The illusive Boxford 260vmc

[Ricardoco]

what are you missing? design the program and write the code and send me the source and I'll compile it into a PIC :), sell it on ebay... next stop, world domination!!!

Seriously, I use the F877 in my testbed, which has a 4x4 keypad and a 20x2 display (actually 2, one a serial i/f VFD and the other a parallel LCD).

I would have the program have 3 modes:

Mode 1/ show actual speed in RPM (allowing input of a # pulses/rev value)
Mode 2/ Given a material type & a tool diameter & # flutes (or for a lathe, material type and diameter) and return the recommended spindle speed and feed rate
Mode 3/ Given a tool diameter and current speed show the surface cutting speed in m/min

Thats a cool idea, in fact i wanted to put some axis jog buttons on the front panel as well so maybe i should consider a pic circuit based control panel along with the speed controller, im ok with writing the program i think (ive spent many a wee small hour with my copy of pic basic pro and a 16f877) but im not sure what the input format would be from the speed pickup and the output to the drivers, this is where my knowlege is lacking im afraid.

and thats not to mention how to do an interface that wont mess up Mach short of having a switch that swapped out all the lines lol. so if we are going down the DIY road im going to need to pick many brains!!!!

[i2i]

there is the old "burst the bubble" way to look at this. Why do you need a spindle tacho on the machine, when it shows you on the monitor what speed the spindle is doing. But most of all, you should know what speed it's going as you would have written the code.

[Ricardoco]

Well as i have said having a the ability to axis jog without using the PC appeals to me and having a nice RED led display of the speed of the spindle i think is a nice feature, and the other features that irving has mentioned is just a bonus. Besides which i like buttons so there :heehee:

[Ricardoco]

But most of all, you should know what speed it's going as you would have written the code.

Ahh yes but there is the speed mach is telling the motor it should be doing and there is the actual speed at the spindle which is what i am after for reference..

IE, belt snaps Mach says 2000rpm, actual spindle at tool 0 rpm.

[i2i]

Ahh yes but there is the speed mach is telling the motor it should be doing and there is the actual speed at the spindle which is what i am after for reference..

IE, belt snaps Mach says 2000rpm, actual spindle at tool 0 rpm.

You're still thinking manual, you've got to get on the cnc bandwagon and trust the machine.

[irving2008]

Thats a cool idea, in fact i wanted to put some axis jog buttons on the front panel as well so maybe i should consider a pic circuit based control panel along with the speed controller, im ok with writing the program i think (ive spent many a wee small hour with my copy of pic basic pro and a 16f877) but im not sure what the input format would be from the speed pickup and the output to the drivers, this is where my knowlege is lacking im afraid.

and thats not to mention how to do an interface that wont mess up Mach short of having a switch that swapped out all the lines lol. so if we are going down the DIY road im going to need to pick many brains!!!!

Interfacing is my speciality, ask away....

pic basic pro... hmmm, ok if you must lol... I'm a C man myself but can program in anything sensible... pic basic is interpreted I think, so not sure if you can get 'real-time' enough to do accurate inter-pulse timing, tho will depend on the PIC clock speed of course.

[Ricardoco]

Interfacing is my speciality, ask away....

pic basic pro... hmmm, ok if you must lol... I'm a C man myself but can program in anything sensible

Ok C it is if thats what you call it,lol, i will have to dig out all my software now ......

[irving2008]

Ok C it is if thats what you call it,lol, i will have to dig out all my software now ......

Yes, well sadly its not C#, but its still preferable to that basic stuff (reignites 1980's programmers flame wars lol)

[Ricardoco]

Well Ill start plugging away at some pseudo, while collecting bits, and putting the new bits on this machine. Mind you I could still do what i2i was hinting at and send all the signals to mach and let it sort it all out thus manually contolling the machine by proxy as it were, mind you i still wouldnt know how to give mach the speed information...

[Ricardoco]

(reignites 1980's programmers flame wars lol)

With the advent of RAD software many people just dont have a desire or mental capacity to write the code in a text editor these days, in fact back in the 80's they didnt have the desire either, and lets face it 'C' is a nice bit of kit but the time to executable can be faster with the other languages, also requiring less brain power, however as you say not much beats 'C' for raw speed of the final application..