Colne CNC 5 Lathe ...Need control software.

Hello the list,

I'm very new to things CNC, have tried
to post on this before, but did not word
my questions correctly. Hopefully this
attempt will be a little more clear.

I have acquired a Colne 5 CNC Lathe,
this was a trainer lathe, surplussed
from a local school, 5" swing, approx.
12" center to center.

The package was sold to them and
supported by a company called D and M
Computing, of Fargo, ND. I have been
unable to contact D and M as of yet.

I have the lathe and a set of Student
Level Documentation.

The system was designed to be controlled
by a PC.

The system apparently originally
included a PC (286) and controller
software, and an interface card-- these
items I do not have.

I have a PC available to dedicate to
running this lathe (assuming I can get
it running).
It seems that I need controller software
and an interface card of some sort. The
lathe has provision for three connectors
- a 15 pin and 9 pin serial type, and a
round 5 pin.
I believe the 9 pin was for the
computer-lathe interface.

Could anyone suggest a source of control
software and interface card for this
system? I have seen mention on the list
of EMC having the capability of
controlling stepper motor systems in
addition to servo. Could EMC be used
for this? Would it be practical to
attempt this?

The lathe uses stepper motors that step
1.8 degrees per step, and are further
gear reduced to give linear movements of
.0005 inches at the ballscrews. There
is an optical sensor on the spindle.
The spindle is driven by a fairly hefty
DC motor.

The original system was for G and M code
programming.

Thanks for any suggestions on control
software and interface possibilities.

Jesse Hill