Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Learning CNC

: ) 20 years straight sounds like what they look like! So the machines
you enter the code manually on are mainly used for production runs of a
single layout? I remember seeing a pretty small Orac CNC lathe at school
that had nothing bar a set of codes on a panel and what everyone joked was a
car sterio cassette player (It was loose on the front, proberly bust). Now I
realise what it's for.

Thanks for the help,
John

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Elson" <jmelson@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2001 5:52 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Learning CNC


>
>
> e.heritage@... wrote:
>
> > This is a very quick question. At first I thought 'When I get the money
I'll
> > just go straight for a mill that'll run from the PC'. But I've found a
load
> > of older machines that are in perfect working order and just need the
> > attenion of some oil and a can of spray paint. So I was looking at these
and
> > the MASS of manuals that come with them. How hard is it to use these
> > machines that run on numbers fed in raw? For instance I found a ?Hurco?
that
> > had nothing other than a keypad for the codes. It was something like
$2500
> > because no one was going to the page to bid for it. Is it much harder to
use
> > these things or are they not capable of doing other things that the ones
run
> > direct from my PC can? I don't mind if it takes a lot longer to learn if
the
> > thing is going to last a good 50 years. It may even be more beneficial
if I
> > could use CNC without going through the pretty consoles of windows I
guess.
> > Am I getting completely lost here or is this making some sort of sense
to
> > someone? : )
>
> I don't recommend this route, the way you mention. Most of these old
> controls are sick, or will be, soon. Most of these units have been turned
> on for 20 years straight. The chips get worn out, and start going bad,
and
> every time you open it up to work on it, you get another raft of flakey
> connections due to worn-out connectors. I had an Allen-Bradley
> control from about 1980, and I had 3 major failures in 6 months of use.
> I had full prints and a box of spare parts from that vintage, so I was
able
> to keep it running, but it got very tiring to constantly have to fix the
thing.
> But, the iron is good, and putting a PC retrofit control on it is a good
way
> to go. I'm running EMC, a product of the US government's NIST facility.
>
> You don't want to enter a program manually and not be able to save it.
> You'd go nuts, quickly! I have programs that are over 100 K long!
> Also, the older controls are usually very slow in block processing time.
> A program with many small moves (engraving or surface contouring)
> will run so slowly you'll scream!
>
> Jon
>
>
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