I have just started a 'hobby' machine shop. I bought out the equipment from Ekholm Enterprises in Summerland BC, including a 10' 125 ton break and Hitachi Seiki Turret Lathe, ram type 4A, then bought a Tree 310, plasma, mig, tig, etc.

The reason it is a 'hobby' is for insurance, OHSA, compensation, etc.

I have a lot of time on the lathe, partner is a farmer/welder, but the Mill has us baffled. The Dynapath 20 CNC is a bugger to learn without the proper manuals, I have ordered what I could from 3s, but still have some questions. The mill is in what appears to be good condition, the table moves freely and everything so far appears to work. I have not yet run it up, no time and scared of faking something up. Does anyone have a quick list they can post to do the referencing? If there is anyone close that can run this machine, we would be greatful and definately pay for time, to learn rudimentary control of this beast.

I have searched, read most of the threads I could.

I know the 20 is archaic, and have no doubt it will not do digitizing, Cad or Cam, and the mill work I did was all manual. Is there any way to retrofit a modern PC to run the system?

When you reference x,y,z, do you run to the maximum travel before hitting the safety switch then zero, or is it in the middle?

Why do the Jog controls on the system not do anything? I have to use the hand wheel to move, is this normal?

There is a RS232C port on the 20, can you connect to a PC with it? I saw another one time that had what looked like a ethernet cable connection, is that normal?

Is there anywhere a guy can download manuals?

Sorry, I know they are total newbie questions, but I am. My plan is to retire in my own yard, in my own machine shop, but I dont want to be at retirement age when I figure this thing out. I am confident and competent with computers, but this is hardly a computer.

Thanks, and this is a really good website.

Here's my list, hope it helps.

To reference the machine, jog z in the negative direction (down), and jog y in the negative direction (towards the column). Type in the R key for reference, and jog the z axis in the positive direction, it hit the reference switch and come to a stop. Do the same for the y axis, and the x axis. This should reference all three axis. You also need to see where the home position is located for this machine. Go to Mode Select S, for set up, on one of the screens you will see the home position coordinates. I usually set these depending on the machine travel limits. For example I have two J-425 machines with x travel of 30" and y travel of 15". I set my home positions at x15.000 and y15.000. So after you reference the machine send it home by pressing Mode Select 0, then H, and jog the x axis and the machine will travel from the reference postion to the home position. I usually zero out the axis at this point.

The machine did have the option of digitizing with a probe, you could upgrade this machine to a Delta2000 control and get this option. Give the control a chance, it's not too archaic, it's really pretty powerful, being able to mill a pocket with two lines of code, whereas a Fanuc would require many more.

The jog controls should work, I have an opposite problem on one of my machines, the jog controls work but the handwheel doesn't. Call a tech out on that one.

You can connect to a PC via RS-232, I have all of mine connected this way.

I don't know of anyway to download a manual, I could possibly help you out with that, PM me.

These machines are what I cut my CNC teeth on, let me know if I can help in any other way.

we have tried what you said. but have run into problems. I have tried to expand the question with *** and your answers more fully below... if you can, quote this message and add to it like I did. Then, just add it to my bill :D

***Do you have to have the spindle speed override button on to use the jog controls? Is this mislabelled? Why does it affect the jog? It has to be on for the jog buttons to work.--fixed, it was a speed setting.

***Is there ever a time that the machine will reference itself, or do you have to jog completely, manually?-_ you have to do it manually, every time to restart the system.


To reference the machine, jog z in the negative direction (down)

***how far do you go before before the limit switch? If you go too far you hit the limit switch, and then the only way I have found to get it moving again is to remove the switch so it loses contact, shut the machine off and reboot, as reset does ntohing, then jog it away from the end. Is there an easier way to reset? The Reset button does nothing once you hit the limit switch, you get a *z* travel overlimit fault. or x, or y
---fixed- stay within a half inch, dont hit the limit switches. You can either turn the screws by hand or remove the switched and jog back.

, and jog y in the negative direction (towards the column).
***again, how far? 1/2" away from the limit switch? then what do I do?

half inch or less, just dont hit the limit switch

Type in the R key for reference,
***is something supposed to happen when you do this? Do you hit enter after? Nothing seems to happen, other than a couple of the 3 axis becoming zero? Does the machine move by itself after you touch the jog button or do you have to do it all manually?

nothing happens other than the fault goes away. Its all manual.

and jog the z axis in the positive direction,( ***I am guessing until, or is it before?) it hit the reference switch and come to a stop.

