Denford novamill electronics build log

[Toolman321]

Today I temporarily plugged in the machine and configured linuxcnc. I needed to cut an i/o plate for the cabinet. Specifically the holes for ac input, cooling fan and plugs for the machine. I had previously machined the outside profile on a machining centre as it was too big to machine on my denford mill.





I’ve left a couple of locations empty, one will be for the mpg and the other for a 4th axis.

[Clive S]

Nice work, keep the pics comming.

[JohnHaine]

Enjoy the Novamill. I got one also without electronics and followed a similar route with DM542 drives etc, but using Mach 3. Have been using it now for 6 years, very pleased with it, a nice machine.

[Toolman321]

I received my motherboard

It’s an Asrock mini ITX with Intel Atom D425 and 4gb ram. Linuxcnc has a program included in the package that lets you test the mb to see if it’s suitable for use with linuxcnc. Although it’s not that important as I will be using the fpga card to generate the stepper steps. This motherboard appears to be more than fit for its intended purpose, it’s tiny size will help with the install I’m sure.
I’ve also salvaged a 250w itx power supply and 120gb SATA hd from an old pc. It took me about an hour to plug it in on the bench, install linuxcnc from a usb and copy the files from the old pc to the new one. So it’s now ready to be installed in the cabinet...somewhere...


Anyone considering building an electronics project like this please take my advice, when you see a cabinet you like for your project, buy one that’s 30% bigger��

[Toolman321]

Here are the pc components ready to be fitted into the enclosure which also houses the operator interface. I made the decision to put them here instead of the other enclosure which houses the electrical components which drive the machine. I hope this will allow me to interface the operator interface directly to the computer hardware, avoiding any unwanted electromagnetic interference.

I have a piece of abs to mount the components but I may change this to aluminium plate at some point as this plate will also be a rear mounting plate for the keyboard. Next I need to find a suitable flexible conduit or something simalar to connect the operator interface to the drive control enclosure. I will need it to run a 12v power supply to the screen and computer hardware. It will also be used for the parallel cable which connects the Mesa 7i76 breakout board to the 5i25 fpga card. I still need to decide wether to use a separate breakout board for the control interface or wether to run all of the buttons mpg and feed/spindle override knobs back to the 7i76 in the other enclosure.
I’d be grateful for advice on this.

[Toolman321]

Awaiting bits and pieces being delivered to complete the computer hardware install and I was bored so I added the speed and feed override encoders. Also labelled all of the connectors and buttons with my labelling machine. I will possibly engrave them later as I believe they will peel off by tomorrow.

[Toolman321]

It’s been a while since I made any reportable progress but last week I finally had a chance to make a start on finishing off the build of my denford.
Here’s some pics:






I’ve now changed the keyboard for a storm interface stainless steel one, and wired in my buttons for the start, pause, feed override and spindle override.
I raised the mounting of the operator interface for better comfort when using the touch scree controls and also to make it better for keyboard input. Not that I’ve used the keyboard for input though, I’ve been using fusion for all my work.