Topics

41

General Mach Discussion / Mach4

« on: April 23, 2010, 09:28:38 PM »

When will Mach4 come out?

42

General Mach Discussion / Milltronics with 386DX to Mach

« on: April 16, 2010, 11:06:55 PM »

My Milltronics still works good but it is a 386. I would like to convert it to Mach3 and was wondering if I should bother.
It uses Glentek motors with pulse coders, Glentek drives. What sort of motion card would it use and what do milltronics use? can I use the same motion board with the new computer and mach? Would I have to use the DSPMC unit I have from Vital Systems. I guess the Glentek motors are DC brush + - 10v analog, don't know much about Pc motion.
Any recommendations for touch screen monitor?

Thanks.

43

General Mach Discussion / Fanuc brushless Ac, dspmc, Mach3, and I have motion, but?

« on: September 08, 2009, 11:39:46 PM »

I do have a few questions: Is there anybody that has tuned Ac fanuc motors (red cap) using the PID. I can make them work, but I don't like just putting any # in and seeing what happens, well I know what happens, the motor jumps off the bench and almost breaks the encoder off. The motors don't hunt or vibrate and run good but sound loud when running, doesn't matter what values I put in, those Fanuc motors usually are as quiet as a mouse when running.
The other problem I'm having is, when I do a sample program just running the motors if I hit feed hold, which is the normal way to halt your program, the motors seem to just slow down and squeak to a stop, then I cycle start and they slowly ramp up to speed and carry on, yet If I stop the program, the motors stop instantly, then I cycle start and they start instantly.
All the machines I have worked on don't have a program stop, they just have a feed hold then you would use the reset if you want to terminate the program, am I missing something.
I must admit, I do like the Mach3, I've been around Fanuc for too long….
Regards, Ray.

44

General Mach Discussion / Should I remove the running Milltronics1 control and put a Mach3 on?

« on: July 04, 2009, 08:44:39 PM »

Hi, Just bought a Milltronics 1,  3 axis knee mill, 1997. the control is a 386sx , glenteck drives & motors.
I was going to rip the control out and install the mach3 but it runs great and it has conv, graphics, etc.
Should I switch to Mach3 or wait until it quits.
How much work would be involved in putting on the Mach3?
Would I need to use the DSPMC motion controller I bought for Vital, or can I use the Glenteck motors and drives?
Will the Mach3 only operate from the parallel port or ethernet?
Regards, Ray.

45

FAQs / Should I remove the milltronics for mach3?

« on: July 01, 2009, 09:42:08 PM »

Hi, Just bought a Milltronics 3 axis knee mill, 1997. the control has a 386sx control, glenteck drives & motors.
I was going to rip the control out and install the mach3 but it runs great and it conv, graphics.
Should I switch to Mach3 or wait until it quits.
How much work would be involved in putting on the Mach3?
Regards, Ray.

46

General Mach Discussion / What size motors?

« on: April 18, 2009, 12:14:53 AM »

Hi, can somebody tell me what size motors I should use for a standard Bridgeport size mill.
Steppers or sevos, should the steppers be Nema 34 and around 1000oz-inch?
4-6-8 wire? How many ppr? Bi-polar or?
This is all new to me, only ever worked with Ac servo's and Fanuc, but now going over to the dark side with mach3...
Ray.