[Fastest1]

You would need a 9amp power supply for your stepper drives @56vdc.

I think you have all of the transformers, rectifiers (power supply) for the spindle already there. Just have to figure out how to use it. Actually with some investigation you might find the other power supply is a 48v if you are lucky.

Clutches in the axis drive? I doubt it, steppers stall with no damage. Generally without enough power to damage any of the other components (on machines of this size).

I would put limit/ home switches on eventually but you will be able to calibrate the machine just fine. Once you have movement, you will be able to set up soft limits. This will prevent the machine from crashing into the ends.

[Jakar]

Ok thank you for your help. I will soon order the controller and all other necessary components. I will post my progress as I go.

[Fastest1]

I would hold off on the MX3660 for just a bit.

They need to answer a few questions about relay control and input signals first. I wrote them but it is Chinese New Year. Not much seems to get done during that time.

Post a few more pictures and you will find more about what you already have. Maybe you can interface more of it. At least reuse the power supplies possibly?

[Jakar]

Ok for what do i need the relays? I think I could use the power supplies. I will take a few more pictures or a video and I will post it here as soon as I can.

[Fastest1]

Relays could be used for vacuums, coolant, spindles or any high voltage application.

[Jakar]

Oh ok. so here are the pictures. The machine has 2 power supplies (https://www.dropbox.com/sc/m5ci52dwy8631oe/7iTmsdwmQ8).

[Fastest1]

It sure seems awfully complete to convert. I would think a BOB alone should get the job done. I dont know how to tell you to do it that way but original equipment is sometimes so well done as yours appears.

Most likely about a year or 2 after you convert it, you will read an article or understand just a little bit more, enough to have interfaced with it. On the other hand, having a running machine is good too.

Somewhow the pictures you provide seem to show specific components. Is there a way to back up and get all of the electronics at once? It might be more advantageous on how to interface with it. Also can you just post the pics here? Kind of a PIA to go to dropbox or other hosting site. Plus we all like pictures.

[Jakar]

The old electronics work just fine and the machine is complete and fully functional. My school has 3 F1 mills and 3 compact 5 lathes but they just collect the dust because nobody is using them. I have the documentation of a home made BOB from some professor for the same machine. But thats a bit to much for me and I would like to do it with the controller. The machine is property of the school. And I have to finnish this conversion til May for my final assignment and I think that the BOB is a bit to much work for me. I may be wrong but thats why I opened this topic. I will photograph more and I will post the pictures here on the forum

[Fastest1]

I wasnt expecting you to design or make a BOB. Those are commercially available and inexpensive enough. The key is how would you interface with the existing drives. Is there a particular reason you want to do this conversion over just getting this machine to operate with modern GCode? Or maybe it already does and you just want the challenge? Are the speeds just too slow? Not knocking anything, just trying to figure out the best way. If the machines are working to an acceptable level in regards to speeds and such, a simple method of entering GCode is usually preffered to a full rebuild.

Do you mind sharing the documentation? Does it show the wiring interface with the BOB he designed?

[Jakar]

Its a challenge and I dont have to put a penny in to this project so its a hell of an opportunity. The servos are a bit slow I dont know why maybe because the stepper motors are a bit old and because the new ones arent installed yet (on a working machine). Heres the documentation. Its in Slovene but there are a few pictures of the BOB.

[Fastest1]

Ok I understand if it is for the challenge.

On another note, they are either steppers or servos. They are controlled in different ways entirely. Slow could also be attributed to gearing and lower voltage power supplies. Some companies will use a 24v PS when the drivers will handle 48v. Doing that lessens speed and torque.

[Jakar]

Well this is what I dug up searching the forum:

"The steppers on the f1 are old tech and I don't know of any modern drivers that are compatible with them.
They are not very powerful anyways and only 72 steps per revolution compared to 200 for modern steppers.
Just about any nema 23 frame stepper will fit in their place from what I've heard.
the rs232 port only enables the machine to send and recieve programs.
There is a free program called nclink that will help with sending, recieving and editing code. The editing part isn't much more than a text editor. I know there are other programs that do the same thing but I haven't tried them.
If you wan't to use any modern cad/cam you will probably need to upgrade the controller."
"Even if cad/cam software would work, you are still limited to 210 lines of g-code with the stock controller."

Its an old topic but I guess that the original hardware of the machine is still limited to 210 lines of g code.
The second reason to build it with the modern controller is because of the cad/cam software.

[Jakar]

here s the link to the topic:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...o_f1_mill.html

[Jakar]

Leadshine Technology Co., Ltd. Is this power supply powerful enough?

[Fastest1]

That might be right at the minimum for 3 steppers depending on the size you choose.
If you are going with the MX3660 you would want a 50-56v output. Also it supports higher amperage steppers than say a G540 (3.5 amp max per axis, theoretically a max draw of 14 amps 4x3.5).

I would look at power supplies from Antek or similar. You will need a power supply with multiple voltage outputs. In my case I have 56, 24 & 5v at the moment. I am going to try to add in a 12v for my speed controllers use.

[Jakar]

For what will I need 24, 12, 5 volt outputs? Because the machine wont have any coolant pumps and I think that the necessary power that the spindle controll board needs comes from the controller (10v, 0-10, ground).

[Fastest1]

I was just stating what I had. You want the highest voltage possible yet account for a little back feeding just in case. The number I was given was 56v by Automation Technologies.

The reason I have a few, 5v is for an on board spindle encoder (I need a 2nd 5v PS for my ESS, that could be powered via USB)
12v for the speed controllers 0-10v source.
24v for a solenoid that unlocks for tool changer and possibly some relays (they are 3-32v so any power would work
but more noise immunity the further from 5v)
56v to power the MX3660.

The MX3660 does not supply the 10vdc for the speed controller. It regulates it when supplied by an outside source. It was 1 of the misunderstandings I made.

[Jakar]

Ok. I misunderstood that too. So you supply 12 volts to the controler and it reduces the voltage to 10 volts?

[Fastest1]

I actually think you need to adjust your power supply to only output 10v, the controller varies the voltage depending on the speed requested.

[Jakar]

Its been a while since I last posted here. Thank you for all your help I couldnt of done it without you. Today I got steppers to run with mach 3. They are wired full coil so they have more torque at lower rpm. My next move is to figure out the old electronics of the spindle board. I got some schematics from emco support which helped me understand the workings of the board. So I have to figure out how to get the analog output of the controller. The old board has a on of switch for the power supply to the motor control board and I will try to get it running via a digital output from the controller which will control a contactor or relay. But I dont know exactly how it works so I have to figure that out.
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