[Bubba]

Pete,
I don't think they accept pictures and that would suck!

[pete from TN]

This website has so many issues it can only call for...

oh nevermind....

[FannBlade]

Vbulletin 3.8 is an old version. I too wish they would upgrade to 4.2 and get rid of the VB Advance application. That would get rid of all the server errors. But I know they use it heavily for ads....give and take.
Maybe when VB 5.0 gets out of beta they will upgrade.
On there behalf though it would be scary to move the database to a new format with the large amount of posts and users.

I'm still bewildered they don't allow editing posts after 3 days.......VERY strange.

[Connor]

This website has so many issues it can only call for...

oh nevermind....

I stopped using Firefox for normal browsing. I've switched to Google Chrome. I still use FF for websites I develop when I need to debug Javascript and stuff. I know that FF has had a few new releases that might cause issues with older sites..

Pete, You get your Memory In? Let me know when your going to install LinuxCNC. I can come over and help you if needed.

[pete from TN]

Yeah buddy I did get the memory in yesterday, my neighbor found it in his backyard and thought it was garbage his dogs tore up. I am lucky he looked at the address on it before he tossed it. The good thing is it was in a sealed plastic bubble wrap envelope and the memory sticks were in some kinda plastic housings so they appear to be in good shape.

I am kinda hoping you could come over here and sort me out with the computer stuff as you said. I am still kinda putting together the computer setup physically inside a large metal box that will go inside the enclosure so when I get it looking like something I will give you a shout and you can come over here and work your magic on it. I saw your post yesteray, what kind of spanner do you need? I have some and we have some at work I could probably borrow for an evening if I asked nicely LOL...peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

It seems I can FINALLY upload pictures here without an error message. I just tried to load the pics I took of my computer enclosure I was making for the machine from a piece that was originally inside the enclosure. It will hold my CPU, solid state hard drive, power supply, etc . on the inside and the mesa 7I77 will go on the outside closest to the servo drives and whatnot. I am still working on it but this arrangement looks like it should work. I still have to cut the holes and drill and tap for the power supply mount. The rest is already done and standoffs are in there. Trying to keep this roomy and tidy.

Been working a LOT of hours at work and not had much time to work on this lately but I hope to spend a lot of time this coming weekend on it. Cannot wait to get this machine running under linuxCNC soon. Still tons of stuff to do...peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

It has been a rough week here. I had told you I got that job working lots of hours locally. Well it was going pretty well but I unfortunately got laid off this past week. They had hired a couple guys when they hired me and one of them only lasted a week and the other guy quite simply had a LOT more experience with Mastercam and Haas machining centers than I did so I lost that match. It really sucks this close to Christmas and the holidays to lose a job but it is what it is. It was a real good learning experience while it lasted. I have no regrets.

Anyways I have a couple weeks pay coming since they held my first check and whatnot so we will be okay thru the holidays and I can still do work from my own shop. Sure would be nice if the VMC was running but that is okay too. I intend to use the time off here to get this retrofit rolling as much as I can. I have reposted my ads about shop work so hopefully something good will come in and I can make a few bucks here and there.

Today I spent some more time working on the computer and controller setup. I managed to cut the hole in the electronics enclosure box to allow me to plug in the computer and run the monitor and keyboard/touchpad in and out easily. All that is left for that part now is to mount the mesa card to the side of the enclosure using the standoffs I have here. That little $20.00 kit has come in real handy. I have hooked up the power supply to the mother board and the solid state hard drive and also hooked up the data cables from the hard drive to the mother board. All that is left is getting the ram installed and loading the system with the linux operating system and linuxCNC. I am hoping my pal Connor can spare a couple minutes to come over here and give me a hand with that so it goes properly. Once I have that done I will mount the computer enclosure in the cabinet and start working on the pendant.

