Strange... This forum site seems to be very 'buggy' with my Mac browsers! Anyhow...

I thought I'd start a build log regarding my Hurco KMB-1. I've had it for about 10 years. It started as a B control and I upgraded it to a BX. I'm an electrical engineer and have chip level schematics so maintaining it was never a problem (fairly simple design actually). However, it has never been the most stable machine. There are *so* many connectors in there that it would go through phases of shutting down. Looking at the signals with a scope showed enough noise that I knew the problem but didn't want to fix it. Plus, I have always wanted to dabble with a 4th and 5th axis.... So, I finally bit the bullet and yanked the control a week and a half ago. It was a form of catharsis, actually!

I am planning on going down the following route:
  • keep computer in the main cabinet, not the control pendant (which will just have the monitor and switches)
  • keep all servos and encoders (may lower CPR of encoders, if required)
  • keep brake system controlled by computer
  • keep mist/flood option
  • 17" touch screen for input (if I don't like it, I can always swap it out)
  • E-Stop chain that is a *real* chain... so, it will cause an open of a relay controlling servo power, not be 'interpreted' by the computer
  • Linux CNC as a control
  • Mesa 7i77 interface card
  • 3 Granite Devices VSD-E boards running in analog mode (so, full feedback to the control software, not step/direction)
  • 2 Electrocraft DC-25 amps for 4th and 5th axis
  • wiring for 220V single-phase
  • dumping original transformers except for the 60V servo transformer


Although I work on hardware/software all the time, machine tool design is still a little different. Part of my motivation here is to get ideas for a retrofit of a Deckel FP3NC that I also own. That is a totally different beast though. It has a logic chain that would make a person cringe as it shifts speeds, etc. More on that later though.

I shall have to post pictures of my machine, although my garage is a TOTAL mess and I barely have any room to work. I'm more than a little embarrassed by the though of "showing my underwear" there, so to speak. But, I'm hoping people will have more interest in the machine retrofit than my #*$% so they'll look the other way and not rib me. Plus, the cool thing is that all the junk is actually not junk at all. Most of the boxes hold far too cool machining tools or other stuff. :-)

Alan
Sunnyvale, CA