Hi Eric,
I am treating myself to a BP Series II Interact 2, hasn't run in over 3 yrs but is going cheap. It has a 145 TNC Heidenhain controller which I intend to replace with an Ajax/Mach 3 setup running on Windows 7. I too am interested in how much this will all set me back but i don't intend replacing servo motors or controllers or the encoder interface board (the Heidenhain encoders provide Sin/Cosine output signal apparently). I only have single phase 220V so I will get a Hitachi W200 (or Omron MX2, same thing) inverter. I will fit an encoder to the main spindle which will allow the inverter to do simple positioning of the spindle (clever feature of this particular inverter) in case I ever decided to build an automatic too changer. Also having the encoder will allow me to do rigid tapping. Going to build a servo rotary table also so I should have a 5 axis CNC some day. It was either that or a motorbike, reckon I will live longer with the CNC. Let me know how you get on.
Mike |