Still have not ordered an axis drive and motor yet and losing my job will make that even more difficult altho I hope to sell some of this old stuff here to pay for that. Still leaning more towards the DMM setup but considering the teco drives/motors as well. I tried to post the stuff on ebay but it seems they want to charge me $20.00 just to post each ad. I have a bunch of items to post so that could get expensive real quick. I might just post the spindax drive and maybe an axis drive and mention I am parting out the control stuff in the ad hoping someone will contact me needing other stuff. I will find a way to get this done here soon now that I am not working it will be definitely tougher but it will get done. The good new is I will have a lot more time to spend on it. Working 50-60 hours a week for those guys left little time for anything else. I think my life is starting to sound like a freakin' soap opera sometimes but hey that is how it goes sometimes. Stay tuned for more progress and pictures as I get into this. Peace

Pete

[samco]

What where the servos installed on the machine? I would seriously look at finding generic amps to run them... (if at all possible...)

sam

[pete from TN]

ya know that is about the only other option I have seriously considered. The only issue is that they are resolver ac motors and I had not been able to find a good deal on NEW drives that would run these motors online. They are 4nm and 7nm motors 1000 watt and 2000 RPM as I recall but I was just gonna replace all of them and the drives with new ones. Open to other suggestions tho. Not sure if the Mesa cards I bought will work with the resolver based drives either. Peace

Pete

[samco]

Do you have any pictures of them? Do you have any picutures of the spec plates on the servos and resolvers? Mesa does have a resolver interface - but I think it is for the 5i20,22, 23 boards.. I think mesa does have a resolver board in the works for 5i25 but that doesn't help you now.

Are they brushless? or Brushed?

sam

[pete from TN]

I do have pictures and I think I posted one recently of the motor in this thread. If the mesa cards that I have do not support the resolver based system then it is a moot point I think. I already have the 5I25 7I77 combo here and was intending to use that. Honestly while it would be much simpler to use the existing motors I know they are a pain in the butt to hookup and tune even if you were to be able to find an inexpensive resolver based drive which I have not been able to find anywhere. It seems like resolvers are simply a thing of the past. These new motors and drives are all encoder based brushless AC and the mesa setup/linuxcnc system I am choosing to use is a proven entity that I hope to be able to take advantage of. I think I can sell off the old stuff to pay for most of the new stuff easily tho and my rotary phase converter is for sale too which should pay for the spindle drive when it sells too. Sucks to have to play that game but right now that is my only viable option I think. If I can find another job locally soon maybe that will make things go faster but with the economy what it is around here lots of folks are out of work.

Thanks for the suggestions, apparently you cannot even just swap out the resolvers for some encoders as the AC brushless motors need some commutation setup which I don't really understand too well. Besides they are kinda sealed up. Replacing the units with a matched motor/driver setup complete with wiring premade will be more expensive but MUCH easier and probably quicker too... Peace

Pete

[andypugh]

t seems like resolvers are simply a thing of the past.

I think this is only because they are tricky to interface to digital computers. They are a very good transducer with many really good features.

Thanks for the suggestions, apparently you cannot even just swap out the resolvers for some encoders as the AC brushless motors need some commutation setup which I don't really understand too well.

There are ways. What is the output of your motors, and what input do your drives expect?
LinuxCNC has a "bldc" component that can translate most types of motor feedback to drive commands.

[pete from TN]

Hey nice to see you here. Actually what I should have said is that it is not IMPOSSIBLE but you might have to be an electronics specialist for it to work. My goal here is to remove the uber expensive and almost unsupported items from the picture completely. The drives in my machine are a thousand dollar repair items and it takes three weeks to have them done. Most of the drives I am looking at replacing them with are on the order of $3-400 and are readily available. Also replacing the motors and drives together ensures matching components and also the WIRING between the motor and drive will be brand new and plug and play. I honestly do not want to spend countless hours trying to figure out a way to install encoders into the original motor housings and have to wire and solder it all up. It is just not worth the trouble and worry about if it was done right or how long it will last. The original motors and also not exactly new and while they are robust who knows what will go wrong with them over time. I think for me and my limited knowledge about this stuff just replacing the motors and drives and trying to get the computer setup and the mesa cards interfaced with the machine and everything configured properly will be MORE than enough work for me. If it means I need to wait a little while until the penny drops for these new motors and drives or until the other parts sell then that is what will need to happen I guess. My goal here is to try to make this as SIMPLE and easy as possible for me and result in a reliable machine with mostly new components that are easily and inexpensively replaced. It is a tall order as it is.

