D & M cnc lathe???

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Richard_W
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D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Richard_W »

What can anyone tell me about a D&M CNC lathe?

Says D&M computing on the front. No computer with it and no software. What is it worth? The guy who has it can make the spindle run, but doesn't know how to move the X and Z. Says it came from a school and he has stored it for some time.

Richard W.
Bob D.
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Bob D. »

I believe you are looking at a complete retrofit to make it operational. Stepper motors can be reused. May be able to reuse drive hardware if it is there, but depends if you can figure out how to interface with it. Small teaching lathe from the mid 80's. May spend a few thousand to make it operational between hardware and software. I don't think it is worth very much. If your resourceful it might be retrofitted for less.
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Marty_Escarcega
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Marty_Escarcega »

Richard_W wrote:What can anyone tell me about a D&M CNC lathe?

Says D&M computing on the front. No computer with it and no software. What is it worth? The guy who has it can make the spindle run, but doesn't know how to move the X and Z. Says it came from a school and he has stored it for some time.

Richard W.
It could be retrofitted with Mach3 for under $1k. Could be quite less depending on how resourceful you are and whether or not you can figure out the step/dir pins on the stepper motor drivers.

What is your background?

Marty
"Jack of all Trades, Master of None"
Richard_W
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Richard_W »

Marty_Escarcega wrote:
Richard_W wrote:What can anyone tell me about a D&M CNC lathe?

Says D&M computing on the front. No computer with it and no software. What is it worth? The guy who has it can make the spindle run, but doesn't know how to move the X and Z. Says it came from a school and he has stored it for some time.

Richard W.
It could be retrofitted with Mach3 for under $1k. Could be quite less depending on how resourceful you are and whether or not you can figure out the step/dir pins on the stepper motor drivers.

What is your background?

Marty
All new to me. I just write programs and run them. I have built computers years ago, but nothing like this.

Richard W.
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Bill Shields
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Bill Shields »

D&M specifically or does it say some where "Dyna Mechtronics"?
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Richard_W
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by Richard_W »

Here is a picture.
image.jpeg

Richard W.
hammermill
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by hammermill »

I would look /ask

Power supply , volt and amp rAted for output

Type of motor s

Number of motors

Electronics all one circuit board or several sub boards

Look on YouTube a few video exist of them and restoration and contact sources

Search d and m computing. Cnc

Several have been on eBay 1000 to. 1600
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by JimGlass »

How would a computer connect to this lathe?

That lathe has not seen much use from the picture. I'll bet it could be made to run the way it is.

I would look at the circuit board inside the lathe control. Find the circuit board after the computer connection.
Then look for terminals that say "step" and "dir". If the terminals are also numbered with PIN numbers for the computer connector I think it could be made to run.

You should also check when the lathe is powered up, do the steppers lock up?

If you can, post a good picture of the circuit boards inside the control. We might be able to tell you more
then.

Below is a home built CNC control. The big green circuit board in the center is the breakout board where the computer connects. From the breakout board, wire go to the driver boards.
Image

Here is a smaller breakout board. The terminals mark +5 and GND indicate where the steppers connect. The numbered terminals in between are STEP and DIRECTION.
Image
Jim
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sch
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by sch »

The machine is a teaching tool from the 1980's and hence the electronics and software are of the same era and as useful as a 8088 machine. They were
sold to high and tech schools when CNC was new and fascinating but the vast majority had little if any use, maybe turning out trinkets for the students
a few days a year. Thousands have been sold off or dumped as schools either upgraded to 21st century stuff or shuttered mechanical arts programs. The lathe
is very small, mostly tiny stuff only. Work envelope maybe 2" diameter and 8" long The mechanicals in the lathe and motors should be ok. You strip out the electronics, except maybe the power supply, though new
caps there would be a good idea. Then you build a controller like Jim Glass and connect it to the steppers. Then you need a software interface between
the CAD/CAM input and the controller, Mach 3 is a good example, costs ~$200 for a license. Extensive tutorials on the Mach III website. Google Artsoft
or http://www.machsupport.com One site with sources for controllers is http://www.candnc.com but there are several other "all you need for cnc DIY " sites as well.
A google on the http://www.cnczone.com site might help.

Value, depends on how useful a small lathe will be for what you want to do. I think any price above $500 is out of line, as all you really get are a nice enclosure,
a baby lathe and the steppers. All the rest is junk/hazmat junk to boot. Ignore the ebay $1000 and up prices. For a comparison look at www.sherline.com
which are very similar except for the enclosure. The likely lack of accouterments to make the lathe useful, such as on the Sherline site can add a lot of $ to the
machine. You can also look on the Little Machine Shop site for comparables.
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by JimGlass »

Here is my CNC Lathe project. The lathe itself is a Denford/Orac of British origin. I purchase the lathe on Ebay.
The electrical had already been stripped off. It is an 8" lathe which is small but still a sound turning machine.

Image

Watch this thing cut threads with Mach3

An outside thread

Over view

Note how quiet the lathe is. It has no gears!!!

Jim
Tool & Die Maker/Electrician, Retired 2007

So much to learn and so little time.

www.outbackmachineshop.com
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ken572
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by ken572 »

Possible Starting point..

http://www.denfordata.com/bb/

Ken. :)
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
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ken572
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Re: D & M cnc lathe???

Post by ken572 »

This is allI could find for now, and it looks to

me that this is a mid 1970's to mid 1980's setup.

If it were me I would strip it and install some

modern day electronics in it.

DenFord Machine Tools Related
- - -
http://www.denfordata.com/downloads/for ... imised.pdf
- - -
http://website.denford.ltd.uk/support/9 ... cy-manuals
- - -
http://website.denford.ltd.uk/index.php ... -downloads
- - -
http://website.denford.ltd.uk/usa-menu
- - -
D&M 3 CNC Lathe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5zEJQwQfHM
- - -
Denford/Orac
- - -
Denford orac lathe - training video [Part 1]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV1bQeJ ... re=related
- - -
Denford orac lathe - training video [Part 2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0qbzCkkYA8
- - -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmlbI64 ... re=related
- - -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPTr-rGEt4
- - -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKi71CGO298
- - -
http://www.valvers.com/category/denford-orac

Ken. :)
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
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