[Shelby5041]

hi im looking to possibly buy a very old maxnc-10 from a friend for $200 in working cond with old computer that has the orig software on it

however he does not have the orig install disk

without orig software are there alternartive methods to communicate with a stock maxnc-10 cnc machine?

is the maxnc-10 software avail? cost? other software?

i want to keep machine stock i do not intend on retrofitting at this time

[awerby]

The original software ran under DOS. Are you really willing to mess around with such an obsolete operating system? It would make a lot more sense to go to LinuxCNC instead, and while you're at it, to upgrade the electronics to something like a Geckodrive G-540. The original electronics were based on these TIP-120 transistors that would get hot, melt their solder, and lean into each other, shorting out the works. When you get tired of dealing with the shortcomings of the MAX-NC (maybe when the spindle motor burns up), you can transfer the new control box to whatever other small mill or router you find or build. But if you're determined to run it as stock, get ready to tear your hair out like it's 1999...

[Shelby5041]

Trust me...been thete done that with old labvolt cncs i got
.
So assuming it cant be run in stock cond is 200 still a fair price?


UOTE=awerby;2348806]The original software ran under DOS. Are you really willing to mess around with such an obsolete operating system? It would make a lot more sense to go to LinuxCNC instead, and while you're at it, to upgrade the electronics to something like a Geckodrive G-540. The original electronics were based on these TIP-120 transistors that would get hot, melt their solder, and lean into each other, shorting out the works. When you get tired of dealing with the shortcomings of the MAX-NC (maybe when the spindle motor burns up), you can transfer the new control box to whatever other small mill or router you find or build. But if you're determined to run it as stock, get ready to tear your hair out like it's 1999...[/QUOTE]

[Shelby5041]

..[/QUOTE]

[metalmayhem]

.
So assuming it cant be run in stock cond is 200 still a fair price?


...

[/QUOTE]

Go online and compare it to a sherline , at 200 it would be worth the carcass without any motors at all on it . If the mill is complete then it wouldn't cost much to change over some of the electronics .
Otherwise you could easily buy it and flip it on ebay for a quick $300 profit

[Shelby5041]

Thanks metalman thats good to hear..i bought it for 180$ today..he gave me another 10 off so i can buy some 5 1/4 floppy disks lol...so...guess im going to party like its 1999 lol.gonna crack open my old prince cassettes and my sony walkman and rock with the maxnc..love Prince and the 90s were great since 2000 everything has gone downhill quality speaking
Across the board on all msnufactured products
The motors appear to be 270oz nema23..i expected them to be a bit smaller and they are stamped made in usa..thats interesting...maybe the maxnc was actually made in usa and not china? That would be a huge positive to me since i prefer made in usa items and is a good selling point.

Amd yes mill is complete and works even included a maxnc 3d digitizing probe and 3 diff size collets and handfull of small end mills and an old 486pc with the software on it..the screw drive visually looks ok and not all bent out of wack..only issue i can see is a small 1in square area on the bed where someone made a booboo not using spoilboard underneath a through cut..but its just minor ..no big deal..
UOTE=metalmayhem;2348818][/QUOTE]

Go online and compare it to a sherline , at 200 it would be worth the carcass without any motors at all on it . If the mill is complete then it wouldn't cost much to change over some of the electronics .
Otherwise you could easily buy it and flip it on ebay for a quick $300 profit[/QUOTE]

[Shelby5041]

this so funny but this was what was high tech back in the mid 90s....if you had a computer back then you were rich...nowadays computers are dime a dozen and you can have little to no money and still own one...i guess if i can somehow create a gcode it dowesnt matter how fancy the controller porgram is ..its just used to hit go
does anyone know my options for creating gocde programs? is there a maxnc10 post processor floating around that can be used with a cheap or free cam program?

[Shelby5041]

hi averby....it does appear that maxnc changed their desibg on the nwer version maxnc 10..my older one has made in USA larger 75mm nema 23 stepper motors..ive seen other maxnc 10 with the smaller made in japan/china 50mm version..so obviously mine will have more torque/power so thats a good thing..as i have always said quality wise ..newer is not always better


well its been a bit of a retro headache but so far so good i was able to save the maxnc file folder from the old desktop pc onto a floppy disk and then put it on my old laptop


surprisingly all i did was hook up the maxnc parallel port cable to my laptop and powered on the maxnc and then ran the "initialize" timeset program per manual and it made a bunch of crazy odd sounds for about 5 min and then said complete


i then just opened the max program and jog mode and bam..the machine actually jogged in x y and z....may have to oil the screw drives a bit but none are bound up just a tiny bit rough...but that could be due to i used default motor setting i may mess around with the settings which may smooth out the xyz movement...i ended up cahnging some of the paramrteter settings and now they motors turning much smoother... im sure more fine tuning will be needed but for now is ok.


im very happy so far...i think it was a good investment and now with little to no risk since machine seems to work fine

the orig manual instructions has helped out a lot

does anyone know if the drive nuts are made of plastic or metal? and should i oil the drive screws? if nuts are plastic i would think oiling is not advised?

