IH CNC Questions

[krymis]

Where are the guys that have CNCed their IH Mills. I need to know if your kit came with a NEMA Enclosure, and if not where did you get yours? What is the box that i need? If you could please post pictures of your setup. I just got everything except for my plastic covers and my extra y axis spacer. I did all the modifications Aaron has listed on his sight (that i could do). Any help would be appreciated.

[krymis]

hey guys i really need some help. I need to know where to get an enclosure or how i should go about making one. I also need a wiring schematic for the wiring of the geckos and power supply. Please post I need help.

[Runner4404spd]

send me an email to jczub and i can email you a wiring schematic. also you can get NEMA enclosures at Mcmaster Carr as well as Grainger. they aren't Cheap but they are certified.

[krymis]

I need a full e-mail addy to send to you. I did send you an e-mail through your cnczone profile

[Ron111]

Krymis,

Like you, I would like to see some threads concerning the cnc of these machines. Since you are in the process, you can contribute what you know and have experienced so far, and post some pictures, and this can help others planning to convert this mill and are monitoring this thread.

First off, what gecko's are you using and are you using steppers or servo's? What is the target voltage of your power supply and have you all the components necessary or are you in the process of designing the electronics? Do you need any sources for components?

Plenty of folks ready to lend an opinion, just need to know where you are at in your project. What do you need to know specifically?

I'll post a pdf on power supplies, and that will show everything except the bleed resister that you may want to use across the filtering capacitor. I look around to find the calculation for the value for this resistor. (My power supply had a final voltage of 36 VDC and the resistor was a 2 watt 500 ohm, and the purpose is to safely drain the capacitor fairly quickly in order to remove the voltage from the drivers when you turn off the power to supply).

Post some pics and you will usually get a good bit of input!!

Ron

[krymis]

I already have all the cnc stuff. Aaron has helped out so much already. I feel that the kit Aaron's kit is one of the best things you can buy for the price. I had to purchase a few things as listed: brake cleaner (to clean shipping grease from ballscrews), Locktite Red, Locktite Blue, Ultra Black RTV (high temp, oil resistant), Sodering iron (old one blew) and soder, Mineral spirits (way lapping), Rags, WD40 (rust inhibitor), box for the drives and power supply, extra relays for spindle on/off coolant on/off, 25' male to male DB25 parallel cord, wiring for the drives and powersupply, and a case of Corona (hey my machine likes the good stuff).

[krymis]

[krymis]

well here are some specs: the geckos are 320 the power supply is a 65v 20a set and there are 2 24v heatsink fans. and everything is pictured except for the mill and computer and 2 extra cooling fans for the case. I also sent in the z slide for the bushing modification.

[Runner4404spd]

send it to

jczub@hotmail.com

[krymis]

well i just stripped the end off of my 25 pin connector. Once i got it off i noticed that i could not just look at the connector to see the wire to pins. I had to use the digital multimeter set to 2 ohms and check each pin and find the corosponding colored wire. I wrote them down on a sheet and now I have the wire colors that would need to go to the geckos. Now, I have to know how all the spindle and coolant stuff comes into play? I only have my power supply(65v/20a), 3 geckos(soon to be four for a rotory table) mounted on heatsinks with 2 fans(24v/0.12A). What do i need for the auto spindle on/off speed control and auto flood coolant on/off? I will not be doing the conversion for the extra stuff right now but want to know how to do it for later. Any other extras i would want to think about doing? Where do i get the power for the geckos(5v regulated) and the fans (4 all together 24v/0.12A) ? how do i do an e-stop set up on the out side of the box?Do i need two more power supplies or how do i do this tapping into the computer power for the geckos? I need this info so i can make my box to put this stuff in.

[BobWarfield]

Power supply is easy. You can follow Ron111's doc (looks like the Campbell Design?). Here are my notes:

http://www.thewarfields.com/MTLatheCNCDrivers.htm

I recommend the Ajax CNC board that goes on top of your electrolytic capacitor:



They're cheap, have everything but the fuses wired up, and they clean up your install considerably. I got my toroidal transformer from Parts Express, also very cheap.

I have seen a lot of posts say the discharge resistor isn't really necessary--the Geckos themselves will discharge your cap. With that said, the Ajax board has one built in.

I am running 70V in my power supply, which is max for the Geckos. They spec 80V, but you want some leeway according to Mariss. The voltage you get is really a function of what your transformer puts out * 1.414 when rectified. Anyway, for ideal stepper performance, you want a motor rated to 1/20 of what your supply has going (yep, sounds wrong, but it isn't, the Gecko will make sure your motor doesn't burn up). You can deal with less, but it won't accelerate as well.

On servos, you are on your own, but I urge you to read Mariss' recent post about the Kelling tech motors over on the Yahoo Gecko board.

On Geckos, I'm running 202's--they're less prone to blowing up when idiots like me use them and don't do it quite right.

What else? You want some shielded cable, yada, yada, read a lot of posts here and on the Gecko and Mach Yahoo boards, lotsa people ready to help, yada, yada, and, Oh Yeah! If it helps any, my CNC Dictionary is here:

http://www.thewarfields.com/MTCNCDictionary.htm

Welcome, and as one of the other fellas here says, "May the cutting force be with you."

Best,

BW

[krymis]

bob,
the power end is 65v/20a. It was already built from IH.
how do i get power to my power supply? How do i connect the wiring from the outlet to the supply and where do they get connected? What do i use as a switch to turn it on and off? Where do i get the switch? Do I have to add any more fuses to the power supply going to the geckos?