Build Thread- Supermax YCM-40 to Mach3

[cwaugs]

I bought this dude very reasonably with the varispeed off, and apart, and have the mechanical part pretty much back together after replacing several bearings and having the eggshaped keyway on the shaft widened to try and save replacing the shaft. Then had a wider key made to fit the widened slot. Now I am starting on the electronics. Am I better off buying a motherboard, power supply, and hard drive and just mounting them inside the control box on the side of the mill, or having a separate computer case to contend with? I also had some time to gut the box and just received the Campbell breakout board (version 1.9) and am in the process of tracing down what limit switch wiring goes where. I am still up in the air as to going with the Viper200's or the geckos. The 200's run the motors (MT30M4's) at the 140 volts they were designed for, but I don't know if I will ever need that kind of speed. And would like opinions as to what use the glass scales would be if any, as I do not have the control board that would translate them into something usable. This is a huge undertaking for me and don't want any regrets. Thanks much and highly value your opinion and input. The pictures are in process.

[Swenzn]

Are you getting rid of the Crusader M control and servos? If so I have a nice home for the parts. We have a YCM90 xyz and a YCM40 xy CNC with the Crusader M control. We will be converting the YCM40 to a DRO and are saving the control for spare parts on the YCM90, (already used a relay and the display.) So if you need somewhere to get rid of the old guts let me know.

[MattTheNoob]

You can take a look at my work-in-progress to see about power supply/bob/servo mounting. I'm not claiming that it is the "right" way, or even a good way, but may help with your brainstorming.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79207

[cwaugs]

I'll let you know on the parts Swenzn but I only will have the guts of the control box if I decide to sell them. Never had the controller. and COOL Machine Mat! Thanks much for the pics it sure helps to enable me to map out how I picture the end result. Question, what's the smooth stepper for (I'm using SEM servo motors) Anyhow here's some pics as to where I'm at right now.

[MattTheNoob]

Mach3 sends IO through the parallel port, and fewer computers have one these days, let alone two. The smoothstepper connects to your computer via USB and provides two parallel ports to connect to your breakout board(s). Presumably, it also takes some of the load off of your cpu by handling the pulse timing and such. Much on this topic is already documented on this site.

[cwaugs]

Ah, makes sense. I did do a search and came up with people using them but didn't come up with what it is. Thank You Sir! Wayne

[cwaugs]

I have posted most of my experiences on the Viper forum but I Have it running at 200IPM right now and will go much faster but I need to tune the drives so they don't error with the higher load. I ran a G code file and all seems well. Just need to finish the spindle wiring and I'll be cuttin in no time. Wayne