NEW TO ME CNC MILL TMC 1000

[V8 BUG]

I found a TMC-1000 bench mill on sale from a local high school. I jumped at it as the deal was too good to be true. As these deals go, the unit didn't have all of the electronics that are required to run. So now goes the retrofit. I am thinking of a kit from Keling with some new steppers, Gecko G540 4 axis drive, new power supply and the latest version of Mach 3. I don't really want to make a career out of geting the mill running as there are projects that I would like to complete before I die.
Below is a picture of a machine exactly like the one I bought. It's a nice machine with a R8 spindle taper which is nice because all of my bridgeport stuff fits.
Spindle motor is 1hp 500-5000 rpm.
Step motors are 150 in oz on all 3 axis. (round motors which are from what I have read not as good as square ones)
Cast aluminum frame and cast iron table
Made in the USA
What do you guys think of my plan?
Any imput would be appreciated.

Thanks
Kevin

[Marty_Escarcega]

Neat machine! I am just finishing a conversion on an EMCO CNC5 lathe. I whole heartedly agree with your choice of using the Gecko G540. I built an unregulated 32VDC power supply and it works quite well. I can't tell but is your spindle motor a DC motor? If so, you might look for a KB Electronics Drive and also connect it to the G540 via its VFD output. YOu will have to provide a 10VDC power supply JUST for this purpose. Does the machine have a spindle sensor on it?

Good luck with the project, I didn't buy a kit but rather I pieced it together.

Marty

[V8 BUG]

Thanks Marty, I think this will be a nice little machine when finished. The motor is I think a 24v dc unit. I hope the G540 and Mach 3 will be able to turn the spindle on and off at the least. I am new at this kind of electronics stuff and will need help here as I don’t know anyone who does this locally. This will be a project with my son Nicholas (he’s . Nicholas is excited as I was explaining to him what this machine can do. He has already asked if it can make silly bandz. I said we could probably make some moulds for those. I have experience with Solidworks and Powermill (use at work) and running cnc machines. I will look into the KB units thanks for that.
Here are a few links to the machine running with 2 different retrofits.

[FLSTEAM]

I used the G540 on my X2 mini mill conversion and it works great. I was able to drive the factory DC drive in the X2 directly. If I can come up with a reasonable speed sensor I will use the speed feedback on the G540. Just add a DC relay and you have your stop/start contacts.

John B.

[Marty_Escarcega]

I used the G540 on my X2 mini mill conversion and it works great. I was able to drive the factory DC drive in the X2 directly. If I can come up with a reasonable speed sensor I will use the speed feedback on the G540. Just add a DC relay and you have your stop/start contacts.

John B.

John, try the CNC4PC.com C3 Index pulse card. I put one on the EMCO and it works great, fairly inexpensive too.
Marty

[Marty_Escarcega]

V8 Bug, see if you can ask those on You Tube about the spindle motor.

You have NO electronics at all with your machine?

[V8 BUG]

Marty, I have e-mailed both parties with the youtube clips with no response yet. I have the original black box that came with the machine. This box has the drives and power supply and has plug ins for the spindle, step motors and an acc. plug. I do not have the special card that went into the pc or the original software for it. I figured because I do not have a complete set-up its not worth trying to put an outdated system back together. If I knew more about how this thing works i could probably use the spindle drive out of the old box. I have not taken anything apart yet. I am leaving on vacation and will work on this when we get back.

Thanks

Kevin

[Marty_Escarcega]

V8 Bug, see if you can ask those on You Tube about the spindle motor.

You have NO electronics at all with your machine?

Wait! You may have usable stepper drivers and power supply. See if you can identify the maker of the stepper motors, and drives.

Never know....
Marty

[V8 BUG]

Good news.... The spindle works. I took the original control box apart and found that the spindle plugged into a regular 110v receptical on the back of the box. My machine has 4 cables coming out of it. (2) that look like 110v standard plugs and (2) flat plugs parallel type. On the back of the vertical colmun there was a sheet metal plate that covered the hollow of the casting, and the wires were going into this area. I removed all of the screws from the panel and looked behind. There is some type of circit board and a bunch of wires. I will leave all of this alone as it works as is. Turns out I need to have both plugs pluged into power and the spindle started. The knob on the front of the machine even controls rpm. E-stop also works for the spindle. Now all I need to do is add the new motors and g540 and follow the wiring diagrams for that stuff. I don't want to try and make the old motor drives work as I have read that its more trouble than its worth. I also want my son to learn something current like Mach 3. I will gut the original box and make a new back panel for it with the proper hole for the new drive board.
So now I need to spend some money at Keling for a power supply, steppers and a g540 board.
More to come.

[Marty_Escarcega]

Are there any markings on your motors? Brand and model numbers? How about the control box, pictures of this stuff?

Marty

[V8 BUG]

Marty,
Here are some picture I just took.

[Marty_Escarcega]

OK! Well, the Superior Electric Steppers while of the older round type could well be reused. The board labeled Minarik is a DC speed controller for the spindle motor SAVE THAT and reuse it! Mach might be able to control the spindle through it depending on the model. The large circuit board in the case probably not work salvaging, the transformer I would check to see its out put, you might be able to reuse it. I think I would try and reuse the case for your parts. If it was me, I would try the original steppers, keep the transformer/Power supply pull the circuit board out (2 axis stepper driver), cut a slot in the back to mount the G540 and wire it back up and use the G540's VFD output to control the Minarik Spindle drive. You may have to look around the spindle motor/spindle to see if you find a spindle encoder, it may or may not have one. The C3 from CNC for PC is the best. You will need a tiny dedicated 5V power supply for it.

My .02

Marty