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Author Topic: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion  (Read 33029 times)

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Offline jeep534

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2013, 03:31:10 PM »
OK Ill bite. first what system did you purchase.  Does  it have separate drives for each axis and a breakout board. did it come as a complete unit or did you supply the computer ect...
were the motion control chips in the drives ??????
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Offline Telco

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2013, 05:37:41 PM »
Thanks for the replies guys, i just decided i would make more progress reading than tlooking for problems i do not know the answers to..i purchased their medium lathe conversion kit, it came as complete unit..i knew that in the long run i could have probably have put one together myself for cheaper, but needed to be running asap...hindsight 20/20..it came with a computer and mount, HiCON motion controller (they call it the apollo3) , Teco 750 watt servos & teco servo drives. this is my first cnc setup. the motion control chips are in the Hicon..if i were to go through and set up ports & pins etc. up as specified in the manual , the relay & contactor wouldnt activate. everything is wired up EXACTLY as specified in the diagrams sent with the cpu.  I have been through everything the last few days and have got to the point where everything works, but when i try to home/set home i get an error..im going to re-read and take notes from the manual again to see what i can get. one thing that would help me now is if someone can tell me how to get a backup re installed....i did it a few days ago ,but with everything ive read in the past few weeks it escapes me now. thank you to any and everyone who replies, i desprately need help, and aside from the initial cost ive ive lost more money than you would believe from the extended time being down.

Offline jeep534

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2013, 10:05:28 AM »
i am not sure if this will help
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,17023.0.html
as far as computer help if you post those in the general section it will get more eyeballs  LOL.

Good luck
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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2013, 05:29:21 PM »
Hi Telco:
You might try posting in the HiCON section. Your post regarding this controller is only the second one I have seen in the forum, the other one being by Mike in the HiCON section. One possible cause of computer/board communication could be the Ethernet cable. On my dspmc controller, the other board made by Vital Systems, before they produced the HiCON, the cable must be a "Crossover" type, versus the standard 1:1 correspondence.
Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2013, 01:10:50 PM »
Hello Telco,

Matt here with MachMotion.  I hate to hear you are having trouble with our control system.  Please call us and we will help you with any problems you are experiencing.  We pride ourselves on second to none support. 

Offline Telco

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #15 on: April 11, 2013, 03:49:45 AM »
Hi guys , thank you all for the replies. I have made good progress since last post, but do have a few hiccups to work out. And before I say anything else I do want to thank mach motion, all in all they have been a huge help, and the tech support has been great. The problems I've had are more related to mach3 than anything machmotion has done.  The thing is , I don't want to just get things working, I would like to understand why and how,  so i  can troubleshoot any problems myself. When I thread using the wizard , or with the G32 coded line by line, the pitch of the threads is off. It will cut uniform good threads , but if I command a 24 tpi (.04167) I get around a 20 tpi..have tried numerous spindle speeds, always same result. The steps per rev is correct. The encoder on my spindle gives 1000 pulses per rev, is a 1:1 ratio, and maintains stable speed when threading indicator is lit. If I set to thread at a certain rpm, and the true speed is different, should I plug this number in for the speed? I've read the thread titled G76 threading issues, and experienced the same issue of the very slow movement at the end of a pass,  and added G95 to the initialization string, and it solved that problem. I occasionally get an error that farces the program to close, and i have seen a blue screen several times , but the computer recovered quickly. Also, when i open mach 3, i get one of 3 load screens that come up, a blue/ white mach3 , a red / grey  art soft, or a screen that says mach 3 professional etc etc, has some graphics, and appears to be the one i should get...oh yea, I also want a partridge & a pear tree!

Offline jeep534

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #16 on: April 11, 2013, 09:47:51 AM »
do you have an encoder on the spindle
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Offline Telco

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #17 on: April 11, 2013, 10:53:20 AM »
Yessir, the forward/ neutral/ reverse gearbox for the leadscrew turns at a 1:1 ratio with the spindle, and with the gears removed that would run the leadscrew i was left with the perfect location to mount said encoder. I've attached a pic, if it doesn't post I'll get one up in a few min.

Offline Telco

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #18 on: April 11, 2013, 11:03:31 AM »
Here are some pics of where I'm at..

Offline Telco

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Re: South Bend Fourteen Lathe conversion
« Reply #19 on: April 11, 2013, 11:04:40 AM »
All clean..