Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: clipsteven on May 28, 2017, 01:17:54 PM
-
First time on ArtSoft Not to familiar with it.
But I must try something. I am having trouble with my CNC. Thought you may be able to help me. This is my problem. I have a CNC from AXYZ International 2010. The control program does not permit me to du 3D carving, so I would like to change the mother board to a Mach4 that will permit me to have more freedom and I need help.
Thanks in advance ???
-
Hi,
welcome. Both Mach3 and Mach4 would work for you but both are commercial products, you do have to pay to use them although
very cheaply by commercial software standards, $175-$200 for hobby/personal use.
You may be interested in LinuxCNC, its open source and free. I am not familiar with it but know people who use it and they find it
very good. Obviously it requires a Linux operating system which you may or may not be familiar.
I think that you should consider what you need...I'm not familiar with AXYZ Int., can you post some manuals or other information
about your machine to establish if indeed Mach would be a suitable solution.
Craig
-
Hi,
have given a little more thought to your post. The AXYZ website gives very few details about the machine. What you really need to
know is what the axis motors are and how they're driven. Are they steppers or servos?
Mach, either 3 or 4, is a step/direction controller. With the right breakout board Mach will happily drive servo drives or stepper drives with
step/direction, CW/CCW or Quadrature pulses. There are some rather more expensive boards that can generate analogue signals from Mach.
It seems unlikely that your machine has analogue servo drives but not impossible.
Where Mach will not go is EtherCat, ProfiNet or any of the other distributed motion control strategies.
There is a distinct probability that your machine has some distributed control setup. If so you need to know soonest....before you waste time
or money on a system that will never work.
Craig
-
Craig
they are a UK firm but they are a big machine 3 phase 220vac or 440 vac tp in both
but looking at the specs I would bet its servos and its defiantly there own controler
quote
SPECIFICATIONS
STANDARD PROCESS AREAS
AXYZ 4000
1524mm Width. Lengths from 1220mm to 15m
AXYZ 5000
1842mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 6000
2159mm Width Lengths. from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 8000
2635mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 10000
3270mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL LENGTH
610mm Increments
STANDARD GANTRY CLEARANCE
150mm
OPTIONAL GANTRY CLEARANCE
200mm, 250mm, 300mm, 330mm, 380mm, 455mm
DRIVE SYSTEM
X, Y – Rack and Pinion, Z – Ballscrew
TYPICAL POSITIONING SPEED
25m/min - 50m/min
CONTROL SYSTEM
AXYZ A2MC Controller
7 Segment motion profile
FPGA processor for high speed complex calculations
Dedicated true NC control – G and M codes
Network connection
Large solid state onboard memory
AXYZ SmartConsole
POWER REQUIREMENTS
208-230V 3 Phase / 440-460V 3 Phase
unquote
Stuart
-
First, I would like to say thanks for replying I really appreciated.
I know that it is possible to change one of the cards to converted to mach3 or mach4, there is a person that has the same CNC that I have and he has done it.
Why don’t I asked him? Well I did, but the answer that he gave me
(First, I don’t know you and why should I help you nobody helps me win I need help)
Last time that I speak with this gentleman.
So, I have some pictures of the mother board. I will put them on my web page tomorrow morning and give you a direct link to them
The main reason that I wont to change the mother board is to be able to do 3D. this programme is good to du 2D but does not accepted 3D.
I am a specialist in 3D drawing and transferring the drawing in a G code but can’t do 50% of my drawings.
???
-
Hi,
your welcome, one of the strongest points in favour of Mach is the support forum. It does require that
you help yourself by reading and trying things, maybe I or someone like me can point you in the right
direction but ultimately YOU have to understand how YOUR machine works.
Craig
-
Here is the link to my pictures of the CNC board,
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/o8lwbrd8l4xgamr/AADsAsQAHB9lpfb-ge0nWtQ3a?dl=0
I understand that I will have to help my self and take all responsibility on the action that I decide to do. But I really need some help on understanding the mother board.
And do you sell mother board for mach3 or mahc4.
-
well thats a nice lot of knitting you have there just my cup of tea but I have been a long time sorting bigger piles of knitting ;D
but thats me
you have a lot of custom boards in there , I will bet they will not give you any info as to the specs
what you need to do is get a large note pad pencil or biro if you are confident
get the spec of all the axis motors ( I use that because they could be servos or steppers they may even be 3 phase servos )
set the HP voltage of the spindle and check if the control has a VFD , but that may be a servo as well
IMHO you would need to junk 90% its going to get spendy quick with no guarantee of success
have you approached the manufacturer to see if they do a control upgrade
I would estimate that that machine will be out of service for 3 to 6 months if you try to do the swap out
just my 2 cents but I wish you well in your endeavours
to your last question there is no such thing as a mach3 or mach4 mother board. m3 and m4 run on a standard windows pc nothing special at all Mach3 or Mach4 is just a program that runs on the PC
-
Why so long I thought that it would be simpler and faster. I had one or two days in mind
Would it be easier to change the complete mother board?
And yes, I asked AXYZ International to change the mother board. They given me two choices, one at 30 000$ they want to change all the setup or buy a knew one at 125 000$.
-
To continue with what Stuart has told you. Like he said, there is no "motherboard". You have a PC that runs Mach4, which means you will need a mouse, keyboard, and monitor at your control panel. You will then need a motion controller; there are several out there for Mach3/Mach4. Personally I've used the SmotthStepper and HiCON Integra. It will take time to retrofit your machine with Mach4. You have to remove old hardware and install new hardware, and then integrate your new hardware with existing wiring. You also have to configure Mach4 to your liking. You should weigh the costs of purchasing a PC, Mach4, Motion Controller, miscellaneous items, time to retrofit, and lost time; against purchasing your $30,000 upgrade. Mach4 does have a great support forum to help you on your way if you decide to retrofit your machine.
-
I highly recommend you read our FAQs page. It's a pretty short read and has lots of good information. You may find the "Where do I start? Are there Steps?" FAQ in particular very helpful.
http://www.machsupport.com/help-learning/f-a-q/
-
Thanks Chad
to OP I don't know your name so
Why so long you need to get all the parts its not just going to be as you say a mother board there are drivers for the motions to contend with as well as compatibility errata to fight with course its doable anything is if you throw enough cash, time , resources and not least the knowhow to pull this mod off and have it perform as you wish
now correct me if I am wrong here is this a production machine given the cost and size they look very nice bits of kit if so bite the bulet and get the company to upgrade it swallow hard and pay up when it does not perform as you want the get on the phone and let them do the graft
with the size of the machine you may need the industrial version at $1400 thats just the licence
sorry to be a wet blanket but thats industry
I am afraid if its your bread and butter pay up
but if you go ahead ask away but there are no guarantees your questions can be answered from afar
-
One last thought of the day
If you go ahead and this machine earns your bread and butter then when I'd goes wrong you are the service engineer
-
Hi,
that is a substantial machine. Unlike Stuart I think it looks doable, the four driver boards along the top look like stepper drivers to me.
I could be wrong but there appears to be no encoder feedback cable that I would expect with servo drives. Can you post up close pics
of the axis motors?
The large board to the lower left looks like the spindle drive board. If we can work out what the spindle is it might be possible to reuse that
as well. Can you post pics of the spindle motor including the nameplate? Close up of spindle drive board would help.
The cost of changing to Mach4 will be largely dependant on whether existing motors and boards can be reused.
Is this machine for commercial use?. If so an industrial licence, $1400, is appropriate, add $600 for a PC and probably another $400 for an ESS
and couple of BoBs. About $2500 without changing any motors and/or drives...
Craig