TOS-KURIM CNC Upgrade

[JimJam]

haha! definitely not going to be getting any boats in the garage any time soon! I've added some photos to help give you an idea of size but its not really much bigger than a standard Bridgeport to be honest. table length is a little over a metre..







Ok that's great, I'll have a look into those.

The other things is I am almost certain the motors I have on it are still working well, so is it possible to leave them on and swap out the existing drivers for something newer/more reliable? apologies for my lack of knowledge on this...

Thanks again

[JAZZCNC]

That should be a simple upgrade you have most of the hard work done in the form of mountings etc, just a few adaptor plates for different size frames with motors will sort it.
I'm presuming you don't want to CNC the Knee.?

You just need to decide if want servos or steppers.? Quite a lot more work in setting up along with big learning curve involved with servos but they do give higher feeds, more power along with smoother operation and accuracy.
The downside is they also cost more money and require a higher level of the controller to get full use out of them. They can be much more temperamental than steppers and very unforgiving on poor wiring quality or practices.

Steppers, on the other hand, are much simpler to set up with hardly any learning curve involved and quite a bit cheaper. They can be run on a lower level of controller.
The downside is they are limited to roughly 1200 to 1500Rpm so feeds are lower. Resolution is lower compared to servo's but still more than enough for milling at this level.

Choosing the correct drives and size is critical with large steppers because you don't have lots of spare power as you do with servos. So if you take this route then look for 220V Mains powered Drives rather than lower AC/DC drives running say 80Vac or 100Vdc.

I've used these many times and they are a great set up with lots of power and provide reasonable torque even at high feeds. More than enough for your machine.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3279...3cac6f37OxW5VA

Hope this helps, got any questions just ask.

[JimJam]

Ok that's brilliant, I've decided to just ditch the old motors now and start again. Not knowing the true condition or specifications of the original motors I would rather not put more money into them and still be no further forward if they don't work.

So based on my knowledge (lack of) and limited use it will have, it looks like I'm going to be better off heading down the stepper route.

The link you sent through with the motor and driver, I would require three of those (one for each axis), plus a control board of some kind, and a PC based control system... Am I somewhere on the right lines here for all the stuff I need for a basic setup?

Regarding PC control Software, what are the preferred options available? I don't want anything too fancy, just something that will jog axis, display DRO, and run code...

Thanks for all your help so far

[JimJam]

Steppers, on the other hand, are much simpler to set up with hardly any learning curve involved and quite a bit cheaper. They can be run on a lower level of controller.
The downside is they are limited to roughly 1200 to 1500Rpm so feeds are lower. Resolution is lower compared to servo's but still more than enough for milling at this level.

Choosing the correct drives and size is critical with large steppers because you don't have lots of spare power as you do with servos. So if you take this route then look for 220V Mains powered Drives rather than lower AC/DC drives running say 80Vac or 100Vdc.

I've used these many times and they are a great set up with lots of power and provide reasonable torque even at high feeds. More than enough for your machine.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3279...3cac6f37OxW5VA

Hope this helps, got any questions just ask.

Crikey these are hard to come by in the UK! plenty of 80V and 100V ones around but no luck on any mains powered ones!

is that link you posted somewhere you've bought stuff from before?

[JAZZCNC]

is that link you posted somewhere you've bought stuff from before?

Yes I buy from them all the time. Don't worry about buying from China as they are trustworthy and well proven with many users in UK.

Also if you buy them thru the Aliexpress link I gave you then your protected by Aliexpress guarantee, they basically don't pay the seller until you have received them and say you are happy. They still charge you upfront but do not pass the money on until you are happy.

Edit: You will get charged VAT and Admin fee of around £15-20 on top of that price when they enter this country. You don't get charged Import duty.

[JAZZCNC]

The other things is I am almost certain the motors I have on it are still working well, so is it possible to leave them on and swap out the existing drivers for something newer/more reliable? apologies for my lack of knowledge on this...

Can't answer that without knowing more about the motors and the drives.
They are probably DC Brushed motors and It's quite possible you can get away without drives but it will probably require a different controller that uses +/-10V analog signals and these get expensive quick and are not so popular as Step/Dir controllers. You can get DC Brushed drives which accept Step/Dir signals but they are often not cheap.
It's often cheaper and better to just replace them as a set with modern AC motors and use a Step/Dir controller.