Hello,
Nice to meet you all. I've been following Mach3 for years, but finally decided to install a machine with it. My 3 axis Acer knee mill was done with Camsoft. Been fighting with it since I bought it. I finally gave up and installed Mach3 last weekend. I hope to upgrade the machine to 4 axis eventually. I'm also considering another project with a 5 Axis Maho - a semi-retrofit.
I'm an electrical engineer by trade, but I'm heavily into machining, and motorcycle engine development. The motorcycle stuff is what promted getting into machining, but I have broader intentions. I've been taking classes at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA for the last year.
The Maho "semi" conversion is a project where I don't plan to replace the orignial controller (a Maho CNC532), but instead bypass it. My Maho already has a system to do exactly that - it's called a "Lemoine PC" upgrade, intended to add high speed machining capabilities to older machines. But even the Lemoine system is old (ISA cards, and DOS based software). It's an easy conversion because the wiring is already in place to bypass the CNC532 controller (it was a factory installed option in 1994). I just need to wire in a Galil card and Mach3 where the Lemoine system used to be. But, that's a project for another day.
Regards,
Mike