Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] EMC2 DC-servo controlled minimill

shawn c wrote:

> Do you offer a turn key solution Jon? Or components to make it work?

I can do either, but I really prefer to supply the components.
It takes me a LONG time to build these control boxes one at a time.

> I have a Milltronics Partner1 with a cent6 control. Its setup with 3mpg's. The mill I'm retrofitting is going to have the same setup one way or another. The Mach3 software isnt quite there yet. Very jerky and looses MPG steps. Doesnt follow real well at high crank speed. There maybe someone out there that has some hardware built to overcome these issues, but I havent found them yet.
> So Mach is out for now. And on to EMC......

OK, so you need 3 motion axes plus 3 encoder counters for the
MPGs, that makes 6 axes. You'd need two Universal PWM
Controllers and 3 PWM servo amps. If you have a VFD or spindle
controller then you'd want the spindle DAC. For controlled
E-stops there is the power and braking module. See
http://jelinux.pico-systems.com/motion.html
for info on these products.

> With EMC it sounds smooth as silk. Now I need to figure out how to get 3 generators setup :-)
> I cant imagine living without this feature on any other machine I own. Very nice feature for quick manual milling. If you use the "teach" function you can make a complete program as you go.

Unfortunately, EMC2 doesn't have a real teach mode. I believe
Ray Henry did put together something that did a passable job of
recording coordinates, but I think it may have needed some hand
massaging to turn it into usable G-code. We do have a number of
NON-CAD alternatives to full-blown CAM/CAM, which I reserve for
the most complicated parts with lots of curves. The CAD does
document the part, which is a plus, but it just takes too long.
So, I usually use a bunch of programs I have written that make
the G-code for the most common operations. See
http://jelinux.pico-systems.com/gcode.html
for more info on some of these.
Pop in another part and hit cycle start.

> Wonderful alternative when you dont have mechanical handwheels.....
> If anyone out there has an ideas or hardware for sale to help acheive this I would like to hear from you.
> I'm working on an old stepper driven BP mill. I'm also shopping for servo's and drives. I'm leaning toward Jons drives. Who has a good larger sized servo motor?

The Camtronics motors by Ametek seem to work, but are a bit on
the small side. I just saw a couple days ago Kirk Wallace's
converted Bridgeport with treadmill motors. See
http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/bridgeport/
He seems to be happy with the way they work. I'm sure he can
give you details on how he set up these motors.

Jon