[dougputt]

Hi


Anyone still look at this thread? I'm looking for wiring diagrams for d & m m5 lathe or the mill as i'm sure it has same guts. Any info at all would be greatly appreciated

Doug

[ERJHTECHED]

Hello,

I'm looking for some guidance in retrofitting two old CNC benchtop mills. Both machines are running on MS DOS/WIN95 machines and I would like to bring them into the 21st century.

Any suggestions as to where to start this process would be greatly appreciated.

Steve B.

[Gausswave]

Windows 95/98 and bringing it into the 21st centrury are a litte at odds.

The simpleist option is to get a G540 and lose all the orignal electronics. I'd also recomend replacing the Steppers.

The cheapest way is to just get a breakout board, loose the on board computer and keep all the orignal power supplies for the drivers. The driverboards have 4 connections. Clock( step pulses ),direction and +/- power.

[ERJHTECHED]

Thank you for your reply.

I was hoping to run the mill/s using Win XP. I have two CNC mills, D & M4 and a Spectralight. Would the new G540 controller work in both machines? What type of CAD/CAM software would you recommend on a tight budget? Are there schematics available to install the G540 controller?

Steve B.

[Gausswave]

G540 4-Axis Motor Control

Soldering the 9 pin connector is the only difficult part and that will depend on your soldering skills. Gecko is well supported and works with XP. The hard part will be finding a board that still has a parallel port. But really it's about as simple a controller as you can get.

Cheap CAD CAM is a loaded question and you can find threads here about it with a simple search. You can get Free cad cam but you get what you pay for. Mach come with lazy cam but it's development has stopped a long time ago. Lots of free Cad but not all will export the right file if at all in some cases.

[boatlover]

Steve, I sent you a Pm and will be more than happy to help you get these machines up and running again.

The big question is what do you need the machine to do and how much do you want to spend get it there.

You can simply get the machine up and running with just a breakout board or you can replace most of the electronics and have a pretty powerful machine. What it really comes down to is cost.

You can either pick up a good breakout board for $100.00 or your looking at $250 for a G540 stepper drive system and $150.00 for three stepper motors. You will also need some misc wiring and switches in both scenarios. The good news is you can reuse your old power supply and spindle drive which will save you some cash.

Dale P.

[dougputt]

Hey

Anyone have any schematics for the DM5 lathe? or mill maybe?

[boatlover]

Sorry but I don't. I do have schematics for the stepper drives though.

What do you need the schematics for the whole machine for?

Dale P.

[dougputt]

Hi

I'm trying to get the spindle drive working again using the original gear, but I had to replace the DC drive and the one white wire i'm not sure where it came from....oops.

Doug

[boatlover]

Can you post a picture? What brand of drive did you replace the old one with ?
Are you using the original software to run the mill?
Dale P.

[dougputt]

Hi

Its the original drive Rapier Cube, but the steppers I'm using will be Mach 3 controlled.

I made a mistake, the white wire is +10VDC from the breakout board to control the spindle, but there is a purple SP wire that i'm not sure where it goes.

Doug

[Nadroj]

Hi,
I am doing a retrofit to a D&M 4 mill and would appreciate the schematics on the original driver boards if anyone has them.
Thanks in advance.
Steve

[boatlover]

Here is a copy of the schematics. I can send you a larger picture if you give my an address to E mail it to.

Dale P.

[boatlover]

Steve, I sent out some info for you with lots of pictures, hope that helps.

Doug, I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with your Rapier stepper drive and what the SP wire is for. Do you have any instructions for the stepper drive that says what the terminal is for?


Dale P.

[dougputt]

Hey Dale

I believe its for stall protection, but no worries I'll figure it out, I thought you had the same drive.

Regards
Doug

[hitchcox]

Dale, did you ever end up with more circuit knowledge for the sherline cnc mill? i just found one and want to see if the original breakout board might work. thanks, stephen h, [email protected]

[Spkerking]

Just thought I'd revive an old thread, to add the comment; keep the D&M spindle drive card! It's a Puma SM, a good little motor driver. I've been using mine with PC-driven relay control, and manual speed selection, but I'm about to add the CNC4PC Variable Speed card too.

Also, my machine was converted by D&M from a manual Sherline, not the newer CNC version. Manual leadscrews don't have thrust bearings, and my X-axis recently galled up and welded the aluminum drive coupler to the 1" diameter leadscrew mounting plate(Sherline 40280) on the left side of the table.
Sherline parts are inexpensive, and high quality, but refitting all three axis with Sherline's thrust bearings would require their stepper mounts as well. Sherline's stepper mounts are .400" longer than the blocks D&M supplied, and I'd rather not lose .400" of my X travel (because of the enclosure.)

Instead, I added a counterbore to each side of the mounting plate, .060" deep, and .375" diameter, for a pair of miniature ball bearings. ( MSC # 35381532 )
I also removed the original snapring and thrust washer from the leadscrew, instead using a turned-down 1/4-20 nut as a thrust surface, to gain a little more shaft length from the sawn-off manual leadscrew.

'll be converting the Y and Z axis now that I've tried it out on X, although switching to all Sherline parts on those axis may be a better idea, as the Sherline stepper coupler and 5-40 bolt in the end of the leadscrew allow better backlash control than the D&M parts.

Pictures soon.

Any pictures of the mount work you did?