NEATman,
Unfortunately, I have a totally different bed setup than you. For example, the X axis ballscrew is in the saddle, so the handle doesn't move with the table like it's supposed to. I have seen people put handles on, maybe I will if the CNC doesn't progress fast enough, but I'm feeling like things are starting to move again.
It's funny that you replied to this when you did. I had just come to the conclusion that I needed some extra circuitry to interface to my drives, in the form of relays and such. But right now, that's all out the window unless I reconsider my new direction.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I just discovered that my X axis motor didn't match the drive I intended to use. So I went looking for drives in my collection. It turns out that I have some drives that would take either analog control signals or step/direction. So now I'm thinking seriously about going step and direction. That means I'm now in the market for a parallel port breakout board. Previously I was going to use an 8 channel analog output board with 48 digital I/O's which I bought on Ebay. I was going to use that in combination with a Kaluga encoder interface board. The disadvantage would be I would have to write and maintain my own EMC driver. This way, I just have to spend money. There are a lot of schematics out there for the limit switches, now I just have to find them.
The problem with analog control signals for drives is that I am cheap. The most commonly used board for this purpose is the Servo-To-Go. They've been promising a PCI board for years now, but the available card is ISA. It's around $800 without breakout boards. You can get the Phoenix type boards for around $50 each, and you need two. There is also the Pico Systems board from Jon Elson. There is also the vigilant board supported by EMC for around $600 with breakout boards.
http://vitalsystem.com/motion/index.htm
I was seriously thinking about that board. If you want a lot of digital I/O something like this is the way to go, although EMC will support a second parallel port.
As far as EMC working as a DRO, I don't think it will. I'll ask on the mailing list.
Thanks for the picture. I'm glad I'm not the only person with a Bridgeport covered in parts. I have to work on storage space now that I'm going to try to start moving the machine.
Eric