Messages

151

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Eagle KM-750..Anilam Crusader GX-M

« on: April 15, 2007, 07:11:31 AM »

-12v is the negative rail on a dual rail supply.  Not 0v or GND

A dual rail 12v supply will normally have -12v  0v   12v

Wayne...

152

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit

« on: April 14, 2007, 07:12:19 PM »

Hood

Thats keyboard you are using I think is one of the Silicone ones?

What height are the keys?   I was thinking of buying a couple of those.

Taking the whole month off in May to try and get ahead with the Hardinge, it was just not happening with all the work I've had on recently.  Have to work 'kin hard this month to get May clear though!

Wayne....

153

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 12, 2007, 08:13:01 AM »

Brian

Well trying to convert the 95v to something the Gecko's will be happy with will probably be more work than using the Skyco Pixie boards.

I did take a look at their faq yesterday to see if there was anything about torque v's velocity modes, and it seems it should not be too much cause for concern.

The pixies are also cheaper allround to implement.

Give em a go.

Wayne....

154

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 10, 2007, 08:06:56 AM »

Brian

Speed Command = Velocity Command which is what I called it above, but never mind!

No you can't get a velocity command direct from a printer port, but there are at least two devices that will convert stepper drive type Step and Direction commands into +-10v which effectively converts the drive to a drive working in Position Mode rather than Velocity or Torque mode.

The devices are the Skyco Pxie 100 board as mentioned above, or the Rutex R991H.   The pixue is the newest and the best priced on the market.

You original drives seem to ve Velocity type as they have a Tacho input.  As I said above I'm not certain how well any of the above devices willl work in Velocity mode rather than Torque.

The only certain thing is you are more likely to be able to get your motors working from a Gecko G320 with less headaches.

I wish you were down south I'd give yo a hand!

Wayne....

155

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 09, 2007, 07:06:22 PM »

Brian

Adolph, what a name for a CNC control!

Whats up with the original control?   Just womdering whether it might better to repair that if it's a simple fault.

Your drives may be OK, but not being step/dir input drives makes life difficult unless you want to fork out $1000+ on a Galil card!  Even then I'm not sure yet how well mach is integrated with the Galil's.

The skyco cards I mentioned earlier take step/dir and convert to +-10v velocity command, but If I recall correctly the drives should be running on Torque mode, what differnce it makes over veloicity mode with the skyco I'm not sure.

The final decision is of course down to you, and you have quite a few options.   Each have their issues.

With the Gecko's or any other DC Brushed drive with step/dir you would probably be up and running quicker.  But you will have to ensure the DC Bus voltage in your lathe is 80v or less.

You should probably also get yourself a breakout board to inteface your parallel port to the machine the CNC4PC type seems to be the best value for money these days.

There are likely things you can resuse from the old control. like the MPG (Jog encoder) if ones fitted.

It's likely your machine also has a spindle encoder, this is not usable for screwcutting with mach via the parallel port.  If you wish to have screwcutting and use the parallel port then a simple index signal is required.   There are other devices that MAY allow spindle syncing via encoder sooner or later (G100 from Gecko)



Wayne.....

156

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 09, 2007, 12:53:05 PM »

Brian

Ah right it's a flatbed machine,  I have two boxford TCL lathes here, they are slantbeds.

Before you rush off buying new drives, check what your bus voltage is going to the original drives.  Although those motors are rated at 150v it's quite likely they are running at a lower voltage.   Both the drives I mentioned have a max volatge of 80v DC.

The other drives in this range with step/dir inputs are the Rutex drives, but it seems some have had reliability issues with them, and support can be flakey!

It maybe that you will need to look into the psu's you have on the machine to ensure you stay within spec.

Was that machine equipped with a NEE control originally?

Wayne.....

157

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 09, 2007, 10:21:16 AM »

Brian.

OK for what it's worth, first try to get the machine with the ROD426 encoders working first.   These are 250 line differential output encoders and will work fine with either Gecko G320 servo drives ($114 each) or the CNC Teknix TEK10 Drive ($324 AUD)   The gecko's will work just fine and there's probably no need to have the extra sophistication of the TEK drives.


These will all  work out of the box with Mach3.

The encoders will need their own 5v power supply as the Heidenhain encoders have a faily high current requiremnet.   I have the pinouts for these if you ned it.

Do you have a pic of these machines, it's not a machine I have seen I think.

Wayne....

158

General Mach Discussion / Re: servo drive connection

« on: April 09, 2007, 08:42:24 AM »

Brian

As the other Brian pointed out those drives require an analogue velocity command signal(-comd +comd) not Step/Dir signals.

Seems Norwin are still in business, http://www.norwin.co.uk/dcdrives.htm

It might be worth trying to contact them to get a datasheet for your drives.

Looks like you will need to obtain a couple of the skyco cards to convert Step/Dir to the +-10v signal you require.

http://www.skyko.com/

It's either that or get yourself a pair of Gecko G320's or CNC Teknix Tek10 drives, and hopefully you have encoder feedback on your original motors.

What information is on the motor nameplates?   



Wayne....

159

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Bridgeport Series 1 control panel

« on: April 07, 2007, 07:28:24 PM »

Actually looks kind of like a later Heidenhain TNC control.

Make it black background and amber text and boxes and you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart at a distance.

Was that what it was modelled on?

Wayne....

160

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Bridgeport Series 1 control panel

« on: April 06, 2007, 07:31:57 PM »

From first impressions thats one of the best screensets I have seen yet.  Simple looking just as a CNC control should be!


Wayne....