Sure wish I had a fellow like you living down the street I would sure buy you some pizza and beer to come over here and help me get on with this monster.LOL peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

Well my first day not working here brings me time to do some stuff I have been neglecting around the house and of course trying to get more done on the retrofit. I spoke to Connor and he has kindly agreed to come over here tomorrow or wednesday night to help me get the computer end of things going and setup with LinuxCNC. That should be a big step in the right direction. He also said he would help me get acquainted with linuxCNC and show me the simple ropes.

I am going to try to get the mesa 7I77 card mounted today and maybe install the ram into the computer. I have some more cleaning to do on the back of the machine where the wires go to the Y axis motor and whatnot and then I can start removing the motor and finally clean up the HUGE mess of wires that are puddled around the back of the enclosure from the old control. A lot of them are interconnected and I want to only pull what needs to be pulled from there but honestly from the looks of it most of it will be gone as is is all for the old motors and drives. The new motors and drives will come with their own harnesses and the limits/homes will just be disentangled from the mess of wires and re-ran into the cabinet. Getting rid of a lot of this stuff is kind of refreshing but it is also scary as I will need to get new stuff hooked up in its place. In reality a lot of the functions that were originally controllled by relays will be now controlled by the mesa computer setup so much of it is unnecessary anyways.. Again I am gonna take this one simple circuit at a time and try to weed my way thru it. Gonna be an adventure that much is clear.

I got a lot of cleaning up of my shop done yesterday. It was a HUGE mess out there from working on the machine, working on my Fiero GT, working on my daughter's mustang, and all the boxes and crap that gets thrown out there by my wife and kids that cannot be in the house. I hauled a lot of junk out to the curb this morning hoping the nice garbage man will take it away for me. I think I am pushing my luck a bit but we will see LOL...

I am trying to decide also how I am going to post this stuff on Ebay as it seems they want to charge me $20.00 for EACH posting in addition to their usual fees when and if it sells. That could add up quick with all the modules and motors and stuff I am going to be selling. Kinda pisses me off... peace

Pete

[kevin swan]

Pete I Think it cost less than 20 bucks a month to have a store on ebay

[pete from TN]

Thanks for the tip man.... and this helps me how exactly? do they waive the per listing fee? I suppose it is because it is going to be listed in the industrial machinery category that they see ya coming with it so they figure they can get away with more fees. Honestly I don't care to pay their fees once it sells because it will just come out of the profit but the initial fee reaches directly into my wallet right off the bat and so it hurts a little more.

Just got done FINALLY redoing the drum brakes on my Astro van tonight. I had the damn shoes and spring kit out in the shop for awhile now but unfortunately when I pulled it apart the drums themselves looked kinda ****ty and I actually found that one of the shoes was cracked and the drum had a hairline crack in it so I had to buy new ones for both sides. The other side had a groove turned into it. So that was an unexpected additional cost I did not need right now. Honestly tho the REASON I checked out the brakes again is largely because I have a fellow who contacted me today who has a pretty sweet Maroon and tan eddie Bauer Bronco locally who might want to trade my astro for it. We spoke today and he wants to come see the van tomorrow. I am going to address a couple issues it has been having lately and the brakes were squeaking from the front despite me putting brand new rotors and pads into it about two months ago. I am gonna tear the fronts apart tomorrow and probably have to redo them too but at least they will be warranteed. I also gotta figure out why the heater does not blow too good. I sure would like to get everything working right before he comes over so that assuming his Bronco is in good shape we can make the trade. He sent me some pictures of the truck today and it apparently has NO rust which is actually hard to believe for a fullsize bronco. In the pictures it looks really nice and the interior is not all torn up like some I have seen. Hoping for a good result here so I can start building my street/trail dream truck with my new tubing bender I built. With money the way it is that will ALSO be a long term project probably but at least I will be able to enjoy the bronco while I work on it. This one is a 1993 model.

