can a morbidelli u 46 be run by mach 3

[ceencee]

Im not new to cnc but am very new at building them. I have a chance to get a morbidelli u 46 for 500$. Everything is there except the controller and wiring to the gantry. It was an insurance claim I believe and they cut the wires of at the gantry and put it on the junk pile. Now would i be able to take all the servos and such and build a 4x8 router with the existing parts? Would Mach 3 control something like that...i dont know if everything is brand related or what, but it is an abundance of parts that would make the cnc build go faster and stronger. Any input on the electronics side would be very helpful. Thanks

[ger21]

Short answer is yes, but it won't be easy.
Not sure if you can use the existing servo drives, but if you can, you'll at least need to use a Galil or DSPMC card to drive them.
I'm guessing you'll be largely on your own, as there aren't many Mach3 conversions of machines like that. I only know of one:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7mGOdbhns"]YouTube - ‪Biesse "duzzit" conversion. New drilling cycles completed. Much better!‬‏[/nomedia]

The guy who did this Biesse conversion can be found on the Mach3 Yahoo group. His email name there is Bennyattwell. I believe he's a member here as well, but don't recall his username.

$500 would easily be worth it for the linear rails alone, though. Just be aware that you'll have your work cut out for you.

Any input on the electronics side would be very helpful.

I've never seen that particular machine, but generally, the electronics are extremely complex. Hopefully, you can get the schematics, and know enough to understand them.

[battwell]

yup. its me!

[battwell]

did you buy it?

[ceencee]

ya its sitting in the shop now in pieces. The rebuild has started, I have made a couple videos on youtube, showing what i have to work with and what i plan on doing. Hopefully i will have it going by christmas. As with all projects, finding the time is the biggest hurdle.

[battwell]

ahhhhgh youve killed it lol
ive subscribed to see what you get when you finish it.

[ceencee]

lol, ya its not what it used to be. Hopefully it will be better with the new hardware and a controller update. I had no real use for a pod system so I went the 4x8 route. Maybe a mistake...maybe not....will see when its all done, lol.