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change the mother board to a Mach4
« on: May 28, 2017, 01:17:54 PM »
First time on ArtSoft Not to familiar with it.

But I must try something. I am having trouble with my CNC. Thought you may be able to help me. This is my problem. I have a CNC from AXYZ International 2010. The control program does not permit me to du 3D carving, so I would like to change the mother board to a Mach4 that will permit me to have more freedom and I need help.
Thanks in advance ???
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2017, 02:35:41 AM »
Hi,
welcome. Both Mach3 and Mach4 would work for you but both are commercial products, you do have to pay to use them although
very cheaply by commercial software standards, $175-$200 for hobby/personal use.

You may be interested in LinuxCNC, its open source and free. I am not familiar with it but know people who use it and they find it
very good. Obviously it requires a Linux operating system which you may or may not be familiar.

I think that you should consider what you need...I'm not familiar with AXYZ Int., can you post some manuals or other information
about your machine to establish if indeed Mach would be a suitable solution.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2017, 07:09:52 AM »
Hi,
have given a little more thought to your post. The AXYZ website gives very few details about the machine. What you really need to
know is what the axis motors are and how they're driven. Are they steppers or servos?

Mach, either 3 or 4, is a step/direction controller. With the right breakout board Mach will happily drive servo drives or stepper drives with
step/direction, CW/CCW or Quadrature pulses. There are some rather more expensive boards that can generate analogue signals from Mach.
It seems unlikely that your machine has analogue servo drives but not impossible.

Where Mach will not go is EtherCat, ProfiNet or any of the other distributed motion control strategies.

There is a distinct probability that your machine has some distributed control setup. If so you need to know soonest....before you waste time
or money on a system that will never work.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'

Offline Stuart

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Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2017, 09:39:21 AM »
Craig
they are a UK firm but they are a big machine 3 phase 220vac or 440 vac tp in both

but looking at the specs I would bet its servos and its defiantly there own controler

quote
SPECIFICATIONS

STANDARD PROCESS AREAS   
AXYZ 4000   
1524mm Width. Lengths from 1220mm to 15m
AXYZ 5000   
1842mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 6000   
2159mm Width Lengths. from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 8000   
2635mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
AXYZ 10000   
3270mm Width. Lengths from 3048mm to 15m
OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL LENGTH   
610mm Increments
STANDARD GANTRY CLEARANCE   
150mm
OPTIONAL GANTRY CLEARANCE   
200mm, 250mm, 300mm, 330mm, 380mm, 455mm
DRIVE SYSTEM   
X, Y – Rack and Pinion, Z – Ballscrew
TYPICAL POSITIONING SPEED   
25m/min - 50m/min
CONTROL SYSTEM   
AXYZ A2MC Controller
7 Segment motion profile
FPGA processor for high speed complex calculations
Dedicated true NC control – G and M codes
Network connection
Large solid state onboard memory
AXYZ SmartConsole
POWER REQUIREMENTS   
208-230V 3 Phase / 440-460V 3 Phase

unquote

Stuart
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2017, 06:16:59 PM »
First, I would like to say thanks for replying I really appreciated.

 I know that it is possible to change one of the cards to converted to mach3 or mach4, there is a person that has the same CNC that I have and he has done it.

Why don’t I asked him?  Well I did, but the answer that he gave me
(First, I don’t know you and why should I help you nobody helps me win I need help)
Last time that I speak with this gentleman.

So, I have some pictures of the mother board. I will put them on my web page tomorrow morning and give you a direct link to them
The main reason that I wont to change the mother board is to be able to do 3D. this programme is good to du 2D but does not accepted 3D.
I am a specialist in 3D drawing and transferring the drawing in a G code but can’t do 50% of my drawings.
 ???
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2017, 08:32:37 PM »
Hi,
your welcome, one of the strongest points in favour of Mach is the support forum. It does require that
you help yourself by reading and trying things, maybe I or someone like me can point you in the right
direction but ultimately YOU have to understand how YOUR machine works.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2017, 06:54:01 AM »
Here is the link to my pictures of the CNC board,
 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/o8lwbrd8l4xgamr/AADsAsQAHB9lpfb-ge0nWtQ3a?dl=0

I understand that I will have to help my self and take all responsibility on the action that I decide to do. But I really need some help on understanding the mother board.
And do you sell mother board for mach3 or mahc4.


Offline Stuart

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Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2017, 07:31:55 AM »
well thats a nice lot of knitting you have there just my cup of tea but I have been a long time sorting bigger piles of knitting  ;D

but thats me

you have a lot of custom boards in there , I will bet they will not give you any info as to the specs

what you need to do is get a large note pad pencil or biro if you are confident

get the spec of all the axis motors ( I use that because they could be servos or steppers  they may even be 3 phase servos )
set the HP voltage of the spindle and check if the control has a VFD , but that may be a servo as well

IMHO you would need to junk 90%  its going to get spendy quick with no guarantee of success

have you approached the manufacturer to see if they do a control upgrade

I would estimate that that machine will be out of service for 3 to 6 months if you try to do the swap out

just my 2 cents but I wish you well in your endeavours


to your last question there is no such thing as a mach3 or mach4 mother board. m3 and m4 run on a standard windows pc nothing special at all Mach3 or Mach4 is just a program that runs on the PC
« Last Edit: May 30, 2017, 07:34:42 AM by Stuart »
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2017, 07:56:08 AM »
Why so long I thought that it would be simpler and faster. I had one or two days in mind

Would it be easier to change the complete mother board?

And yes, I asked AXYZ International to change the mother board. They given me two choices, one at 30 000$ they want to change all the setup or buy a knew one at 125 000$.
Re: change the mother board to a Mach4
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2017, 08:42:22 AM »
To continue with what Stuart has told you.  Like he said, there is no "motherboard".  You have a PC that runs Mach4, which means you will need a mouse, keyboard, and monitor at your control panel.  You will then need a motion controller; there are several out there for Mach3/Mach4.  Personally I've used the SmotthStepper and HiCON Integra.  It will take time to retrofit your machine with Mach4.  You have to remove old hardware and install new hardware, and then integrate your new hardware with existing wiring.  You also have to configure Mach4 to your liking.  You should weigh the costs of purchasing a PC, Mach4, Motion Controller, miscellaneous items, time to retrofit, and lost time; against purchasing your $30,000 upgrade.   Mach4 does have a great support forum to help you on your way if you decide to retrofit your machine. 
Chad Byrd