Re: Denford CNC Lathe, HELP PLEASE

Dear Andew,

Apologies for not coming back to you earlier. I've been travelling
until now.

I now intend to do what you have done. I came back from the Far East
with two Toshiba inverter controllers for the spindle motors. I hope
to use the old stepper drivers (have since acquired manuals for
them). But will need the whole "brains" for the machines. Would be
interested to find out how you did it in detail.

I am based in South Wales, just outside Cardiff.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thomas.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew Mawson" <andrew@m...>
wrote:

> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "bear_cnc" <bear_cnc@y...>
> wrote:
> > Dear All,
> >
> > I have recently acquired two identical Denford CNC lathes with

ORAC

> > controls. Trouble is the main spindle drives are missing and

there

> > are apparently faults with the ORAC (however they power up of a
> > fashion). I am told there may be other bits missing but don't

know

> > which. The machines are from 1983, they use stepper motor drives
> > without encoders and a three-phase motor with a rudimentary

encoder

> > for the main spindle. Apparently, all the mechanics and motors

are

> OK.
> >
> > I am desparate to find any documentation which may help me
> restoring
> > the machines, i.e. replacing what is missing and fixing what is
> > broken. A detailed wiring diagram/parts list of the ORAC

controller

> > would be great.
> >
> > Denford's are still going, but were not very helpful. I was after
> > detailed wiring diagrams, which may not be available from them.

For

> > £30 I could get a maintenance manual, but I doubt whether it goes
> > into enough detail to put the things right again. I was advised

to

> > leave the machines alone and that whoever built the CNC system
> (this
> > was not Denford) went bust years ago. ORAC? No support would be
> > available anymore.
> >
> > The machines are in beautiful condition mechanically and have

very

> > little hours on them. Hence my determination to bring them back

to

> > life.
> >
> > As a secondary approach, I would be trying to re-fit them with a
> new
> > control system, perhaps salvaging as much as possible from the

old

> > ones.
> >
> > Any help and advice appreciated.
> >
> > As this is my first message, perhaps a few words about myself:
> > I am a German model engineer, but living and working in Britain.

I

> am
> > a mechanical engineer by trade, with a bit of knowledge in
> industrial
> > control (not necessarily CNC). I have restored all sorts of

things

> > before (including machine tools), but this will be my first CNC

job.

> >
> > Thanks and kind regards,
> >
> > Tom.
>
> Tom,
>
> I have stripped all the original electronics, psu & inverter from

my

> ORAC, and have started again, putting a PC inside the base running
> TurboCNC (DAK engineering) driving Gecko 210 microstep controllers
> and a new 3 phase inverter for the spindle driven by a digital to
> analogue converter. I have retained the original motors & limit
> switches and spindle sensor.
>
> The conversion has worked out very well and I'm pleased with it -
> where are you in the UK ?
>
> Andrew Mawson
> Bromley, Kent, UK