[Stsguy]

Hey friends. My name is joe, I own a small rc hobbyshop in Texas and my knowledge on this subject is less than forgivable but I'm in a corner and need a little help.
I toyed with the idea of building a small cnc style machine via kit format to cut balsa for kits . My lack of knowledge in the cnc world and my advanced knowledge in crap sold online has kept me from diving in..heck I have enuff hobbies...
until....
I found a nicely built machine while buying a large airplane lot..Sadly the owner/builder had passed so I can ask him. . Hey was a retired former 35 plus yr Schlumberger electrical engineer as I'm told. I picked up tons of connectors,pins, components etc from his shop as well and this very well built small table 3 axis engraver/cutter. It's about a 12 inch table. With a router/dremel motor style set up and a stack of bits in all sizes. The table itself is very heavy and it has a black project box about 12x10x4 inches that holds the power supply, driver board, and what really confused me was a garage door control board or so it appears. For wirless control of some sort..
I'll up load pics if this is the right place or if not I'm sorry but would ask where you can send me for a few answers. The 1st ..
25 pin parallel connector..I need to convert to rs232, USB, or something this side of Monochrome leisure suit Larry, 8088,286 days..
I'm sure without being told the convert cables on Amazon will be as useful As a box of new floppy disks ???? I believe there will be a bit more to the transfer cable...
I'll gladly upload the driver board pic and info if this is the right group to ask.
I honestly would not take this task to fullfill my hobby needs but my at this point my grandson is now excited about working with this machine .. he has a list prepared of builds he would like to start... all sparked from just seeing this tool . and it will be nice to fire up this man's old machine ..
Thank for your time..
Joe

[Jim Dawson]

Post the pictures. Most likely the machine will require a controls retrofit with modern hardware. Should be pretty inexpensive and easy to do.

[CitizenOfDreams]

Hi Joe, welcome to the wonderful world of hobby CNC. This is definitely the right place to ask questions. Post some pictures of your new machine, and I'm sure you will get plenty of useful advice.

[Stsguy]

Photos..
I hope this is enough info. The top line sez

"2 TAB 435 CNC Ctrl"
the 2nd line you can make out in the photo clearly
The last pic is the garage door controller.

(Unrelated) He really like the garage controllers I found boxes of ir sensors reflectors etc in boxes.. also a large amount of Common Cathode 7 Segment alphanumeric LED Display Digital Tubes. Lol 3 and 4 inch tall I can only imagine the projecthe had in mind I would have loved to have met this guy beforehe passed.. (unrelated)

[philba]

dupe.

[philba]

Sounds like a real score. Sad to hear of a skilled hobbyist passing but I bet he would be happy that it went to someone willing to carry it on. Heck, I worry that my wife will send all my stuff to the landfill when I'm gone...

I don't see any photos coming through. You might need to resize to 800x600 (yuck!), Try to include any labels you can see. And open up the black box and take photos of the insides.

The machine sounds well constructed and you may discover it relatively easy to get going. Probably the only drawback for a small business is the table size. But as a learning exercise to see what is possible, it's worth it.

[CitizenOfDreams]

Unfortunately, this forum seems to block picture attachments from newly registered users. You would need to upload your photos to a hosting site (such as https://imgbb.com/) and post links to them.

[machinehop5]

Photos..
I hope this is enough info. The top line sez

"2 TAB 435 CNC Ctrl"
the 2nd line you can make out in the photo clearly
The last pic is the garage door controller.

...to Upload Photos use the "Go Advanced"

[routalot]

I saw the reference to a 25 pin parallel connector.I'd say there has to be a strong possibility that the machine connects to a computer this way and if you can get your hands on a computer with a suitable port,there should be no problem in getting the computer to talk to the machine.It may not be the latest or greatest way to do things,but it worked then and it will work now.I suppose it depends on whether the point of the machine is to learn about machine retrofits or to produce parts.

[Stsguy]

Here are the pics

[Stsguy]

Control board and a type of wireless Control with garagedoor opener circuitry

[routalot]

That thumbnail didn't show up. I don't know if it will be any help but I found this wiring diagram online when I was looking for such stuff.All you need is an old computer with a parallel port and some control software.You can pay for something or use the free LinuxCNC download.It might take a little time and effort to arrive at correct numbers for the distance travelled per step.

My attempt to attach a diagram may have failed but there is some information here: https://diagramcloud.blogspot.com/20...g-diagram.html
and here: https://schematron.org/mach3-breakout-board-wiring.html .