***if it hits the limit switch I have to pull it off to get things moving again.

Do the same for the y axis, and the x axis. This should reference all three axis. You also need to see where the home position is located for this machine.

***How do I know when referencing is done before I go to the next step?
-- there are no more faults.

***Should I check the software travel limits before or after home is set? How do I do this?
--still unsure


***the second page of setup, in the machine when you see travel limits top right of the display, does that refer to software or just extreme bed travel limits?
--software, not user set


***Is there a Master Reset for the software?

--nope that I have found so far


Go to Mode Select S, for set up, on one of the screens you will see the home position coordinates. I usually set these depending on the machine travel limits. For example I have two J-425 machines with x travel of 30" and y travel of 15". I set my home positions at x15.000 and y15.000. So after you reference the machine send it home by pressing Mode Select 0, then H,

***press, press and hold, enter???
and jog the x axis and the machine will travel from the reference postion to the home position. ***by itself? Or, do I have to jog it again?

-home is easy, jog each by touching negative and away they go

I usually zero out the axis at this point. ***please explain...

The machine did have the option of digitizing with a probe, you could upgrade this machine to a Delta2000 control and get this option. Give the control a chance, it's not too archaic, it's really pretty powerful, being able to mill a pocket with two lines of code, whereas a Fanuc would require many more.

The jog controls should work, I have an opposite problem on one of my machines, the jog controls work but the handwheel doesn't. Call a tech out on that one.

***the jog buttons are working now, I think that one was just me.


You can connect to a PC via RS-232, I have all of mine connected this way.
***do you use an adaptor, or just into the serial port? What program(s) can you run on this?


***advanced question- when you have the computer attached, obviously there is no hard drive in the 20, do you run the system off the pc, or is there internal ram the program saves to in the delta?
it saves your programs, you just have to name them

I don't know of anyway to download a manual, I could possibly help you out with that, PM me.

These machines are what I cut my CNC teeth on, let me know if I can help in any other way.[/QUOTE]

I was able to spend a couple hours on the mill tonight, and had a couple breakthroughs. I was finally able to reference it, got the spindle running, and it ran a program that was stored previously.

The spindle stopped once, and there was nothing at all I could do to get it going, other that a complete shut down and restart after a few minutes, then re-reference again. Is there some sort of reset I can do other than a complete shut down and restart?

Does the spindle speed ever show up in the DRO. or is it all manually set?

I now have the referencing to first run down to about 15 seconds, but no one knows the answer to any of these questions?

No one can help with these questions?

Hey there, I have a Dynapath 20 on a Millport and have a pretty decent programming manual, several thousand pages actually.

Your spindle stopping is odd. Have you just tried hitting the emergency stop, pulling it back out, and reset a few times? Usually this clears any errors you may have and allows power to come to all points again.

Overall I've found the dynapath 20 (once again, this is NOT delta) to be a decently easy programming interface with lots of canned cycles, but the boards are frail. Ours shuts off and purges all programs when it gets vibrating too bad. I'm not a fan of it and would like to retrofit with a new setup entirely.

Oh, and I have a disk that is an offline editor for the programs, specifically for the Dynapath.

cool- how much do you want for them?

On the 325 you have to manually back the axis off the limit switch - there are some plugs in the covers you can remove that let you put a socket or an Allen wrench into the drive for the axis so you can turn it back by hand.

I've seen some machine techs advise replacing all the relays/contactors on an old machine. A friend just ran into an issue on an older Deckel CNC that had him baffled until he started tapping on the different relays and found one that wasn't making contact reliably. I think the 325 cabinets had some safety interlocks on them that would e-stop if the doors were opened while the machine was running, so you might check that type of thing too.

Also make sure that your lube pump is actually pumping and that none of the lube lines/valves are blocked. You don't want to run the machine dry.

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/metalwork/treebrochure/treebrochure4.jpg

It looks like the 310 has the same homing arrows (middle of the table and right-front corner of the knee) as the 325. Z home is with the spindle flush with the bottom of the quill.

cheers,
Michael