Series I followup

Thanks to all for the advice on my forthcoming series I conversion. Again,
I've learned a bunch from all.

As it stands it looks like the Gecko units are the approach I'm going to
take. I scanned the archives and saw mention of a "high voltage" version of
the 201's. Is this worth waiting for, or will the current crop of gecko
drives suit my purpose? Only reason I ask is it may make the selection of a
power supply that much easier, as I've got a 240-105 volt transformer
sitting on the shelf. With a 240 volt input it is good for 15 amps. I
could always run it on 120 volts input, but I'm not sure if 7.5 amps will be
enough output. (which leads to my next question) I'm assuming the benefit
of these 160 volt drives comes from increased speed?

If I do go the current gecko route (i.e 80 volts) , will a 120 to 48 volt
transformer at 15 amps work well enough? After the conversion to DC, this
should put me right at the 60 volt mark, correct? Will I need individual
transformers for each driver or can I get away with a single unit. The
gecko white pages (which are a wonderful help) seem to indicate a one
transformer setup, but I'm not certain if this applies to the larger
machines.

Next question may seem a bit odd, but is possible to run a CNC machine like
a manual mill. I'm considering selling my J-head to fund this project, but
am concerned I'll spend countless hours on the computer for machining jobs
that would have taken minutes turning handwheels. Can I put together a
handwheel equivalent? (or even manually enter point to point instructions
without a hassle?) I've yet to install a machine controller, so this may be
a blatantly obvious question.

Final question is software related. Last night I spent a few hours playing
with MasterCam v8 at a friends office. Figured out how to create parts,
along with creation of a NC toolpath. Seems like an awfully powerful
package. Question is, can MasterCam serve as a machine controller like EMC.
I found a few serial port output options for interfacing to a machine
controller (Allen Bradley, Fanuc, etc) , which makes me think the answer is
no. Did I miss something?

Thanks again to all for the help so far. I'll be sure to keep everyone
updated.

Vincent



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