[lkasdorf]

Today I got (for free!) a Dahlgren system 400 SE. The previous owner said he had some trouble with the electronics. I brought it home and plugged it all in, and can't get any movement at all from the electronics.

No worry tho, because I think the thing to do here is supply my own stepper drive electronics and drive it from a cheap computer, of which I have many.

This is a 2.5 axis machine- it appears that the Z is simply up or down and is pneumaticallly controlled. I'd like to make it a true 3 axis machine. From memory I'd say the working envelope is about 24"x18". Maybe not quite that big, but something like that. I could either use the engraving motor that is there or perhaps attach a small router.

What do I want to do with it??? Well, mostly I just want to get my feet wet in the world of CNC. I think that if I could machine aluminum or plastic or wood, that would be great.

I have a couple full size mills and a nice lathe, so I can fabricate whatever I need for the Z axis mod.

Can anybody suggest my next move? I think I need to get specs on the steppers and then buy the proper gecko driver boards for it. And it so happens that I'm going to cabin fever next week...

I'll post some pics and more details tomorrow.

[TheBigCahoona]

Here is a blast from the past. Do you still have the machine? If it's something your willing to sell contact me, wayne at engravers dot net

See my other post at http://www.cnczone.com/forums/engrav...-software.html to see I know a little about the Dahlgren engravers