CNC retro fit - Gray aera , need help.

Hi all,

I am looking for the missing link between a Solidworks part and the
actual part being machined. I have a JFC-500C mill/drill (quite a
size as mill/drills go), I would like to make it a CNC mill/drill by
fitting NEMA 34 size stepper motors to the X and Y axis and perhaps
something smaller to the Z axis. I have researched the Internet for
about a month now and have found many informative sites, CNC Retro-
Fit website at http://www.mendonet.com/cnclinks/index.html is
especially good. From what I have read I conclude the following.

1.My mill/drill must have stepper motors fitted to the X/Y and Z
axis.

2.If possible I should change the standard Acme lead screws with
ball screws for greater accuracy.

3.The motors must connect to some kind of driver or amplifier.

4.The driver(s) then connect to some kind of controller card fitted
inside my PC, or connect to an external controller that connects to
the parallel port etc.

5.Software on my PC needs to convert G and M codes into signals that
my controller card can understand (i.e. to be compatible with) to
drive the motors.

6.The software (be it the above or other) needs to convert my
Solidworks 3D model into G and M codes so the part can be machined.

I understand that within reason a stepper motor is pretty generic be
it 4, 6 or 8 wire. In the same way so is a ball screw, its just a
ball screw, what you see is what you get. Presumably I can go out
and get any brand of stepper motor or ball screw and it will make no
difference what so ever?

The trouble for me comes when choosing drivers, controller cards and
the software to make the whole thing work. A lot of companies offer
motors and drivers but no controllers or software, or you can get
software but it can't translate g-codes. Or you get companies
that
just offer software and that's all, like Mach1 from Artsoft
(www.artofcnc.ca).

There appears to be a grey area when it comes to this compatibility
issue. Perhaps I'm just being dim or something, or it is just
assumed that everyone knows what the score is here. Here is an
example. Suppose I buy three stepper motors from Pacific Scientific
(but it could be anyone) I also buy 6410 micro-stepping drivers from
the same suppler to drive my motors. I now need to find a controller
from a third party that will work with my drivers, and hopefully
they will also write software that I can use to control my mill g-
codes etc.

I suppose what I am saying is `Is this whole thing generic'
by that I mean do all these controllers use a standard command
language?. If so I could then use any vendor's software to
control them. As another example could I use the motors and drivers
above and say a controller card from someone else and software like
Mach1. This whole CNC retro business seems to be a bit of a black
art so any help or advice would be more than welcome.

Steve B...