Re: Revitalising a Hurco BNC30 3 axis CNC Mill

I think most people in these shoes are going to Mach 3 as the
controller. You will need to determine if the AC servo motors
and controllers are going to still be usable. Someone may make
a board to interface that Fanuc controller to Mach. (If it does
not take step and direction) Not a lot
too it beyond a PC running Mach, and an interface board to your
AC servos. Rutex makes AC servo control boards that will directly
interface with Mach (ie. step and direction). If not, keep looking
on E-bay, DC servo motors come up frequently. The DC motors are
easy to use with Gecko or Rutex controllers. There are other
controllers available but they are a lot more expensive.
Talk to Brian over at Mach support.

Scott

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "dampfloken" <rad@...> wrote:
>
> Hi People,
>
> I have been hanging around the fringes of this list for several years
> now and have learnt a heck of a lot from reading the messages posted.
> Now comes my big chance to ask for your assistance on a problem we
> have.
>
> A close friend of mine has been able to acquire a "very" used Hurco
> BNC 30 3 axies mill. It is of mid 1980s vintage. He has restored it
> mechanically and electrically to as-new condition but the computing
> side of it is still 1985.
> The machine has Fanuc AC servo motors and controllers, a 20 tool
> carousel with air/electric indexing and tool changing.
> It does not maintain its memory, when the machine is restarted after
> being shut down, we need to reload all tool and magazine settings,
> etc, again. The Computing side will only operate with Win 95 and
> nothing later.
> It needs to download the complete file before it will start a job (no
> DNC), and has no capability for running loops or sub-routines. The
> CAM software currently in use is CAM-Soft. FWIW, the machine is
> located in the Pacific North West.
> Do any list members have any experience with this sort of a beast or
> any suggestions on what we could do to replace the controller and
> breakout boards with something more suitable for the 21st century?
> All replies or discussion would be most welcome. If anyone needed
> further details of the machine or its componentry to help them
> formulate a meaningful reply, don't hesitate to ask. I just didn't
> want to clutter this post with junk.
>
> With thanks and kind regards,
> Russell Dunn
> Perth
> Western Australia
>