Hi Everyone,

I have a CAMTech Router Master II (RMII) circa 1994 that has the original controller box and pendant. The machine runs well mechanically, but the electronics are obsolete. The controller / driver box hooks up to the host computer via an ISA card (yes, that's right!). I believe that it is a standard RS422 or RS485 port ISA card, but have no way to verify this.

In any case, I would like to move away from this setup as any problems with this communications card renders my RMII dead. Since the three stepper motors are all "standard" 6-wire type, is there a simple way to substitute in a new driver box and just control the machine directly from a laptop?

Thanks!

Here is my write up of the RM router that I have:
http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40870

Buy three stepper drives and power supply from these guys:
http://www.kelinginc.net/KLDriver.html

Buy a breakout board here:
http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=49

If you have a VFD for the spindle buy a controller board here to control the spindle with Mach3 cnc:
http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=58

And a 2Ghz computer (with out on board video) and you are set.

I don't remember what is the faster rapid speed my setup will do but it is around ~175IPM I will never be cutting anything even close to that speed. A few days a go I was cutting some aluminum plate and with a .05" depth of cut the thing was screaming.

Dennis,

Many thanks for the links. As I'm not afraid of wiring and computer innards, I'll give this a try. It seems like I can get a new setup running for several hundred dollars rather than the thousands that I have been quoted by others.

I was wondering if it is better to look at a USB breakout card rather than the Serial/Parallel port type breakout card? I have this nagging concern about having the "standard" ports disappearing the way that the ISA and RS-422 combo disappeared from the current system.

But I guess that the catch with USB is what software will interface with it to drive the router.

-David

David,

I can help you along the way with the setup. For now stay with Pport as it is simple and works very well. There are USB options but with a lot of bugs and it will take some time before they are solid like the Pport is in Mach3.

People run Mach3 in industrial environments and it's holding up well. I had a bridgeport mill that ran Mach3 for 2 years almost. Now i'm working on another Bridgeport and will be using Mach3 again.


Dennis