Hewing hall millgrav

[Mill Grav Newbie]

Hi
Did you make any progress with your MillGrav? I am in much the same situation see my introduction first post (enclosed)

Hi
I have just joined the group, and hope to learn enough to be able to bring a machine to life.
I started out building a gantry type Engraver/miller using a 4' x 2' surface table as the bed and weldments for the arms and overhead track. collecting endless ballscrews, slides, steppers and obsolete drivers along the way. The engineering evening class closed after a guy released a machine vice onto his foot, so the project was abandonned.
I have bought a Newing Hall Mill Grav machine with the Apex1 controller upgrade, from a local business which closed after 80 years trading. The machine had no software as the firms office had been the victim of an arson attack. I have downloaded the only program available from Newing Hall which appears to be only a job setting out program, they tell me this obsolete machine is no longer supported. I expected to be able to plug the machine into the serial port and at least jog it, no such luck!
Does anyone have any experience or information as to what is needed to have the machine talk to a computer.
I have a demo version of Mach3 but presumeably this would involve bypassing the Apex controller altogether.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Many Thanks

[Swarfing]

Oh by the way he has changed all of his tronics out for up to date stuff and is running Mach3

[cncezee]

Hi New Member ( name and address withheld ), i have gutted my machine as i was dismayed how BASIC the controller was, i felt that someone had found my old BBC basic computer and given it back to me to use again!!!
I have so far rebuilt the z axis to use a Chinese water cooled spindle motor and inverter and therefore done away with the belt driven spindle and the very noisy motor mounted top central of the mill grav i have also stripped out all of the original electronics and i am currently building a PC mother board with a smooth stepper to give two IO ports and a serial port to control the inverter, i am intending to use one port to work with a MPG and the other port as limits and over travel switches all of this is to be run under windoz and Mach3 much to 2e0poz's dismay and his attempts for me to run Linux... i am stead fast with this windoz rubbish

So far everything seems to be going to plan ( if i had one ) and i am now wiring and configuring the MB and all of the IO's.
it is possible that i may be able to obtain some software for your apex controller..... but do not hold your breath, the chap i bought my machine from has another with the apex controller and my be willing to run off a copy, but he is an excellent engineer not a software wizz...!!

I think your design building on a large surface table is an excellent idea, but impossible to move is it compleatly cancelled or will it fly again??

Roger

[Mill Grav Newbie]

Hi Roger
Many Thanks for your reply, I am not fully sure if your machine had the Apex controller which you have removed or had the original electronics in the machine cabinet. I notice Newing Hall show Apex controllers on there current engraving machines but I understand them to be a later model.
Re the "Table" engraver, I will probably keep the table and sell off the other components when I can get the MillGrav running.
One idea I incorporated was to have the surface table long edge skirts machined parallel with a register so they could take ball slides. As a cost saving experiment I machined a flat bottomed 90deg vee groove centrally in a 80 x 20 flat this held a 30 x 30 square rail with the corner removed, held with recessed socked head screws at close centres. Essentially creating a bolt on adjustable vee guide. By shimming the upper and lower faces of the vee groove the rails could be adjusted parallel to the tables surface and to each other. Thats the theory but never put to the task. The gantry "saddle" was to be a machined vee with a 2mm PTFE "gasket" type gib strip. pre loaded again by shimming.

[cncezee]

Hi New Member ( name withheld ), i have spoke to my friend and he has asked what software you want>> also what controller you have, he describes it by the number of buttons along the top of the front panel. perhaps you can take a photo of it this would help greatly.

Roger

[Mill Grav Newbie]

Hi New Member ( name withheld ), i have spoke to my friend and he has asked what software you want>> also what controller you have, he describes it by the number of buttons along the top of the front panel. perhaps you can take a photo of it this would help greatly.

Roger

Hi
This is the Apex controller fitted to my MillGrav any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.