Did not get a chance to work on the mill today with all the house work and vehicle work. I should be able to put a lot more time into it once I get the car squared away. I am also removing a door in the house and making it a fixed opening with drywall all around the jamb and managed to get the corner bead all installed and the first coats of magic mud on it this morning. That should not take too long tho as it is usually sand a bit, add some mudd wait for it to dry, sand a bit, add some mudd, etc. etc.

My wife is waiting on a call from a new better job position which she has been wanting for awhile now. If you guys are the praying sort I could use a few words with the big man about it. It would help a lot around here. Been reading a lot about LinuxCNC control system online and there are some really cool features that they are able to use lately. I especially like the trochoidal milling and a few other things. They also appear to have been working a lot on the often lamented lack of GUI customization ability. It seems that they have some solutions either already in place or coming soon. One of the most interesting things is a quick start setup for the mesa cards I am using. I hope to be able to use that to get the machine working initially and then I can play with the hal setup more as I get acquainted with it. Oh well gotta eat some dinner now. Peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

Okay fellas, tonight was a pretty interesting one. I had FORGOTTEN that my pal Connor on here had said he might be able to come over as I was all engulfed with working on my Astro van. Well right as we were getting ready to eat dinner he called me and said he was on his way. I crammed my dinner down so I could be ready for him when he got here and it was not 30 minutes later I had a knock at the door.

Let me say that I REALLY appreciate him coming over here. He was able to do in less than an hour what would probably have taken me days and I would still not be sure if I did it right. We put the whole computer together and plugged everything in and before I knew it he had hooked his little portable cd rom in and linuxCNC was being installed on my brand new solid state hard drive. That went extremely well and we got everything setup in there so I can use the system and play with it some. Everything worked perfectly with the computer components that I had bought and I was quite pleased with the way it went. UNFORTUNATELY the really cool waterproof dustproof keyboard I bought DID NOT WORK!! We tried it in both the new computer and my laptop and it just blinks four red lights and nothing else happens. Not sure what the hell is wrong with it but I am kinda pissed it does not work and will be contacting the seller on ebay here in a bit about it. The new monitor is VERY nice and extremely lightweight and I am pleased with it so far. The only bummer with it is I had hoped I could use the original sheetmetal for holding it inside the pendant but when we put it behind the opening that used to house the original small monitor and the weird keyboard it is too small for it. I can either make a bezel rectangle to mount it to the existing pendant sheetmetal bezel or just make a new pendant sheetmetal setup. Gotta think that one over a bit, Connor kinda has me talking into trying to use the existing button/estop/mpg plate and incorportate it all into the machine but I think the plate itself is kinda worn looking and I was hoping to put some stainless sheetmetal in its place and make it look nice and shiny. Gonna have to see what is easiest. Might just make two plates one to house the monitor and another to house all the rest of the stuff in behind the two opening stock metal bezel. HMMM...

Once we got the linuxCNC and ubuntu operating system loaded and everything seemed to work right Connor gave me a little virtual tour of linuxCNC and we discussed all sorts of interesting aspects of the software. It is actually very very nice and he told me about all of the nice little tweaks and add ons he has added to his own two systems and I am quite impressed. I think I am really gonna like LinuxCNC. I especially like the large toolpath window and how everything is simple and easy to reach. Connor told me he is gonna help me get the 5I25 and 7I77 firmware configured as we did not get that far. I think we spent far too much time chatting and enjoying talking to someone else who is equally hooked on CNC.

After a good while learning about linuxCNC I brought him out into my shop which was all messy from working on my van that was still sticking half in and half out of the building. I gave him a little tour of my machine and we discussed a lot of the work that will need to be done. I kinda laughed when he saw that HUGE pile of wires hanging out the back and said DAMN!! I felt the same way but I think after we discussed what needed to be done and how I am going to wire everything he could see the method behind my madness. He gave me some good ideas and helped me with the 24v power supply wiring ideas. It was very nice to be able to talk this over with someone else who has done a couple retrofits. We also were able to have a look at the pendant on the machine and discussed how to integrate the features I want into the new setup. He gave me a real good idea that probably seems obvious to you guys but completely escaped me. He said I could install a USB extension cable with a frame mount USB socket into the pendant and run it to the back of the machine where the computer will be. That way I can just stick my flash drive into the pendant and load files etc. He also said I could put a wireless network adapter in the same way up front and be able to link to the cad cam computer inside the house. I had thought that might mess with the system but he apparently does the same thing with his machine and has had no issues. I may actually try it we shall see. I love the idea of a USB in the pendant up front tho so I can just walk outside and load without having to go into the back of the machine and open the cabinet and plug it directly into the computer.

