Woohoo I've got it running. Just thought I'd let you all know as I know a few people on here wanted to go this way with it being so cheap.

Big thanks to HillBilly for making his bob and working out instructions to how to connect the original drivers to a computer.

Wiring the bob up was fairly easy, a lot easier than expected anyway, helped by the clear instructions and the fact their is only 18 wires to fasten up. Got to do a lot of tidying up to do i.e. the wiring as I've got it all dangling at the moment and I might have to make some supports for the monitor, keyboard and other stuff.

Cheers

Chris

You will see a big difference with Mach :)
Have fun

Hood

Yeah just abit, should be able to do some descent length programs now, well I will when I buy the full version just running on the demo at the moment.

I'm not right keen on the screens at the moment there all a bit to fussy for me but I suppose I'll get used to it.

Have you got something wired in to control the feed overide, thats about the onlything that I'm missing at the moment.

Cheers

Chris

What is your screen resolution, the native size of the screen is 1024 x 768 so possibly if you dont have that it might show up fuzzy. I have a touch screen on my BOSS and have made up my own screenset to take advantage of it, see pic below.
As for the feedrate override I just press on the up/down arrows on my screen to control it, you should be able to do the same with the mouse. You can wire in a switch but as I have never needed to do it I am not sure how its done. I think there may be a bit on this in the customisation wiki on the Mach support site.
Hood

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/ProgramRunPage1.jpg

oops, just realised you said fussy and not fuzzy LOL

Hey I have a boss 1.... can I upgrade to this as well?

Thanks,
Alex

I would think yes but best to talk to HillBilly as he made the breakout that creep pea is using. You could of course go the route I took and do a complete retro with Geckos etc but that would be more expensive.
Hood

Hood I like your screen it looks a lot more simple, you say you made it, if so how easy is it to do, can anyone make one or is it something that requires skills.

Alex as far as I know you can upgrade any of the series 1 boss machines with HillBilly's BOB (BreakOut Board) it's really cheap to do as well as it only requires a computer with mach softwear and a BOB, all the original drivers, motors, limit switchs and the emergency stop button are retained.
Have a look at his website http://home.icx.net/~ashburn/index.html

Cheers

Chris

Chris
Mach comes with a program to alter or make your own screens. It should be in the Mach3 folder on your C drive (or the location you installed Mach to), its called screen4.
There are a few videos showing how to make buttons etc on the Mach forum and also a video showing the basic functions in screen4.
Altering a screen is easy, making one from scratch is also easy but a bit more time consuming. There are quite a few different screens that have been made up by Mach users and you can download them and try them out.
Mine is there but I think it should be used with caution as it is set up for the way I work and may not suit everyone.
You will find all the info you need here http://machsupport.com/forum/index.php?board=17.0
The screens you can download are in the "works in progress" subforum and the videos are in the "Screen designer tips and tutorials" subforum.
Hood

Hey I have a boss 1.... can I upgrade to this as well?

Thanks,
Alex

Alex,

If you machine has a XDI board it should be no problem.

Darek

hi, i have series 1, how can we upgrade with xdi using inbuilt drives. with what software . please advice Alex,

If you machine has a XDI board it should be no problem.

Darek

ajitsingh

Use HillBillys breakout board and instructions. Software I've used Mach 3, you can download a working demo from here http://www.artofcnc.ca/ but I believe there are other software packages out there.

Chris

hi

that BOB controller is to replace what ???

curious here ???

cheers

FPV_GTp have a look here about the 3rd post down there a picture of the stuff removed
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7943&page=2&pp=15

You can also remove the 5v and 12v power supply.