I just bought a used 7'x10' vytec router that has been out of service for a couple of years. The control is junk, but the servo amps and all related power supply parts seem to be in great shape. machine was running when It was taken out of service.
I am going to run this machine with Mach3. This will be my first time retrofitting a machine. I have a plasma table that uses mach and runs steppers so I am somewhat familiar with the software. My problem is how to interface to the old servo drives. I have seen several different ways to do this, but don't know what is the right direction.
Is it better to:
A: use a drive card like the kflop, or Galil card? and if so how do I decide which one to use? And what else would I need to use these cards to run the existing servo amps? BOB?
B: Or is it better to go with something like the Gecko servo card because it accepts step and dir signals straight from mach?
Budget is definitely in mind here but I want a good solution and won't cheap out just on cost, I want to make money with this machine so It needs to be reliable.
Any input or point me in the right direction to read and learn would be appreciated. If I should be asking somewhere else on the forum please let me know.
Thanks
Dave