EMCO Compact5 CNC help needed.

[ESjaavik]

I just got home one of these cute little things. There are not a lot of CNC lathes that can be brought home in an AR GTV, with careful planning this one can (2,4 and reverse not available due to interference).

The price was nice, the complete lack of documentation is not. Do you know any corner of the Internet where these may be stored?

And it would be nice to get in contact with others that have some experience on this machine. I have understood that not all of them can do threads, on this one that seems to be available according to the "Cheater sheet" on the left side of the electronics box.

[Al_The_Man]

Is it the CNC version? if not does it have ball screw or acme?
If you get stuck for info try the Google Groups http://groups-beta.google.com/
(just saw CNC in the title).
Al

[ESjaavik]

Yes, it's the Compact 5 CNC. I'll be able to answer on the ball screw question when I have torn it apart for a cleaning, but it looks like it is.

I did some Googling, but did not come up with much useful info (yet).

[Aley]

I have one of these machines. Compared to a big industrial model it's not much, bit it's made me thousands of parts with little complaint.

A good online resource is the Yahoo group compact5users. You can find documentation on many of the models, and answers to most common questions and problems. There are quite a few people there who have a lot of experience with the C5CNC. Also, look up Welsoft's website for information about control upgrades and lots of other good information.

There are three basic revisions of the C5CNC, known as Mk1, Mk2, and Mk4. (I have no idea what happened to Mk3!) Mk4 is the most desirable, as it can do partial arcs and can be fitted with a relay to allow the control to turn the spindle on and off, as well as some other bells and whistles like 210 blocks of G-code instead of 125. Mk2 and up can fit a 6-position tool turret and can be connected to a PC through the serial port for uploading and downloading programs. It's painfully slow at 300 baud, but it's much faster than typing a program into the front panel each time you want to run it.

Most control parts are no longer available from Emco, but many of the mechanical bits of the lathe are still made since the manual version of the machine is still in production. The control is fortunately very simple, consisting primarily of a 6502 computer and associated support boards. I've had to troubleshoot problems to the board level only twice, and both times it turned out to be blown PIO chips that I was able to buy at a local electronics supplier.

Congratulations on your new lathe! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.

Dave

[ESjaavik]

@Aley: Thanks for useful info. I have to go look in the yahoo forum then.
It does not surprise me that there is a 6502 inside. At the time the Compact5 was launched I was knee deep in 6502 and 6800. I probably still have both CPU's and peripherals on some SBC's somewhere in the attic. And if it really blows up, I can always fit a single board PC with EMC or similar. The mechanics really had me by surprise, I thought it was just a toy with stepper motors. But it seems there is only the bed and tailstock taken from the standard Compact 5. The rest does not even resemble it.

@Al: It has ball screws! Cute little 8mm x 2.5mm preloaded screws. When cleaned and lubricated they now run without crunch or binding. I'll take some pictures and put them here. They may be very good examples for borrowing when you DIY.

OK. So I'm off to Yahoo then to see what I can find.

[Capteod]

Originally Posted by ESjaavik I just got home one of these cute little things. There are not a lot of CNC lathes that can be brought home in an AR GTV, with careful planning this one can (2,4 and reverse not available due to interference). The price was nice, the complete lack of documentation is not. Do you know any corner of the Internet where these may be stored? And it would be nice to get in contact with others that have some experience on this machine. I have understood that not all of them can do threads, on this one that seems to be available according to the "Cheater sheet" on the left side of the electronics box.

I have the original manuals, Operating and Parts. They are at least 100 pages long and I will have to have KINKo copy it.

If you want a copy, please advise me. The cost per page is $0.15 per page. Shipping cost will be about $15.00 via UPS. REPLY OFFLINE

Eugene N. Neigoff
19675 N. Overton Court
Surprise, AZ 85374
mfgguru@cox.com