Re: Correct or Max voltage for Bridgeport Nema 42? + more...

Thanks Carlos.

I guess what really bites me is that the developers of these 100-300
dollar apps get so darned close and then miss it.
In addition to owning my own shop, I am a small machinery dealer and
a buyer for a major machinery dealer.
The trend right now is that you are finding tons (literally) of 70's
and 80's CNC's being dumped by local shops and the government and
really there's nothing wrong with them aside from broken or outdated
control electronics.
I'm sure I'll get into hot water for saying this, but this is my
second investigation into retrofitting machines and what I am finding
again is that there is this void that could be filled between free or
shareware controllers and mega-bux professional retrofits.
The sad part is that the "hobbyist" apps have reached a level that
they could subsitute and surpass the original controls but don't
allow the flexibilty to control "real" machines.
It's like they start out to see if they can make some axes move and
succeed and then go off on some tangent off playing with graphical
toolpaths and other fun stuff without really ever completing a true
controller. All one has to do is actually look at a physical CNC
controller to get the idea. You don't need toolpath simulations and
gimicks (these are normally done in people's CAM apps anyway) What is
needed is a close-as-possible representation of a real controller on
a PC.
Since this usually negates the original physical pendant hardware,
you have to make up for that somehow.
This is probably best accomplished by the use of touchscreens and you
would think that "controller" software would be designed around such
devices since they lack any other tactical interactive hardware aside
from a mouse and keyboard. You'd have DRO's you could read from 3
feet away and big buttons you could push on a touchscreen.
Basically "virtual hardware". The sofware would have to be able to
control switches (which it can already), Step and direction (which it
can already), and some sort of DAC (which most cant).
Well, these low cost apps are very very close but still limited
because they lack the configurability to interact with devices which
can do more than S/D.
Of course, there is CAMsoft. (camsoftcorp.com) They got it right. The
software looks and acts like a controller and supposedly you can
configure it to work with all sorts of I/O..including LPT. The
problem is of course that their market is not the retrofitter who
wants a nice CNC from a 3000 dollar 80's machine, it's production
houses who want to get a 75,000 dollar machine back up and running
because it's costing them a couple grand a day to be down.
Hence the void.
Of course everyone will jump up and say "you get what you pay for"
and all that, and it's true unless what you are paying makes no sense
for the machine you are fixing and it's uses.
So that's the killer here...
Again, these once "hobbyist" apps are sooooo very close to filling
this void but they seem to fall just short (even though they keep
improving the apps in other "fun" ways).
Basically you need ...
Step/Direction
Rotary encoder input (for jog wheels and feedrate)...(this *could* be
done with mouse encoders)
Touchscreen minded GUI (which means at least the GUI will be windows
based)
Shop floor minded DRO (some do)
Tool changer routine (configureable via "if-then" based on input
signals"
More than 4 switches and at least 1 DAC for VFD/spindle drive control.
Multiple screens for multiple modes (like a real CNC. Why does
everyone try to make everything fit on one screen?

What does this do? It allows people to build real CNC's with modern
controls inexpensively from endless amounts of "outdated"
professional machines. Something above the MaxNC's and Sherlines, but
perhaps not the Haas's, Fadals, and Mazaks that the big production
houses need.
Not free, and not 5 grand... maybe about 500-600 for the software and
figure another 600-700 in hardware. Then you slap 1500 into your 3000
used machine and have a nice setup for "semi-pro" use.

Ok, there's my rant. It is a result of researching retrofits once and
giving up only to return once again and find there is still a void.
Of course, it's possible that this does exist, but so far I haven't
found it.

Apologies for the babbering.
Sean

P.S. Does anyone know the correct voltage for a Bridgeport NEMA 42
stepper?