[awerby]

Yes, definitely oil the screws; they need all the help they can get. The drive nuts are a mixture of metal and plastic, spring-loaded to counter backlash (but not very stiff, so if it hits a snag you get it all back and then some).

Your main problem with loading G-code files will be getting them into that computer. If it has a CD drive, you can burn your programs to the disc, but flashdrives won't work. There are various free programs that will generate G-code; don't worry too much about the post-processors, because they won't be calling out any exotic routines, just directional info.

And clean out your private message box if you want people to respond that way...

[Shelby5041]

i cleaned out my inbox..this site only allows like a handful ..seems odd

anyways ok i will oil the drive screws a bit

also yes i have no problem creating gcode but which post processor should i choose? any recommendations?

and i tried opening a sample gcode but for the life of me i dont kniow how to do it in DOS....my laptop has win98 on it and a cd/dvd drive , 3.5 floppy drive and usb port but usb storage thumb drives wont work on windows 98 (update i found a driver for windows 98 usb thuimb drive and installed it..works fine so i can use usb thumd drives now)..so i tried to put the sample gcode in the c directory in a new folder called test but i dont know how to accessit via dos

in the maxnc dos program...i click 1 (load new program) and then it says name ? and i dont know what to type after that..my gcode file is in c drive in its own folder.. no matter what i type it says program not found..update i think i found out how to locate the gcode....update i found out how to access the files..dos is very picky..the file name is diff under dos so i have to look in properties and it will show the file name as sample.t and not sample so thats what i have to type in the dos window

and i just created a sample gcode using vectric aspire and chose a standard gcode post processor and it seemed to run ok in the maxnc program not hooked up to machine..i will try that in a bit.

[Shelby5041]

update: success

was able run a test gcode program i made in vectric aspire and it ran great on the maxnc machine

thanks for all the help.. i think i may have gotten a better version of the maxnc-10 as i said the stepper motors are much larger than the newer versions i would imagine the electronics are better too

its a cool little machine and for what i paid for it im very happy so far....now i need to find out how to use the 3d digitizer probe that came with it...i see a program called probe.exe maybe that has something to do with the 3d probe....i think that probe retailed for $200 alone ha ha

[Fastest1]

A probe is just a simple electronic switch. Insulate a piece of drill rod in a holder, connect a wire to it from the input pin.

[Shelby5041]

Hi...thanks...if so simple ...why are some 3d digitizer probes $200

UOTE=Fastest1;2349702]A probe is just a simple electronic switch. Insulate a piece of drill rod in a holder, connect a wire to it from the input pin.[/QUOTE]

[awerby]

Different sorts of probes are used for different things. The one Fastest refers to would be useful for finding a piece of metal on the bed of your mill. But a digitizing probe is more complicated; it has to register the features of a non-conductive 3D part by bumping into it and recording the points of contact. Typically they consist of a shaft with a flange on it that floats in a housing set up so that if it's contacted it connects a circuit that triggers a routine that stops motion, records a point, then starts looking for the next one. Here's one that someone shows you how to build: https://www.instructables.com/id/dig...or-cnc-router/

[Fastest1]

Sorry, Andrew is correct. I do have a few of the probes you refer to that cost 175+. On the the other hand what I mention can still be used but you will have to understand what opens and closes the circuit and how to interface it with the controller. You would also have to insulate the probe from the spindle electrically via an iinsulator of some kind, delrin maybe? A simple piece of pc board and a wire to the same input can be a tool height setting gauge. Turned sideways it is an edge finder.

[EngraverGar]

Fastest1,
Tried to PM you. Box full. Can you look at Dyna mech forum. Question there you can probably answer.
Thanks and sorry I derailed this post.

[UrielBaez]

hi averby....it does appear that maxnc changed their desibg on the nwer version maxnc 10..my older one has made in USA larger 75mm nema 23 stepper motors..ive seen other maxnc 10 with the smaller made in japan/china 50mm version..so obviously mine will have more torque/power so thats a good thing..as i have always said quality wise ..newer is not always better


well its been a bit of a retro headache but so far so good i was able to save the maxnc file folder from the old desktop pc onto a floppy disk and then put it on my old laptop


surprisingly all i did was hook up the maxnc parallel port cable to my laptop and powered on the maxnc and then ran the "initialize" timeset program per manual and it made a bunch of crazy odd sounds for about 5 min and then said complete


i then just opened the max program and jog mode and bam..the machine actually jogged in x y and z....may have to oil the screw drives a bit but none are bound up just a tiny bit rough...but that could be due to i used default motor setting i may mess around with the settings which may smooth out the xyz movement...i ended up cahnging some of the paramrteter settings and now they motors turning much smoother... im sure more fine tuning will be needed but for now is ok.


im very happy so far...i think it was a good investment and now with little to no risk since machine seems to work fine

the orig manual instructions has helped out a lot

does anyone know if the drive nuts are made of plastic or metal? and should i oil the drive screws? if nuts are plastic i would think oiling is not advised?

Can you share the MaxNC program files with me. They no longer exist anywhere else.