We also talked about my estop circuit and how I can wire that up some. I think that 24vdc power supply will come in real handy. We also found that it can be wired either 120 or 220v so I am trying to decide which will be best for safety and ease. I showed him how I intend to mount this homebuilt computer enclosure into the main electronics enclosure and install the 7I77 card on the outside near to the drives. The mesa cards are quite interesting and it seems like the linuxCNC system is tailor made to work with them. We looked at the PNCConf setup with it and while I could not get it to find the cards that is apparently because they need to be powered up seperately before they will be seen by the system.

I took some pictures of the now working computer setup to post here. Please keep in mind that the wires will be MUCH neater and tidier as this was just to see if everything was gonna work and to get it configured with linuxCNC. The power supply wiring is all messy as well as nothing is routed where it will eventually go but you can kinda see where it will be in the end. The computer is virtually silent which was pretty cool. Even the power supply fan is dead quiet. The monitor pic is terrible but you can see it is alive with linuxCNC on board LOL... I was going to take a pic of it with the actual EMC on simulation on there but I had to take my wireless mouse out so I can put it back into my main computer. Sucks the new keyboard/touchpad did not work....

In all I am VERY VERY happy that Connor came over to help me out and he showed me his 0704 head and some other parts he was working on. He apparently needs some help machining the pulleys for his belt drive as the ones he did are a little bit unconcentric. I told him I would machine them for him once he gets some new ones here. I hope that we can work together to help each other get both of our machines where we want them to be. The more I look into this system the more impressed I am with it. The interfacing of the machine controls with the pc/mesa cards seems very simple at least so far. Hoping to find more of the same as I dig further into this. Still lots to do but I was very pleased to see my box of computer parts come to life and work properly. Thanks again Connor it was a real pleasure, sorry to keep you so late man but I was enjoying it. I think you were too LOL. Tell your wife I am sorry...peace

Pete

[samco]

Awesome! It is very good you have someone close by.. It can be daunting doing the type on conversion you are doing. Having an extra pair of eyes always helps.

sam

[pete from TN]

Hey thanks man I sure appreciated the help Connor gave me with the computer last night. I could have probably figured it out but as I said he got it done and quickly so I can move on to other things. Lots to do and as you said sometimes it can be a little overwhelming doing this kind of thing but honestly I feel pretty good about it right now. Just gotta sell some stuff here and start ordering my drives and motors and we should be on our way. Having Lee in England to ask questions to about the wiring of the limits and homes and all of the toolchanger stuff is also most appreciated. With good friends willing to help like that I know I will make it thru the challenge. Spoke to a fellow yesterday who has done a bunch of custom vmc retrofits using machmotion controls and he gave me some rather glowing recommendations of the teco servo drives and motors. They are actually a little bit more expensive than some of the other options but he told me he had done almost thirty different retrofits using the teco stuff and never had any problems with it. That has gotta be as good a recommendation as one could ask for I think. I gotta see if I can scrape up the coin for those motors and drives. The rest is just as I like to say it, an overgrown version of my RF45 CNC retrofit in most respects. I will start to post some more pictures as we get into the guts of the machine and its retrofit work. Right now it has just been the computer and mesa cards so kinda boring picture wise I guess...peace

Pete

[uli12us]

Hi, Pete, have you more infos for the MEsa cards. I searched the HP, but found only a short description fpr each card, but not, what I need and in which combination all the cards working. I have the problem, if I retrofit my machine I need 6 synchronous axes and 1 asynchron. Furthermore I need at least 85 Inputs and 32 output from the PLC. Maybe I can reduce the Inputs to 80, but then I must change some positions of the wires, but I don't want to do this, because otherwise I can keep all my electrical drawings.

Only the connection from the scales and drivers to the control must be changed.