Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: CNC, Fix it or replace it: More comments

Bruce Klawiter wrote:

> Thanks to all that have replied thus far.
>
> Let me give you a little background and explain a little more of what I'm thinking.
>
> I bought this mill from the company I work for, two years ago we had this machine rebuild and shortly after that the controller started going, we were using it as a manual mill until the spindle motor died. It sat for about a year and a half and the boss just got sick of it taking up space. They asked if I wanted it and I offered them $800.00 for it thinking it would cost about $500.00 to get the motor rewound. I did find after getting this home that there is nothing wrong with the motor it was a controller problem.
>
> We had this machine serviced several times over the years and it was always a problem with the control box or in the card cage. I sent the card cage off to Anilam Hoping for a cheap fix or hopeful they would tell me the problem and I'd fix it myself. They just simply put my cards one by one in their unit to see which one has a problem and charge $850.00 to fix it no matter what is wrong with it.

OK, as it is a home shop machine, with no specific production jobs
that are waiting for it to be repaired, and as you note it has had a number
of problems in the past, I would NOT recommend repairing it once again.
What you would be doing is getting on a service merry-go-round of
outrageously expensive parts to keep a more and more outdated controller
running. As it ages, and as things are pulled apart and plugged back in
over and over, the reliablilty gets worse and worse! that is my experience
with my old Allen-Bradley control, which I was getting real tired of repairing.

> I have been looking at EMC for sometime now and thought about building or converting a mill with it until I purchased the mill from work. Now I'm thinking this is a good candidate. There are some things with the Anilam control I don't like. It does not have a keyboard so programming at the mill is time consuming; there is no accel, decel, or continuous contouring. I don't know that EMC has this either but doubt I would be going backwards if I used it.

EMC DOES have acceleration/deceleration and continuous contouring. The only thing
it really lacks is spindle encoder support for hard tapping on machining centers or
threading for lathes. I believe it once had this feature, so it is just a matter of getting
it working again. I do a lot of little one-offs with MDI (keyboard) commands, so my
hands aren't busy with holding jog buttons when I'm doing it.

> I'm leaning towards using EMC, I have talked with Jon Elson and he thinks I can do this conversion with his parallel port axis control and has said he would give me a wire by wire hook up if I need it, and I will.

Do you have wiring diagrams for the Anilam? It would be a lot easier for me to tell
you what to do if I had diagrams of what is there already.

> That will be one of the big reasons for me going with the parallel port axis control, he is very helpful. He says I'll need a few other things also but none of the items seemed to pricey. I think with the EMC I'll have a better control and repairs down the road wont be so high.

By saving your encoders, servo amps and servo motors, you are a MILE ahead
compared to a conversion of a manual machine. (I know, I did a conversion of a
manual machine, it was a LOT of work!)

> I know very little about electronics so I'll need some hand holding on that. I also know nothing about Linux but would hope the list could get me through my trials and tribulations on that. This is a CNC for my home shop but my ultimate goal would be to make some money with it.

We'll try to get you through it. You might even start to LIKE Linux!

Jon