Re: Lathe CNC Questions for Dave.

Bill,

The lathe and software being discussed (a 7x10 basement conversion)
may be viewed at:

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~dkowalcz/lathe/lathe.html

For what it's worth, Bill gets the booby prize for being the first
one to take the lousy software I wrote seriously... :) Everyone
else just downloads it and I never hear from them.

Sorry, it is not setup for threading *yet* since my Z axis isn't
quite fast enough to do it.

Your are right about the pump and spindle outputs - a bit will go
HIGH if the spindle is running and is LOW otherwise. In my
controller, this drives a MOSFET-relay combination to fire up the
pump or whatever.

Any type of motor can be supported, if you make some changes in the
source code. Really, it's not tough at all. If you're using
step/direction signals then look for two procedures about 70 lines
into the program labeled HalfStepX and HalfStepZ. The X axis code
should be revised to look like the Z if you're using step/direction
output - and the converse if you're driving windings directly in some
fashion. For the latter, also change these lines:

CONST outvalueX: ARRAY[1..6] of integer =
(5, 4, 6, 2, 3, 1);
{outvalueZ: ARRAY[1..8] of integer =
(3, 6, 7, 13, 15, 10, 11, 1);}

Old pros will recognize these as the bits to send to a printer port
to drive a 3 phase motor directly on X, and a bipolar H-bridge on Z
(which is commented out).

I think I should have the program read in a .cfg file for the motor
setup rather than have it hardwired though. Sounds like rev 2.0
material, when I get a chance...

Anyway - I went over to the machine and pried the lid off of the
controller, blew off the dust (cough), and found these connections:

LPT1:

Output bits 0,1,2 are direct to the three phase stepper windings (X)
Output bit 6 is coolant
Output bit 7 is spindle

LPT2:

Output bit 0,1 are step,direction for bipolar stepper control (Z)
"Panic button" grounds input bit 7

Since I run the same old parts all the time (chess pieces, if you
must know) I haven't looked too deeply into the software in a few
years. It's actually not bad, but needs some basic improvements to
be generally useful to anyone, rather than being catered to a
specific machine. Some of its features are quite nice.

So, be on the lookout for rev 2.0, finally... Thanks for the prod!

Dave Kowalczyk
Ames IA

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com, wanliker@a... wrote:
> Questions for Dave Kowalczyk (dkowalcz@i...)
>
> Questions,
> Is the software set up for threading?
> Also you are using a three phase motor variable-reluctance on the X
axis, can
> the software drive a regular Bipolar stepper on this axis?
> Is the output of the computer step and direction signals, and what
is the
> wiring for them?
> I assume the outputs for the pump, spindle, are just a high or low
and are
> then used to control relays for operation.
> I have the Camtronics drivers, will your software work with them?
(Step and
> direction.)
>
> More questions to follow, said I would prod you....grin.
>
> Please answer via the CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com route so all can
receive
> the information and will also be in the archives.
> Thanks,
> bill