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Author Topic: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill  (Read 3327 times)

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want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« on: October 19, 2016, 10:08:06 AM »
I have a 310 journeyman tree mill , there is something wrong in the power supply unit. I would like to put mach 3 on it and get rid of the delta 10 controller. Is it possible? Where do I start, is there a number I can call and talk to somebody? Any help would be great.
thanks for your time.
mike
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2016, 10:09:44 AM »
Thanks
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2016, 07:59:10 PM »
Yes, replacing the Delta 10 is possible.
Where do I start?   Right here!
Lots of help right here on the forum.
If you post the area you live, there may be someone close to assist.

Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2016, 08:06:33 PM »
Shinglehouse pa 16748
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2016, 03:11:33 AM »
I know noting about your mill, but the place to start is to basically work out what you have and what you can reuse.

Mach3/mach4 requires compliant  hardware to control your steppers / servos.  So I would suggest by having a look as your drive motors to determine if they are stepper motors or servo motors (photos + check and write down the wiring).

Then trace the wiring back to the control board, is it one board or lots of motor controllers?  (Photos, wiring diagram traced out / sketched out)

Mach3, mach4 requires that the motors are controlled by step and direction signals..... hence you have to determine is your motor controllers are able to accept step and direction signals... I am guessing it's probably one control board hence you may need to source motor controllers...
Then you need to determine what other stuff you have...

Spindle control (on/off, pwm, step and direction?... photos, trace wiring out)
Coolant control
Probe inputs
Anything else? (Tool changers?)

Basically you need to trace out your existing wiring in a high level (block diagram schematic) and in a low level detailed (cores, colours etc detailed schematic)

Then you need to determine what else you want in the end if your machine does not have it (mpg, tool changer, whatever)

What you are trying to do is find your current hardware requirements, what you need to replace, and what inputs and outputs you require (can you get away with a parallel port connector of inputs and outputs, or do you need a multi port motion controller?)

A dedicated pc or laptop running mach3 or mach4 (or any other cnc software) is always better than sharing a pc or laptop.... note that mach3 requires a 32 bit version if you want to run the simple printer port (and some newer machines dispite having a printer port have displayed problems with using the parallel port).

Personal suggestion... get a motion controller.... the timing is better, machine tends to run smoother, less chance of timing glitches, more potential for newer windows operating systems than xp or w7 32bit.... future pc replacement upgrades or if you have a problem with the pc and you need to swap it out for a replacement quickly).

You basically need to get to know the innards of your machine to start with then create a shopping list of requirements before moving on to doing the conversion.

Get yourself a big bound notepad and camera and start taking notes and sketches and photos.... please feel free to post and I'm sure someone will help
Rob

Albert Einstein ― “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2016, 08:17:17 AM »
Here is an old similar type post with similar relevant information:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=11670.0
Rob

Albert Einstein ― “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2016, 01:03:36 PM »
Is there a phone number I can call to talk to a technicians.
All the help is great, thank you.
mike
Re: want to put mach 3 on my journeyman tree mill
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2016, 02:30:21 PM »
This side of the cnc market don't really work that way....

Mach3 is only the software, the hardware is sold by hardware vendors, and a few other companies can provide the service i think you are after which is guidance and a box of conversion bits... unfortunately I am not aware of anyone on here offering such a service, but you may get a private message or two as soliciting your own business tends to get frowned upon on another companies forum...

There is a section on this forum which does allow people to advertise their products, and I guess you could put an advert up asking for the service you want.

You could also try cnczone.... as there are persons on there who may have converted similar machines and able to offer such service

(Sorry I'm across the pond, or I would have helped out of interest) ..

The support you'll get from artsoft / new fangled solutions will be purely for mach3/4... software side... no hardware, interfacing or conversion I believe
Rob

Albert Einstein ― “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”