Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => Sieg Machines => Topic started by: squale on November 10, 2007, 11:21:00 AM
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Just wondering if Mach3 will work with this new lathe? does anybody even know if this new cnc lathe is available yet in the USA?
here is some info on it:
http://www.siegind.com/cnc_machine.pdf
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Well, on page two of the PDF link it shows a Mach screenshot for the PC controlled version, so my bet would be that it does work with it
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yeah but it only shows Mach3 on the mills, not the lathe..
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From that brochure, it looks to me like the lathe has a Siemens control and I'd guess it does not run Mach.
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does anybody know if the creater of Mach3 software is going to try and get his software to work with this new lathe from Sieg? I wonder who would make the cnc controller?
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In the PDF i says the lathe uses stepper motors so that means that Mach will run it.
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ah so mach won't work with servos?
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Of course Mach3 works with servos. The newer digital drives will hook to the mach3 directly. For analog servo drives you'll need something like Pixie to convert Step/Dir signals to analog signals.
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I'm not sure if Mach3 is/will be offered with the lathe, but I'm currently using and testing it on the KX3 mill. I'm brand new to CNC, so I've got a lot to learn, but I have the mill working and have done some basic GCODE programming. I'm in the process of writing a product review that will be published on my web site, www.mini-lathe.com, in the next week or so.
As far as I know from talking with the manager of the Sieg plant, no US distributors have been established to date for the CNC products. Sieg is actively working on lining up distributors, so I would expect that one or more will be in place by spring 2008, if not sooner.
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does anybody know if the creater of Mach3 software is going to try and get his software to work with this new lathe from Sieg? I wonder who would make the cnc controller?
Mach 3 IS the CNC controller.
What you mean is who is making the driver box ? In this case as it has a siemens controller it's probably propriatry but the driver box is only a 2 axis version of the same box that goes into say a KX3 mill.
You have asked this same question all over the web and all it takes is a power supply, two drivers, a breakoit board and a liitle work to do this.
The machine is not special in any way, many have converted lathes. You need to be asking Sieg IF they intend to sell this as a Mach3 machine and what their proposed dealer network will be.
Second choice is to buy a bare one and convert it yourself as some are already doing ?
John S.
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Based on the Sieg CNC pdf file, the KC6 will run on a Siemens controller presently.
However, I can confirm that Mach3 will definitely run on the KC6 with stepper/servo motors. In fact, I have a KC6 unit under test and it is working under Mach3. I just need to work on the 4-position auto turret tool post macro or brain. I am almost through with the electronic circuit board to control the turret but still struggling with the brain and/or macro (Hint: Maybe someone want to help on this :)).
The spindle comes with an encoder though I am only using the index pulse for synchronization to cut thread. When the smoothstepper hits the market, it should be able to fully utilize the encoder.
When I have everything setup and running, I will try to post more details.
Weedy