Originally Posted by
polaraligned
The AJAX AllinoneDC drive and PLC is $1759.
Too much money to get a pro quality machine?
I tried the Granite drives 4 years ago...JUNK. I sold them. Your motor power connects through a DB9 connector on the drive. What a freaking joke. Maybe they have upgraded their drives in the last 4 years.
By the time you get finished buying drives, BOB, and everything else from some hobbiest company, you could get the AJAX and have an industrial control that is readily upgradeable to 4th axis, probing, and all sorts of other goodies. Not only that, the AJAX will control your spindle, BOSS oil pump, your coolant, and your air brake/speed control if your machine has them. Try piecing that together with hobbiest parts. The AJAX is the DIY version of Centroid and has 30 years of development behind it. You also can upgrade to CNC11 for control software in the future and get away from that Mach. If you do, you will never go back.
Oh, I almost forgot, the AJAX will support a plug in encoder on your spindle and do rigid tapping. Don't try that with a Mach powered machine. By the time you get finished with all these options with a "pieced together" machine, you would realize that the AJAX is the best bargain out there for what you get. You need to ask yourself also what your time is worth, and do you want to be making parts or troubleshooting.
You don't need the pendant or the MPG from AJAX, but it is really nice to be able to add them at a later date- and all you have to do is plug them in.
I learned my lesson on my first mill conversion that I did with Gecko's....it is just not worth purchasing hobbiest quality stuff for a machine that gets used.