Another Sharnoa CNC Retrofit

[MetalCNCing]

Hello Machinists!

I've been a member for quite a while here but really haven't had much time to fiddle with cnc machines until recently when I got a pretty good deal on a used 4-Axis (XYZA) Sharnoa CNC Mill. I have a good bit of electronics background, but not much mechanical.

I retrofitted the machines old Glentek drives with Gecko Drives (320X) to drive the DC Servos (12A 140v) which had I believe 500 count encoders, and used the existing Transformer PSU to power the drives @ 80VDC.

For Control i'm currently running off the Mach3. The machine Mechanically only had 0.002" backlash in almost all the axises which I compensated for via Mach. I'm fairly new to machining stuff myself, even though I have a quite a few family members who have multiple HAAS / FADAL machines with crazy tolerances, still learning what feed-rates work well with what materials etc and i'm slowly learning by breaking a few end mills here and there .

Now I'm looking to add control I/O for program run/stop, jog wheel, spindle start, etc and wanted to see what options I have. Currently the control PC has 2 parallel ports, only one of them is being used for the Gecko drives.

Also, does anyone have any manuals for this machine? I haven't been able to make a "brain" program in Mach3 to run the auto-lube pump for 2seconds every 1.5mins... Does anyone know how that can be achieved?

If anyone has any ideas as far as maybe something I missed, what else can I do with the machine retrofit? please let me know. I have attached some pictures of the machine before the retrofit, I will post more pictures as I Add/Change things...

-Allen

[jorber]

hello!
I am ready for doing a retrofit in a similar mill, did you get the manuals?
I am looking for the mechanical manuals as all the electronics will be changed

[dougputt]

Hey

Just wondering how you're making out with your project? What do you think of the Sharnoa? I have opportunity to pick one up dependent on pricing, just haven't heard much about them. Currently have a Bridgeport and Fadal

[MetalCNCing]

Sorry for the late reply guys...

jorber: Still havent been able to find manuals, but however i'm running the machine without axis limits, just for testing purposes. I do have an Estop, its the first thing I wired up!

dougputt: The Sharnoa cnc's are very powerful (mechanically, not so much the spindle) and rigid machines, in my opinion they are more rugged then todays Haas / Fadal tables, as the older type machines ran on hardened ways, not linear guides as todays machines are...

I have a question for some of the more experienced on here as well:

The machine currently has a Anayak style spindle head with a Reivaj 3HP Motor that can only do a max of around 3000RPM but it has a very high torque at slow speeds, which is a no go for high speed tooling using split carbide etc for aluminum / plastics / thin plates / tooling dies etc. My question is can I run 2 motors on this one spindle always connected together but only one starts depending on the cutting application? I have a 15HP 16K RPM custom made from Germany high speed motor made for cnc applications with a VFD, but this 3HP motor has very high torque at slow speeds which I want to use for large hogging applications using for example a 2" cutting head, I want to connect the motors together, but not sure if they will cause each other problems. I'm mostly concerned about the high speed motor being too fast for the bearings in the machine itself, and also if the high speed motor has enough starting torque to turn the belts, the other motor etc? I don't need the motor to do max speed ill be happy with 10-12K RPM like a normal Fadal does...

And also if someone is interested there is a Sharnoa just like mine (pictures in the first post) for sale for $2500 (asking 2.5k but he might even let go for 2k) in the Los Angeles area California contact me if your interested...

[jorber]

Please contat me, i am interested in your friends sharnoa

[MetalCNCing]

Contact Me at (562) 242-8479 Anytime (24hrs) or email me at allen@allen.dj

Thanks,

-Allen

[MetalCNCing]

Here is a video of the Sharnoa Retrofit! Switching out the Gecko 320x Drives to Viper 200's, the Geckos just fault too much on those huge axis motors!

Sharnoa CNC Retrofitted - Running with Mach3 Control - YouTube

Sharnoa CNC Retrofitted - Running with Mach3 Control - YouTube