Search:

Can a digitizing probe be added to any 3D CNC mill, or does the mill electronics have to be designed to accommodate such a thing from the get-go?
I have a Milltronics Cent5 controller and have...

Milltronics Partner, X-axis "jumps" about one full turn of the handwheel when I power everything down. Not sure yet if the Y-axis also jumps since I can't easily see the Y-axis handwheel from...

I want to publicly thank Sportybob for all the work he did to get my machine up & running with a major upgrade. I basically took on more than I could handle, quickly got in over my head, and had to...

Thank you ZZZZ. I'm still learning about all this stuff. I know some people will build these controls up from the transistor level, but I'd be happy just knowing which commercially available boxes...

ZZZZ,
Here's what I can find ...

Machine serial number 3603
What control Cent 1
Control serial number not sure
What front panel an old crt screen...

I had a wild idea about upgrading the controls and adding a 4th axis, but Milltronics says they have no such upgrades for this machine. At that point I was hoping to at least upgrade to a larger...

Being new to all this, I can see I'm at the bottom of a very steep learning curve. One thing I'm seeing is "stepper" systems which appear to be open-loop drives that simply count pulses to locate...

Does anyone make a complete, robust kit for small plasma setups (frame, motors, and all electronics)? Since I've never pulled a CNC system apart before, I'd like to build one from a kit (less the...

Does anyone make a complete, robust kit for small plasma setups (frame, motors, and all electronics)? Since I've never pulled a CNC system apart before, I'd like to build one from a kit (less the...

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been gone for over a year. Did you get that Sherline running?

Sporty, ...... I figured it probably had something to do with a UART or USART chip, and if it died completely I could probably just find that chip and replace it, but I did not know Hyperterminal had...

Update: Error 416 was apparently just the beginning. Yesterday I started getting a Bad Numeric Format error. Turns out the problem was the Hyperterminal software handling my DNC. Switched to EZ-DNC...

Franch ..... will do. I called Milltronics this morning and they said to try the same thing. Add PB81=2 near the top of the Gcode and PB81=0 just before M30. Apparently the math from the CAM program...

I get this on a Partner knee mill with a Cent 1 controller when it's being drip fed. Doesn't happen until well into the program (just a simple circular pocket), and doesn't matter if I'm cutting...

I'm a relative newbie to the CNC world. Last year I got a knee mill, XP laptop, EZcam Pro, and sat down to learn. The folks at EZcam had infinite patience with my questions (I was barely familiar...

Hey .... I got it running! Eureka! But you're right .... hyperterminal is a clumsy damn thing. And the Milltronics manual forgets to mention little details like "make sure you transfer the files as...

I get "Error 901 .... the system sending data may not have the same parity as the CNC". However, if I tell it to transfer the file as a text file it makes the jump in either direction, but the file...

Milltronics Cent 1 controller. I've set all the parameters on the controller and the Dell XP laptop ..... baud=1200 baud, databits=7, parity=even, stopbits=2 .... got a null modem DB9 to DB25. ...

I'll add this to all the other documentation that should have come with the machine but didn't :) Thanks again!

>> To get the files from the A: drive to the hard drive, just copy them to floppies and then back to the HDD.

I didn't know I could access the ROM codes. From the keypad on the mill I can access...

Thanks! Glad to know I don't need to run around looking for an antique keyboard.

The monitor has a socket on the side for an external keyboard. This socket is about 1/2" dia and has 5 pins with a notch at the top. Doesn't look like a PS2, it's a bit older. Any idea what kind of...

You mean .... replace the simdisk ROMs with an actual hard drive? Not sure if I'd know how to do that. And I'd still need to find a way to access the ROM contents and get it all on the hard drive. By...

zzzz,
Keep talking, I'm learning! This is the nuts & bolts stuff I like to know.

Have you heard of anyone burning copies of those twelve ROMs? If they contain the operating system, then it would...

Are any of you guys still around here? I recently purchased a Centurion 1 with Partner 0/00 controller, and was wondering about simdisk issues ...... in particular, what happens if the ROM fails? I'm...

What exactly is a simdisk? I have a 1996 Cent 1 controller, and it contains a floppy, a "simdisk", a pile of memory chips (RAM?), and a battery which I suppose is intended to keep the RAM from...

Ed, that's not a bad idea. The first time I fiddled with phase converters it was a rotary converter I got from someone on Craigslist. He demo'd it for me, and it ran without making any funny noises,...

"If you are talking about your residential service then the 120v neutral and ground are the same for the 240v?"

I would expect so. However, it's always a good idea to use one single point as...

Yes, that's how it's set up ...... 3phase directly to the spindle only, then 3phase through a transformer to generate simple 110. Indeed I could use a VFD on the spindle (I do this on a manual...

Al,
That sounds right. If it was as easy as just plugging in to the dryer outlet then no one would be selling phase converters :)
I thought about a VFD but discovered VFD's like steady, smooth...