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Author Topic: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver  (Read 49195 times)

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Offline zarzul

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Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #30 on: January 04, 2010, 08:35:02 AM »
XrayMan,

I did the same thing.  Did you reuse the driver board?   If so, where did you input the step and direction signals?
Jumper across the opto isolator chips, that will cure you problem.

Arnie
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #31 on: February 28, 2010, 08:04:41 PM »
Xray Do any of you do this upgrade for us as I am not that good with circuit boards. I purchased a vanguard 3000 on ebay and would like  to upgradeit if possible

Offline zarzul

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Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #32 on: February 28, 2010, 10:59:46 PM »
I do this upgrade,  email me at aminear@wyomingwireless.com for more info.
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #33 on: February 28, 2010, 11:51:53 PM »
Xray Do any of you do this upgrade for us as I am not that good with circuit boards. I purchased a vanguard 3000 on ebay and would like  to upgradeit if possible

Hi petlover - No, I only did the one for myself, and I do not have the time to work on another one for someone else. Maybe you could find an experienced electronics technician in your area who could do the mods for you by following my descriptions and photos. I may be available at times to answer technical questions, but because of my hectic work and personal schedules, I have very little free time.

Best of luck to you!

Mike (aka, Xray Man)
Some people are like a Slinky -- not much good for anything, but it brings a smile to your face when you shove it down a flight of stairs.
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #34 on: March 01, 2010, 11:07:45 PM »
Thanks xray I am goiing to contact zarzul I haven't eveb gotten the engraver yet it is still enrout I appriciate all of your input. I was told that the controller that it came with still works but it willbe nice to up grade so I don't have to worry about it. IU am going to use it primarily to make I D tags for employees and for plant Idetification I own a garden center and we have a lot of display gardens that I wantto label alll the plants in. Thanks again ffor the input

Gary
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #35 on: March 03, 2010, 08:48:53 PM »
The engraver came today and it appears to be in working order. But it has no manual so I'm not sure what commands are used to control it. I played with it alittle and can get it to go into the progam but can't get it to let me imput any numbers. So if anyone hase a manual for a vanguard 3000 that  I could copy I would pay for it. Thanks Gary
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #36 on: May 05, 2010, 11:31:48 AM »
The engraver came today and it appears to be in working order. But it has no manual so I'm not sure what commands are used to control it. I played with it alittle and can get it to go into the progam but can't get it to let me imput any numbers. So if anyone hase a manual for a vanguard 3000 that  I could copy I would pay for it. Thanks Gary

Keep in mind that the converted engraver with the Mach-3 software will operate MUCH differently from the original New Hermes controller. I'm not so sure that everyone who is interested in making the conversion understands this. The original New Hermes controller uses "Font Cartridges", and you create engraved items by selecting text characters, and their desired size and position, etc. The Mach-3 is a CNC controller, which means that you create text and graphic images with motion commands (G-codes) for each and every x/y/z move of the stylus. Therefore, if you have no experience with CNC machines and CNC programming, then you will have a learning curve, which will be frustrating at first, and may seem too confusing and complex for many people to grasp. So, my point is, even though you acquire all the parts and assemble them correctly, you won't be able to engrave anything until you've learned at least the basics of CNC. It's not too difficult to learn for most technically-minded people, but it will take some time in order to become proficient at it. There are plenty of CNC resources on the web, including THIS excellent website.

Some people are like a Slinky -- not much good for anything, but it brings a smile to your face when you shove it down a flight of stairs.
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #37 on: May 06, 2010, 12:32:43 PM »
Many people have Emailed me asking for specific details about how my steppers are wired, and how my limit switches are set up. So, I am posting this information for all readers to refer to. Keep in mind that this is how I wired MY system. Someone else may have different motors with different wire colors, etc.

I suggest you go to the Xylotex website and click on the tab labeled "Data Sheets & App Notes". You will find a lot of detailed information for the stepper driver board and power supply requirements. Here is a link to the 3-axis driver board that I used:  http://www.xylotex.com/3axBoard.htm
 
Here are some wiring details from my own personal notes. It is how I wired my engraver for the motors and limit switches....
 
Motor wire colors (These are the original steppers on my New Hermes engraver):
 
Note: where two colors are shown, the color to the left of the slash is the main solid color, and the color(s) to the
right of the slash is the colored stripe(s)
 
X axis: A=white/orange  A#=white/yellow B=white/grey B#=white/black
Y axis: A=brown A#=orange B=white/blue B#=white/red
Z axis: A=blue A#=white/red/black B=red B#=white/red
 

Limit/Home switch inputs to Xylotex board digital input terminals:
 
Note: Due to the limited number of switches on the engraver, some of the digital inputs are used for multiple functions.
 
+X = pin 11   -X = pin 10  X Home = pin 10
+Y = pin 11   -Y = pin 12  Y Home = pin 12
Z = No limit switches.   Z home = pin 13
 
Spindle ON/OFF signal from Xylotex board to solid-state relay:
Output #1 = pin 14.   CNC commands:  M03 = Spindle ON, M05 = Spindle OFF

I used a 10 Amp solid-state relay with a 10 to 30 VDC input for turning the Spindle on and off. It's overkill, but that happens
to be one that I had in my spare parts box at the time. I don't recall what the motor is rated at, but I doubt if it draws more than a couple of amps at 120 VAC, and so you could easily use an SSR rated at 5 Amps if that's what you happen to have.
 
Regards,
Mike
Some people are like a Slinky -- not much good for anything, but it brings a smile to your face when you shove it down a flight of stairs.
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #38 on: June 13, 2010, 10:23:43 PM »
I have done this conversion with my vanguard 3000 using every thing listed in this forum my engraver works well my my troubles are with mach 3 i watched all tutorial videos and still cant seem to get it right does my limit switches need to be hooked up for mach 3 to work properly? also how do i set coordinates so my machine knows how big of a piece I'm working on?
Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver
« Reply #39 on: January 26, 2012, 02:29:59 PM »
xray_man

I was wondering if you still have your font Cartridges and wanted to sell them,  I just bought a used vanguard 3000 and don't use it enough to go thru what you did, not that I could figure it out if I wanted to.  Thanks
Vern