All,
I thought I would start a new thread (vs the 2400 thread) to post some pictures of the DM4400, mostly of the electronics right now.
This post will be divided into three sections, each in it's own post:Dyna Overview
- Dyna Mechtronics Overview (this post)
- 4400 Specific Overview
- 4400 Electronics Pictures
All Dyna Myte machines were made in San Jose, California by a company called Dyna Mechtronics. They are still around, their website is at http://www.dynamechtronics.com/ and they still support these old machines as best they can. You can still buy manuals and schematics from them.
In the late 80's and early 90's, Dyna was a large provider of smaller CNC machines to all sorts of users, ranging from the small desktop machines (the 2400 and the 2800) to their top of the line 4400 small VMCs. The smaller machines were quite popular and sold in their thousands. They also had a line of CNC lathes, the DM3000 and variants.
One drawback, however, was that Dyna used it's own controls with it's own language (similar to G-code, but not the same). The reason for this was that the machines were designed to be used largely conversationally and the technology of the day was quite limiting (e.g. controller speed in 1987...), so they developed their own series of controllers, SKIP (Single Key Input Programming) which simplified the task of conversational programming. The machines do have RS232 inputs that can be used to upload upto 1000 lines of programming (smaller in the 2400/2800) and can be drip fed using the appropriate software for the PC. When these machines were new, Dyna also sold a sophisticated CAM package as well (no longer available, AFAIK). Using modern CAM tools and appropriate post processors, it is still possible to generate code for the SKIP series of controllers. There are posts available for BobCAM and MasterCAM 9 & 10 and you can used a variety of RS232 utilities to upload the code.
One interesting thing about Dyna machines is that they were all built in a modular fashion from relatively off-the-shelf parts. Their architecture and electronics are fairly open, with all systems, including the 4400, using step-dir style controllers for the axis motors. All the machines use stepper systems with feedback encoders for position monitoring. The steppers are relatively small and are geared (5 to 1 in the case of the 4400) using either plastic gears or belts.
Uniquely for such small machines, they used 30-taper spindles on the 2800 and 4000/4400 series, which provides nice, rigid tooling. The bases were all of cast iron, made in Taiwan. The 2800/4000/4400 machines used ballscrews with dovetail ways, while the 2400 had ACME screws with dovetail was. All systems had one-shot lubrication, automated on larger machines. All the systems were designed from the ground up to be bed-style CNC machines and were never derived from mill-drill style designs. The 2400/2800 series also has a relatively high speed spindle (10k rpms), which is an advantage when dealing with small tooling.
As CNC became more widespread, Dyna changed it's product line. The 2400 was discontinued in the early '90s and controls on the 4000/4400 line switched to more common Mitsubishi G-code (Meldas) in the mid-'90s. AHHA made a conversion kit for most Dyna machines, but it has since gone out of business. Their major value add was a bridge board between existing Dyna electronics and newer control systems, but this is no longer available. A number of people have retrofitted EMC, FlashCut, DeskCNC and Mach3 mostly to 2400/2800 series machines.
Overall, Dyna machines are great candidates for conversions as they are well built, have electronics which can potentially be re-used and were made in fairly large numbers. They are also small enough for the hobbyist to handle while still providing industrial-style tooling, particularly the 2800.
In the late '80s, these machines were nothing short of revolutionary, even if they were expensive and quirky. Given all of the mill/drill conversions currently being done, particularly around Sieg products, there is a growing market for small CNC systems pioneered by Dyna 20 years ago.
Here are some scans of Dyna brochures from back in the day. I only have the 4400 brochures, but you can see the other machines on the last scan.
Also, some threads that might be of interest:
Dyna 2400 Conversion (lots of good info, inspired this thread)
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33770
Yahoo Dyna Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dyna_Mechtronics_Users/
4400 Specific -
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7651
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11256
Post Processor Info for 4400
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7866
4400 with Mitsubishi Meldas control
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14443
2400 Conversion pictures
http://www.grifftek.com/images/dyna2400remec/
DM3000
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7502
Mach3 Forum discussions on Dyna conversions
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...pic,630.0.html
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,3557.0.html
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,5233.0.html
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,4092.0.html
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,3134.0.html
2800 Clone
http://www.minitechcnc.com/vmc10/vmc...ing_center.htm
(note: I have better scans - I need to re-upload the images)