Help with CNC Bed Mill

[jevs]

I just picked up a Pratt & Whitney CNC Tapemate C bed mill. I want to convert it to use modern computer input. I believe it has a 5HP 3 phase spindle motor and uses Fanuc servo motors for the rest. It does have a tool changer head also. I was just wondering if anyone knows the best way to go about this. I also cannot get 4 of the machine parameters into the controller because it requires a tape to do it. Anyone know how to get around this? I was thinking about just scrapping the Fanuc controller and retrofitting with something modern, but I am not sure where to go first. I need to do this as cheep as possible. I actually got this machine from my dad and it is in excellent condition. He never used it, but got it really cheep from a school. I need to get it up and running so I can make the parts for a CNC router and other things. I also do not have 3 phase power in my shop. Would it be better to convert the machine to single phase or just use a rotary 3 phase converter? I actually have a 3 phase converter that my dad built, but I am not sure if this will be good enough for CNC. Can I just tune it and get it to work well with CNC? He used it on a non CNC lathe and it worked fine.

[Al_The_Man]

What flavour of Fanuc is it? What is the hp of the convertor? is it rotary type? The important thing is to make sure the phases are fairly balanced, it may just need tuning. Most Fanuc's do not necessarily need a tape to enter the parameters, but in most cases a write enable bit or an enable toggle switch has to be made. Do you have all the manuals and documentation with the Mill? Although it is probabally an older Fanuc control, to put a modern day equivalent of what you have will cost plenty.
Al

[jevs]

When you say "what flavour of Fanuc is it", what info are you looking for. From all the manuals it seems it is a Tapemate C. Is there some other info I should be looking for? The only other thing I found says "Fanuc Tape Drill Series "C". This machine was basically sold as a lighter duty Machining center. It will Drill, Tap, and Mill. It holds 7 tools. Movements are X-20", Y-15", Z-8.5". The reciepts for the original purchase say "Pratt & Whitney Tapemate Series C Machining Center".

My converter is a 7.5HP I believe. (it has a big 3 phase motor that is 7.5HP I think)

It is a Rotary Type.

According to what I have found is that the first 4 parameters are entered by tape and the rest manually. I did enter all the Manual ones and it did seem to get the machine mostly functioning at least manually. Since then the memory battery went dead and I lost that so I will have to do it again. I did this about a year ago when my dad had the machine and I knew pretty much nothing about machining.

I do have all the manuals and documentation.

How come it would cost a lot to make this a modern control machine? I see setups for control software and interfaces for around $1100.

Can I just hook in somewhere and send G codes over to the factory controller without buying a bunch of other stuff?

The main problem is how do I get those first 4 parameters in the machine without a tape?

What about just getting some software and an interface box and hooking into the Fanuc drivers? (something like Flashcut, Logitrol, or Microkinetics, etc.)

I know the school this machine came from hooked a computer to it to bypass the tapemate, but that's all I know. I think a student may have designed the software for that though I am not sure. I found a manual for some software that I think a student made for it. It says on the first page "PC-based Servo Control System". It is called AMI. The address on the front is the Schools address and is dated March 1995. All I have on that is a manual though.

Here is a picture of it when we were unloading it at 3 AM . It is kinda dirty, because my dad is a woodworker. Once the dust is off it though the machine is in excelent shape with hardly any use. The paint even looks almost new.

[Al_The_Man]

OK now I see the panel I know what you have, It's been a long time since I had anything to do with one, it's a very old system pre-1980's.
You may be in luck with the retrofit idea because they are probabally DC drives with standard +-10v analogue input. I remember inputing data etc, but I have no info on entering parameters.
Al

[jevs]

It does use DC servo motors. Not sure on the analog input I would have to look at the manuals I guess. Any suggestions where to find out about entering those parameters, or would they not be neccessary if I replaced the control setup with something newer PC and just used the drivers and motors? Do you have any suggestions on getting this thing CNC operational? Would I keep the original front panel. I am not sure where to start. I just want to get it up and running 2D and 3D as cheep as possible.

[Al_The_Man]

If there is no one here with a longer memory than mine, you may want to try the CNC machineshop group http://www.cnczone.com/cg...f=13&submit=Go
or one other of the other cnc machine N.G.s
If you go with a PC system you would scrap the old display panel completely, to use the drives and motors, you probabally need a system that uses a PC based motion card with analogue outputs, the ones that I have used in the past are Galil, Acroloop and Delta-Tau, but they do not run cheap, unless you pick the cards up on ebay. All three manufacturers offer CNC programs. The cheapest route, obviously is to get the existing system up and running, if it is just a matter of entering a couple of parameters, It is just that, that one line display for entering data is a bit of a pain.
Al

[jevs]

If I get it up and running like it is, is there a way to dump programs into the controller with a PC instead of manually typing in each line on the control panel? I am not really too interested in doing things that way. Also, I think I read somewhere that the machine can only operate X,Y simultaniously or X,Z simultaniously. I think it cannot do X,Y,Z movements together at the same time. Is this normal or is it because the technology just wasn't there yet?

[Al_The_Man]

You may have to specify the plane selection by G code, check the list and see if it shows G17 (X-Y) G18 (Z-X) G19 (Y-Z)?
If it has the Tape reader, there are companies that make a BTR (behind-the-tape-reader) which is a circuit board and software that converts the parallel tape interface into the RS232 PC standard such as http://www.shopfloorautomations.com, but they usually run above $1,000.00
Al

[jevs]

I did some research today and found out my controller is a Fanuc 5. Also, the tech told me the drivers use +/- 10V input to control them. I think I can get a BTR for about $1400. I am not sure If it is worth it, because if my controller fails thats the end. There really arent any boards available from Fanuc anyway. What inexpensive options would I have to retrofit using my drivers and servo motors that are in the machine?

[posuper1]

I just bought one of these Pratt & Whittney Tapemate series C mills. It has no manuals or documentation with it. Name your PRICE for a COPY of all the information you have with your machine. i would like to start playing with this but don't know where to start.

Any information you can copy for me would be great.


Richard
posuper@pacbell.net

[RotarySMP]

For $1400 you could toss all the the Fanuc stuff and drive the motors with a set of Geckos and Mach 3. Assuming you like a electromechanical challenge, and the motors are less than 70V.

[jevs]

You will need to use the Rutex drivers. Geckos are not going to handle these motors. It would take a ton of copying for all the manuals I have. I have the complete schematics and service manuals, programming manuals etc. Not sure how I would even do it. They are not all 8.5" x 11" either. I wonder if a copy store would copy them if I told them I just needed backups to get greasy or something? Do you have any tooling or know where I can get any tooling for the tapemate C? I need something to hold end mills etc. You can e-mail me directly at jevs@charter.net if you want. I already pulled all the electronics except the servos and spindle motor.