Esab cnc duct cutter

[kiramunch@sympa]

i am trying to find info on the servo motors used for this machine to see if the drivers/electronics can be updated to Gecko or similar. the machine is a 1999 5 x 10, the encoders are seperate from the motors, both of which are mounted on gearboxes for the x and y axis. does anyone have any experience with this machine or retrofit on a budget? thank you...

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[wyofreeride]

i am trying to find info on the servo motors used for this machine to see if the drivers/electronics can be updated to Gecko or similar. the machine is a 1999 5 x 10, the encoders are seperate from the motors, both of which are mounted on gearboxes for the x and y axis. does anyone have any experience with this machine or retrofit on a budget? thank you...

I know this is an old thread, but I have a similar machine, and am trying to decide if I should upgrade or replace it. How did your research turn out?

[kiramunch@sympa]

Hi wyofreeride. We have done quite a bit of retro fitting to our machine. We knew that we would be better off doing the retro vs getting a new machine because firstly, the build quality of the machine is far superior to machines coming off the assembly lines today. It is super heavy duty, built like a tank. We ripped out all the electronics, replaced with Gecko drivers, Chinese stepper motors, eliminated the gear boxes all together and direct drive with the steppers. We kept the rack/pinion arrangement, made custom motor mounts, bought a 12" pre built z axis, all new wiring, using mach 3 with computer, bought a new Hypertech 60 or 65 plasma with long torch cable and machine torch. We replaced all the ball bearings. We got the machine for about 1600.00 not running. We have the left over servos, cables, gear boxes, manuals, etc

[cjsamples]

Kiramunch, Did you have the Esab piecemaker 2 by chance? I find myself in pretty much the same boat. I got a great frame and machine but crappy electronics. It will run now but I need something besides the shape library to work with. What are the shapes used to make anyway?!? I am thinking about using the servos that are installed and driving them with Geckos. My machine seems to have the torch height module in it and it has a torch lift motor.
I think I will start a new thread to open the discussion to a few more people who might know more about being able to use the existing servos. I know the encoder runs all the way back to the Vision CNC control. I believe the encoders will need to go back to the Geckos and not back to the board.
I brought a Techno-Isel router back from the brink of old technology, I hope I can do the same here.

[flyinglar]

Was this a duct cutter that you had?
Did it have a Vision 500 control on it. My mother board just went out and Esab does not support it any more. Probably will do what you are doing but was wondering if you sill had the control and if it would boot up.
Did it have a single drive on the gantry?
Would appreciate it if you could help me out. My machine is down.

[flyinglar]

Was this a duct cutter that you had?
Did it have a Vision 500 control on it. My mother board just went out and Esab does not support it any more. Probably will do what you are doing but was wondering if you sill had the control and if it would boot up.
Did it have a single drive on the gantry?
Would appreciate it if you could help me out. My machine is down.

Sorry this was for kiramunch@sympa

[wyofreeride]

Hi wyofreeride. We have done quite a bit of retro fitting to our machine. We knew that we would be better off doing the retro vs getting a new machine because firstly, the build quality of the machine is far superior to machines coming off the assembly lines today. It is super heavy duty, built like a tank. We ripped out all the electronics, replaced with Gecko drivers, Chinese stepper motors, eliminated the gear boxes all together and direct drive with the steppers. We kept the rack/pinion arrangement, made custom motor mounts, bought a 12" pre built z axis, all new wiring, using mach 3 with computer, bought a new Hypertech 60 or 65 plasma with long torch cable and machine torch. We replaced all the ball bearings. We got the machine for about 1600.00 not running. We have the left over servos, cables, gear boxes, manuals, etc

I've finally got my machine moving, currently using mach3 with geckos and the original servos and gearboxes for now. I intend to try the original analog drives after I work the rest of the bugs out so i can close the loop in the controller (Galil DMC 4030) instead of in the drives. I have a working vision controller too if anyone still needs a spare. I wish i had known about Clearpath before I found the controller or I'd have probably went that direction for the sake of simplicity but the galil has been a fun project.

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