best computer setup for EMC?

[RP Designs]

I was looking at the EMC wiki and I really don't know what any of the numbers mean or how to interpret them. I will be needing to build a low cost computer to run my next build and would like to set something up that is low cost that performs well and is trouble free out of the box. I will only be using this to run the machine, nothing else. So can someone recomend a good motherboard, cpu, SSHD, required memory and any ancillary cards I may need for the job. I'd rather copy someone's well worked out system than trial and error my way along.
Thanks

[marzetti]

It seems the setup most guys are using these days is the Intel D510MO with an SSD. If you search the threads on Gmane Loom you can find a lot of talk about this setup. Of course you can do like I did and find an old P4 Dell for free and it will run just fine as well .

[MrWild]

the best? Low cost? ANYTHING from a PIII 1,000 to a Asus Atom. I hav an old Dell with 512MB of ram and a 6gb HD, two dell PIVs with 2.1gz, 2gb RAM, 30GBhd and a new Atom with 1Gb RAM and 30Gb SSD. all work well. te PIII was free, the two Optiplex 150s were $60.

[slowlearner]

Where is the best place to start learning "emc" ? Does anyone sell a complete retro-kit for a kneemill?Tia

[TarHeelTom]

Originally Posted by slowlearner Where is the best place to start learning "emc" ? Does anyone sell a complete retro-kit for a kneemill?Tia

Joe Martin, of Sherline, has written a pretty good textbook on cnc, and it's based on the Sherline adaptation of emc2. And of course, emc2 is free, and probably you can get hold of a copy of the Sherline video display software for emc2. This video display is great for a beginner as you can start with a blank screen and start the gcode and watch the tool move on the screen without even having it attached to a machine.

I've never seen a complete retro-kit for a kneemill, and doubt that it exists. It's kinda like flavors of icecream, everyone wants a different flavor.

That being said, it would be fairly easy to put together a system from a very limited number of parts.

Ready to run power supplies are available from several different suppliers. I got a 56 volt 7 amp supply from Kehling. Next time I'll look for an 80 volt supply with 12 volt and 24 volt outputs on the side.

If one started with a Gecko 540 driver, that's a lot of the bits and pieces taken care of in one small box. May not be enough capacity for a knee mill, so Gecko 203V's and a PMDX-136 (for example) would take care of getting the steppers running (assuming you're using steppers).

I used the existing power cabinet on my Bridgeport and chunked the computer cabinet. Took a lot of time to mount all the bits and pieces on a back plane to fit inside the cabinet. If (when) I build a cnc router, I'll probably go with the Campbell Designs - CNC with Bob Campbell case from Bob Campbell Designs.

Actually, the Mach3 box can be ordered with all the of the bits and pieces already installed and wired, so it comes pretty darned close to being a retrofit for a kneemill, at least as far as the electronics are concerned.

If you're talking about adding cnc to a manual mill, there's a lot more involved, and there are so many different variables out there, like sourcing and mounting ball screws and steppers or servos, that it'd be very unlikely that anyone could make much money with a one box setup, especially as VMC's are starting to show up on the surplus market at bargain prices.

Tom

[slowlearner]

Thanks for the info Tom. I have an old Yamazen cnc kneemill that hasnt run since Mastercam 6 . It has a AB 8400 on it with SEM servos. I really dont have a need for it but want to learn how it all works.
Take care,
Scott

[sansbury]

This is a build log for a Bridgeport interact, might help you in getting a sense of what's involved.

Bridgeport Series II Interact 2 CNC Mill

The best place to go for help is the emc-users mailing list. There are a lot of experts there who can help point you in the right direction.

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users

[TarHeelTom]

Originally Posted by sansbury This is a build log for a Bridgeport interact, might help you in getting a sense of what's involved. Bridgeport Series II Interact 2 CNC Mill

That's a good build article. I got a lot of useful information from it when I was starting my rehab.

Tom

[Jimsz]

Originally Posted by marzetti It seems the setup most guys are using these days is the Intel D510MO with an SSD. If you search the threads on Gmane Loom you can find a lot of talk about this setup. Of course you can do like I did and find an old P4 Dell for free and it will run just fine as well .

I'm looking at picking up GX 260 - 512MG RAM. I noticed on the Linuxcnc latency values that SMI should be disabled. Did you have to do that or any other mods to get your P4 working well?

[chester88]

Here is another good right up, this is a servo machine:

ProjectSheetCake - sector67-sandbox - A 3-axis CNC mill conversion from Anilam 1100M controls to EMC2 - A code sandbox for http://sector67.org software projects - Google Project Hosting

[marzetti]

Originally Posted by Jimsz I'm looking at picking up GX 260 - 512MG RAM. I noticed on the Linuxcnc latency values that SMI should be disabled. Did you have to do that or any other mods to get your P4 working well?

No, I was lucky and it worked just fine with no effort on my part. So now I'm looking for another to keep as a spare. My strategy has always been to stay at least one generation behind the state of the art with computers and work with free or low-cost machines. LOL