[kenrik]

Originally Posted by skibuilder Since the planer already has its own in-feed system, the only CNC control I would need would be the depth of cut (I’ll call it the Z axis), so a single axis driver is all that would be necessary… I think. The only part that I’m not too confident about is whether or not the control software (Mach3, most likely) will accept data regarding feed rate (I’ll call this one the X axis) when that data is not input as step and direction (or encoder) data for a stepper (or servo) motor. Basically, the feed rate data would need to be input somewhere into the control software in terms of ‘feet per minute’ or ‘inches per second’. Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, or prior experience with this type of software ‘work-around’? Where in the software control panel would I enter this information? I plan to use an optical sensor (similar to that used to sense when a piece of paper enters a computer printer) to inform the control software when a core blank has been fed into the planer. Thanks in advance, Dana

Sounds like a very interesting project. Have you figured out how you will control the powered in feed and out feed rollers to follow the variation in the profile Heights as you are feeding the material through the planer ?