emco 5 CNC tool holder problem

[sparkymike]

Hi. Any help here would be great!!
I have just got an Emco 5 CNC lathe and this has a three tool rotating (stepper?) motor but there is nothing in the manuals that I have here to find out how this works. The tools rotate in a vertical plane or should if it worked. All other functions seem to be ok as far as I can tell but its early days yet. Any help here with checking out input voltages etc would be helpful. I do have the service manual but can't find the tool holder device in it. I can only guess that this was added later by the previous owner. (I will try and add a photo later.)
Mike.

[tenaja]

see here:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/grou...s/message/1995

> In hand mode:
> press&hold FWD key then one of the digit keys.
> This is the number the turret will advance.

> In CNC mode:
> On a MK2 the format is
> G26 +-XXX +-ZZZ T
>
> on a MK4 the format is
> M06 +-XXXX +-ZZZZZ TTT
>
> X and Z being the offset compared to tool no.1
> T= number of positions to advance
>

[sparkymike]

Hi.
Thanks for reply.
No that will not work.However, there is a brand new motorised Emco toolpost in original box with some spares and also one of the main circuit boards that has not yet been opened from its protective sleeve. My thoughts are to try out the new toolpost first before I replace the board as I don't want to destroy a brand new board!! What would be handy is to know if there is a smaller seperate board for the toolpost?
My problem is the previous owner is travelling round the world and I can't get in touch to ask him all the details.
I also have the Emco F1 mill but the only problem there is the weight!! I am at present making a good metal stand for it. There was no need for a stand for the lathe as an original one came with it.
Any ideas on ideal height for the mill stand top?
There were about 20 manuals that came with the two machines but some seem to be duplicates. Some are Instructor manuals and some Study. The mechanical side of the machines is lacking in information but I guess they like any other lathes or mills.
Thanks for any replies.
Mike.

[tenaja]

Mike, both Yahoo groups have all of the manuals, schematics and just about anything you need for a stock machine.

Ideal height is up to you. You don't want to be hunching or stretching for most of your work, so make it so you can work on the table and keypad comfortably.

[sparkymike]

Hi,
Well good and bad news!!
I had another go at selecting the tool and it worked!!
I tried again later in the day and it won't!!
Can you give me the Yahoo address for the circuits please.
Thanks,
Mike.

[tenaja]

See the link in my first reply

[sparkymike]

Hi.
Well I have now had a chance to test the lathe again and the tool-holder is a bit spasmodic. Sometimes it works fine but other times you can press the 1 to 6 buttons (plus fwd.)several times before it operates. Could this just be switch contacts on the main panel or is the problem in the tool holder mechanism? If there are any links to exploded drawings of the tool holder I would be interested. I did find a four tool holder on Yahoo Emco lathe group but not the three tool Emco one. Is there a seperate pcb for the tool holder?
Mike.

[welderfabrod]

Hi Mike as said before most things are on the yahoo sites although I'm not sure how much. I do have an exploded drawing of the indexing toolpost and circuit diagram and layout of the toolpost sensor board for the Compact 5 Lathe if thats what your after. Be happy to e-mail them to you if you get stuck. I have two Compact 5s nice little machines but the key swithes were a pain sometimes the keys would work sometimes not. Converted mine to modern steppers and controller using EMC2 for software.

Rod.

[sparkymike]

Thanks for the information.
It works sometimes in manual mode but not every time.I will try it in CNC mode tomorrow and see if the same spasmodic operation occurs..
Mike.