Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] To the moderator

Jon thank you.Jon first I am a gun and car nut so any parts I would make would be fairly small. I just thought it would be nice to be able to duplicate a part when needed for myself. (not for money) I started to look for a tracer mill. Then my old interest in cnc came back. And from what I had been seeing on the net etc.About conversational cnc etc.as That would make it simpler (I think) and if not too expensive it would be fun to learn.
The Gorton mill.Had been sitting for many,many years In a shop that the owner had bought it new.And it was used very little as I guess as it was used the holes in the paper got stretched and would lose it's accuracy.So it just set gathering grim. I got it at his auction years ago when he went out of business.I threw away all the old stuff (and the mice)smile and used it as a manual mill (it is still like new) I did leave all the motor mounts etc and still have all the belt pulleys etc.
Jon I would not mind getting one of those new super X-3's if necessary as the work envelope would be plenty big enough for me. But depending on cost I could go either way. Any advice would be appreciated. Whitey

----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Elson
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] To the moderator


whitey wrote:
> Wreno thanks . But as I guess we all have a bad day sometimes. Yesterday was mine. I will hang around and see if I can learn something that will help me. And maybe in the future I can help someone else.
Good! Since you have this Gorton, does the control still work? If not,
then there is no reason not to jump into the conversion of that machine.
Yes, you'd learn something from doing a smaller machine first, but if
the Gorton is the size machine you want to make parts on, then I'd
definitely start with it. (I did a Bridgeport first, it was my only
mill, I didn't even have a drill press! So, when I tore into it, I had
nothing but a hand-held drill still usable to make corrections.)

So, first, what type of motors does it have, servo or stepper? If
stepper, do you want to keep them, or upgrade to servos? (Yes, I'm a
servo bigot, but if the steppers are old and decrepit, they may need
replacing anyway.) If servo, what type of encoder does it have, and are
the servo amps in good condition, and do you have prints for them? Does
it have a spindle encoder? If so, I might recommend EMC2 as the control
program, as we have rigid tapping working, and Mach doesn't.

Jon




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