[mike3385]

Here some pictures from the other day of its journey to my shop

[mike3385]

I've read up on the information of Jorma Ikonens technique for interfacing his dyna so it will run longer programs. Although it seems very interesting I won't be able to go that route since half the buttons on my controller don't work.

Currently I own two retro fitted cnc machines. One being a mill and the other a mini 7x14 lathe. They work from my desktop computer via the parallel port. Its actually all ive ever known about retrofitting the machines. Once you pointed out a ess and pokeys my mind was blown!

This week I'm going to pop some panels off and try and trace the wires back from the manual/auto switch from the spindle and go from there.

Here is my current plan for this machine:

ESS
Gecko G540
Pokeys board

2 pots for feedrate and spindle override
Start button
Optional stop switch

I will attempt to reuse the power supplies, stepper motors and spindle control board

Anything I'm missing? Any concerns?

[Fastest1]

I think you keep adding to many electronics. The Pokeys and the ESS are both capable of pulse generation I believe. Between those two devices you should have plenty of inputs and outputs. Buy 3 individual drivers (Gecko) and that should be it, no need for the G540. If you do run the G540 skip the Pokeys and use the ESS for your I/O's or vice versa but you shouldnt need both (Pokeys and ESS).

[mike3385]

I think you keep adding to many electronics. The Pokeys and the ESS are both capable of pulse generation I believe. Between those two devices you should have plenty of inputs and outputs. Buy 3 individual drivers (Gecko) and that should be it, no need for the G540. If you do run the G540 skip the Pokeys and use the ESS for your I/O's or vice versa but you shouldnt need both (Pokeys and ESS).

Oh I've been looking at this all wrong. For some reason I thought the ess was just a driver that makes everything run a little smoother. You keep saving me more and more money fastest1 haha. Good thing I didn't purchase anything yet

[mike3385]

According to the warp site you've mentioned, it does seem to be able to handle everything. I feel like Ive been under a rock the past couple years

[MRM RCModels]

Hey guys. It's been a while.

Mike,

Reliability was reason for my retrofit. I planed on doing production with my 3000 from day one. Make your electronics work if you can but they will fail at the worst time (trust me I know).

My motor just failed yesterday lol. That was the last bit of legacy electronics. The new one is 1.5hp of spinning awesomeness

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

https://youtu.be/kzMXqERfkIE

Speaking of old electronics

[Fastest1]

Kelvin, I just watched that due to my subscription. You didnt show the finished product. Also why not gear the new motor to attain higher rpms since you will have more torque too?

[mike3385]

Took a glance at the machine today. I was able to recognize the spindle board by following the wire from the switch and it says spindle printed right on the board haha . Anyone know what this board is though ?

[MRM RCModels]

Kelvin, I just watched that due to my subscription. You didnt show the finished product. Also why not gear the new motor to attain higher rpms since you will have more torque too?

I didn't show because it's not done yet lol. Should have it wrapped up soon

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[mike3385]

I have a chance to get a generic 1600i/t 3hp at 180v for $80. Should I grab it?

[Fastest1]

220v input? Is that what you plan on running the machine on? Actually that is a dual voltage unit it appears. I cant find any info on the "T". The 1600I is a great unit if they are the same.

[mike3385]

I'd prefer to keep it the same 110v if possible. I do plan on trying the stock spindle electronics but I was told about this deal and wanted to be sure before I purchase it

[mike3385]

321691666789. Here's the ebay item number

[mike3385]

Looks like it's setup for a 220 without anyways of getting it to work for 110. I asked the guy selling it but he's just a vendor . I'll still keep my eyes peeled but in the mean time I'll keep moving forward on this build.

[Fastest1]

I have tried to find a manual on that T model with no luck. However after reviewing the Ebay ad. I would say it is 220 only as generally it would be marked 220/110

[mike3385]

Thanks for taking the time to look it over. I have faith I can get the old spindle drive to work! Stay tuned

[mike3385]

Little update for everyone, I purchased 3 gecko g251x drives to run the x, z and turret. I do plan on wiring that to an ess but mortgage comes first haha. I read up some more on the ess and their site recommends a bob also since the ess is limited to 5v. I haven't had a good chance to start working on the spindle drive in the machine but I should only need to have a 5v signal going to the spindle board from the ess right? Not sure about the coolant pump either. Just really busy at work and too much thinking

[Fastest1]

It really depends on how much control you want. On or off might be 5v or thru the use of relay. If a variable GCode variable rpm control is desired. I suspect a 0-5 0r 0-10 volt signal will be needed. Plenty of other things to concern yourself with right now.

[mike3385]

Well its been quiet a while since I was last up to date with everyone on my machine. I was able to really work on it the past couple weeks. So far I was successfully able to wire up the bob, power supplies, both x and z stepper motors, the light and I have coolant control through mach 3. Very excited that I managed to get this far haha. To be hooking up that coolant was an accomplishment .

I will however redo my z axis as the rapid is painfully slow. I plan on replacing the plastic gear with a pulley setup much like how I've done with the x axis.

My next task at hand is the spindle control. I ended up settling on a dg4s-16035 servo drive from cnc4pc.com DG4S-16035 DC Servo Drive

My progress with it is slow and steady. I wired power to the drive along with the red and brown wire from the spindle to arm1/arm2 on the drive. I then connected the "main" rj45 to a 5v and also the breakout board.
I had to order a differential drive board for an encoder Differential Line Driver but that's as far as I got.

I also have a c3 index pulse card for spindle rpm reading

I'm having a hard time understanding how the spindle works. How does mach 3 tell the spindle how fast its going or needs to go? Will the c3 board need to be wired to the bob or possibly the spindle drive?


And finally for now the last hurdle I can see being an issue is the tool changer. Fastest1 I think I've read on your thread that you were given a script for the tool changer macro. Do you still have it? I'll be happy to have the turret moving, I don't really mind if its one direction only.

[mike3385]

Here's a picture of the electrical cover plate on the spindle motor