CNC mill conversion questions

[GlennW]

It looks like my control may have finally croaked on my Hurco CNC mill...The question is, would I be able to retain my power supply, servo amps, encoders, and servos if I was to convert to a PC based system such as Mach3?

It's a great chunk of iron! I'm 6'5" and can barely reach the top of the machine.



It was on a pallet at the time of the pic as I had just moved it in.

Thanks!

[DICKEYBIRD]

Hi Glenn, I suggest you go over to the Mach support forum & spend some time searching on Hurco mill retrofits. There's a lot of info there & the search tool works without joining up. http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/

The Glenn Wegman of the forum is "Hood" (Robin Dempster.) He is amazingly knowledgeable, very helpful and a truly nice guy. He is VERY big on the CSMIO/IP-A controller from CSLAB for retrofits on "real" machines such as your Hurco with analog servo drives. It has a ton of I/O's available and works with 24V stuff. There's a lot of controller's out there but I think they're the one to get. The advice you can get from Hood down the road is priceless IMHO.

There's also LinuxCNC and Mesa drives which is a very powerful system for "real" machines with great internet forum support as well but you have to be very comfortable using Linux. It's a big learning curve for Windows folks. I looked into it for my lathe because it works with real encoders on the spindle and is much better for threading. I got the OS & LinuxCNC loaded but came to a screeching halt when it came to trying to configure it for my lathe. I'm sure the good folks on the forum would've eventually coached me into getting it to work but at 66, I just don't want to spend all my spare time learning new software. Maybe when (if) I retire.

[GlennW]

Hello Milton,

Thank you very much for the info as I wasn't even sure where to start! I'll do some searching over there and try to educate myself a bit on all of this.

I can barely type using a keyboard as I fat finger a typo about every three words, so I have a bit of trouble comprehending running a machine using one...

[DICKEYBIRD]

You're very welcome.

After re-reading my reply, I should clarify one thing I said about Linux/Mach for someone that may stumble onto this thread. LinuxCNC will talk to an encoder through a parallel port (within certain speed limitations) whereas Mach will only do one pulse/rev through the PP.

Mach does encoders fine through a separate motion controller such as a SmoothStepper, etc. No biggie for most folks with a decent budget but a big deal for those wanting to do lathe threading (or mill rigid tapping I suppose) on the cheap, like me.

[Russ Hanscom]

Glen,

What program/software were you running?

[GlennW]

Hello Russ,

It has a Dynapath control on it now with Servo Dymanics drives. (Actually both machines pictured are Dynapath) I have never seen or used any type of PC control.

I believe you have a Dynapath as well on one of your machines, don't you, or am I mistaken?

[Marty_Escarcega]

Hi Glenn,
Its doable, but not for the faint of heart. As mentioned, you will need a controller that can output analog signals. Do your current DC brush servos have encoders?
Do you have some electrical/electronics background and time to do the conversion or do you need to get back up and running?

[GlennW]

Hello Marty,

Yes the servo's have encoders.

I only use the machine a few times a year, so it's not the end of the world. I still have the other machine if I need something.

It's a 1994 machine and the electronics have apparently reached their useful life. I recently replaced all three servo amplifier boards as they all failed within an hour or two of each other. Got that sorted out, and the display croaked, so I replaced that with a new one. All to the tune of about $3K. I used it a couple more hours and now something else has failed, so it's time to do something else, as another repair will probably just get me to the next failure...

That's why I would prefer to use the drive system if possible, as the boards are all new.

I can most likely noodle my way through a conversion once I understand some of the new terminology. It seems that there are acronyms for the acronyms in the PC CNC world.

Thanks!

[Marty_Escarcega]

Then yes. You can reuse the power supply and the amps.I assume you have the current machine's schematics? That will be extremely helpful. Start finding the encoder connections and identifying those as well as home and limit switches. Then remove the old computer. Save it all until you are done with the conversion.
I've hear good things about CSMIO:http://www.cs-lab.eu/en/produkt-7,2-CSM ... ctors.html

[Russ Hanscom]

Yes, I do have a Dynapath 40, which is still operating without hick-ups. Autocon did/does offer an upgrade to a later model computer; however if you have exhausted their expertise or your limits, then it may be time to move on. Mine appears to be mid 90's vintage, running Windows 95.

I will be interested in your progression, as it may be a path I have to take someday.

[hanermo]

The CSMIO is the right choice, imo as well.

I use the CSMIO-IP-S, thats is a step/dir board. Good for new, cheap ac brushless servos.
There will be a Mach4 plugin soon.

I will be doing an industrial lathe with it (from scratch).

[Marty_Escarcega]

An alternative to Mach (and MS Windows) is LinuxCNC.
http://www.linuxcnc.org/
Mesa Electronics makes boards that I believe work.
http://www.mesanet.com/

While I don't have first hand experience with LinuxCNC, it is my understanding that it can be a closed loop control. That is, feed it encoder inputs and it knows where the position of the machine is. Where Mach3 does not.

Has anyone used or have a CNC machine running under LinuxCNC?

Marty