 ing I must go any help hints would be greatfully recieved
If you were wanting to go for maximum performance, ideally you'd replace the stepper motors and drives, however what you have should work reasonably well.
The first step is identifying everything in the control cabinet, and coming up with a plan of what to do.
Google is your friend here, as searching for anything that looks like a part No. or model, will usually help identify things. For example searching for GS-D500 as per the stepper driver, reveals it's a SGS-Thompson GS-D500 driver module, and a datasheet can be found at http://www.premier-electric.com/file...f/GS-D500A.pdf
I'd say you'll need some form of breakout board, along with either a PC with suitable parallel port, or external motion controller. Personally I'd go for an external motion controller, as they generally make for far easier setup, better reliability, and it'll be more future proof.
The biggest issue will be if the original control used 24V logic, as most cheaper breakout boards/controllers all use 5V logic. Are there any markings on the linear power supply (circuit board in the bottom right corner)?
24V logic is the usual industrial control voltage, and makes things more reliable and less affected by noise/interference, however it does make things a bit more expensive.
And after having a quick scan of the stepper driver manual, it could possibly run on 12V, as the drives use 12V for their logic.
Also, where do the cables that plug (silver/shielded plugs) into the top of the stepper drives go to?
There may already be some form of breakout board/controller that they connect to, that might possibly be useable.
I think from what im gathering is
power supply inside will be more than enough ?? DOES THAT LOOK GOOD / SOUND RIGHT
3 x stepper drivers 4.5 amp minimum 70-80 volt like theses CLICKY LINK (hope that's ok ?) remove if not sorry in advance
1 x motion controller my pc and laptop are 64 bit and have no ltp port so usb or ether net CLICKY LINK
1 x pendant not a must have but I want one ? CLICKY LINK
Personally, if you're going for new drivers, I'd go for some of the digital ones. I think the AM882s have been replaced with the EM series, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
However, I'd be inclined to try the existing drivers first. I know they're pretty old technology, but a quick scan of the datasheet reveals they were pretty advanced for their time. Even if using them doesn't work out, it'll be a pretty easy swap for new drivers.
The CS-Lab controllers are good. If you need any advice about them, check out the CS-Lab board over on the Mach support forum, that's if you've not already found it.
hi and thanks for the info, all good stuff just found some more pictures of the gubins inside lol,speed controller etc just joining the mach3 forum now thanks again all appreciated Attachment 12204Attachment 12205Attachment 12206Attachment 12207Attachment 12208Attachment 12209Attachment 12210ok so from the pictures you can see is anything worth keeping reusing?
if not is it worth selling to get some money back for some proper goodies?
and what would you guys and possibly gals recommend that's done this before, you info is infinitely better than mine and my pockets are small and often empty lol thanks again for looking and any advice will be greatly taken :friendly_wink:
not sure were the silver wires go at the mo ill take a look tomorrow see if I can trace them to and from point of origin ?Quote:
Originally Posted by m_c
im thinking new drivers and external motion controller or something similar to links above might be my best route simple wiring and following instructions in great at,make voltage droppers boards and circuit boards hmm not so good lol
All you need to keep is this:
Attachment 12214
Pretty much all the rest is scrap...
There will be very little difference between the wiring that existing stepper drivers need, and what modern drivers will need, which is why I suggest trying them first.
Out of that second batch of photos, both circuit boards will be scrap. You can stick them up on ebay, as somebody might just so happen to be looking for a replacement, but they're not really worth anything.
Essentially both those circuit boards, are the controller. Usually there is only a single control board, but for some reason it appears that it's split over two boards.
Your first step, should be to trace all the wiring to the existing control boards. You can remove the boards, but I personally find it easier to leave them in place, draw a rough sketch of the controller with connectors and note on it where each wire goes. That way the wiring stays reasonable organised while you're tracing it, and allows for a bit forward planning before you end up with a mass of apparently random wires hanging about!
It might seem a daunting task, however you can group the wires into only a few categories -
Stepper control - typically step and direction wires, along with possibly some kind of drive active output and fault input (these may go through some of the relays)
Spindle control - again, relays may be involved, so probably best to track down a manual for the spindle drive
Machine Inputs - Usually limit switches, possibly seperate homing switches, and the E-stop circuit
Machine outputs - anything else that may go through the controller like coolant
Once you know what's connected to the controller, you can then do some diagrams of how the existing contactors/relays are wired up, and what controls them. I'd guess you're looking at a main power-on contactor, then probably one E-stop/limit switches controlled contactor. And I'm guessing there will be a relay for each of the stepper drivers, with the other possibly for the spindle or limit switches, that in turn control the main e-stop contactor and send a signal back to the control board.
It's also worth powering the machine up, and checking what voltages are available. (obviously don't electrocute yourself in the process!)
Once you've done that, you'll have a far better idea of what you have, and what you need to connect up a new controller. Then you can lable wires, remove them, and connect them to a new controller.
thanks for the reply, I was thinking along those lines as well I have a friend coming to trace out the wiring hopefully soon and to identify what's what and were, just going to go along the lines of new drivers and a motion controller I think safer and quicker to get it up and running.Quote:
Originally Posted by m_c
any idea what tool holders are a quick ebay search came up blank?
I no there a quick change with a stud on the end but what exactly I cant find out no auto changer buy the way.