Where to go to learn about motors for CNC?

[bogiestl]

We're going to be replacing the motors on a Shizouka AN-S when changing the controller on it from a Fanuc 3000C to an Allen Bradley 8400MP (We've already got another 8400MP in the shop).

It came with three Tamagawa resolvers, and switching to encoders is an upgrade, right? We'll be needing to make sure it'll work with the AB, all the other fun stuff...

And I know pretty much next to nothing about this - I'm learning about the CNC and machining business...

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by bogiestl Where to go to learn about motors for CNC? .

Here is a good a place as any!

Originally Posted by bogiestl It came with three Tamagawa resolvers, and switching to encoders is an upgrade, right? .

Not necessarily, but they are not as prevalent as they once were.
And you may have a problem finding a drive or controller that uses them now.
Encoders will give you a lot more flexibility when integrating to another system.
Al.

[mike_Kilroy]

just about all the kollmorgen drives will accept resolver feedback. Look at the newest model AKD & AKM motors to match:

http://kollmorgen.com/website/com/en...rvo_drives.php

feel free to PM me with any questions on this as we sell and apply these and I would be happy to pick models, help you with them.

but it leads to another question: why would you want to do a retrofit with a CNC that has been obsolete, what, 10 years? The AB8400 is soooooooo old that you can basically not get parts for it anymore, right?

Perhaps a much better solution would be to go with one of the newer cncs like mach3 stuff that a zillion people on this forum use and love. and perhaps go with a company that makes a cool interface for it like CNC - MachMotion.com

[bogiestl]

Well, we've already got one AB 8400 that has been in use in the shop for some time...

And I was leaning toward really digging my heels in, and recommending something like Mach3, but a lot of people are saying that a dedicated control unit like the AB 8400 or the Fanuc 3000C (which used to be attached to the machine we're de-mothballing) is really a lot superior to the PC environment for CNC. I'm seeing a lot of negatives to the dedicated controllers (such as parts availability? try ebay!), and I'm wondering if they're just faster, more accurate, or what...

I'm still trying to figure the stuff out myself - my background is computer graphics, etc., but I do gun stuff for fun (competitive benchrest), and I'm trying to help out my bud who I've been crashing with...