Build Thread- Induma Conversion

[alexchally]

Hey all, I have been lurking for a while and figured I might as well start a thread about the conversion I have just seriously started on. I picked up a well loved Induma brand mill, probably 30 or more years old. It is more or less a BP clone although a little heftier and with a couple of key design differences (the Y axis screw location comes to mind).

My plan is to refit and refurbish her over the summer. In addition to adding CNC control I am planning on replacing any other worn parts, rebuilding the head (including spindle bearings!) and probably giving her a shiny red paint job.

I have started with the electronics, mostly because I am waiting for the right ball screws to show up on ebay. I figure in the mean time I can bench test all the electronics and get to know EMC2.

So far I have:
Hitachi SJ200 2HP VFD wired up and working
3x 1HP (666 Watt) Summit servo motor
1x 320 Gecko Drive
1x 500 line count US Digital encoder

In the mail right now:
C11G board from CNC4PC
2x 320x Gecko drives
2x 500 line US Digital encoders
1500W 80v power supply.

There is a massive list of things left to do, from actually wiring everything together (safely!) to designing and making brackets and mounting plates for everything. Making the hardware for attaching it all should be the easy part, I am a newbie at the electronics stuff, having taken a couple of electronics theory classes but I have almost no practical experience with industrial electronics.

Quick question for the CNCzone Hivemind. What is the general thoughts on Z axis movement in a knee mill? It would be nice to have the extra travel that motorizing the knee would provide, but it just seems like an awful lot of work to move all that metal all the time, and that movement on the ways is never going to be as accurate as the honed quill.