Should get my hands on an old Denford Orac CNC lathe but will need to convert from Tape Drive to PC control.

Has anyone done this before, if so I really need help on this as I have no idea where to start.

This post will be also on the Denford Forum soonish.

Hi, Good easy decision. Rip the whole lot out and replace with Gecko drives and good breakout board. Also a VFD for the spindle with a Digispeed board to use with Mach3's PWM spindle control which is perfect for thread cutting.

Keep the steppers and spindle index and get a power supply for 75V DC.

Mine's setup this way and I'm cutting 316 stainless all day long. A good strong lathe although a little underpowered on the spindle. If I got the chance I'd try to fit a bigger motor and drive.

Thanks, that's a start.
Any ideas as to how much this would cost?

Hi, Well gecko's are about £60 each, Go to CNC4PC website for breakout board. VFD'S come up on ebay for about £25. Google for Digispeed for the price. I'm guessing by the time youv'e got it all sorted around £300-400. But then you will have an accurate machine that will last a long time.

Thanks you've been a great help, looks like I may well do that.

Merry Christmas.

Hi
I recently bought a same lathe ,as you did I was wondering how you made out. Did you had a chance to convert over and what software your using to drive it.
regards
Moe

Not had a chance to convert it yet it's in the workshop with a cover over it, waiting for my bosses to release some funds to do the conversion.