13x42 CNC Vertical Knee Mill Ajax Control Retrofit

[nvdave]

Hello Everyone.

I'm starting this build thread with 2 main purposes. First, since this is my first machine and my first retrofit, maybe some of you heavy hitters can help a newbie, as cncsnw and Al The Man already have. Second is that I hope others can benefit from something I'm sharing. This machine is part of the metal fab shop I have created to hopefully start building off-road buggies and similar fab products. This machine is my baby, though.

I purchased the machine about 4 yrs ago from a man here in Vegas by the name of Mel White. Many of you probably know him. He is a great guy and has went out of his way to help me on more than one occasion. This is a machine that Mel actually produced in 1990-1992 or so. It has a rigid head and is built like a tank. I bought it with a Hust control which slowly degraded in functionality to where I could only use MDI one line at a time. I finally (after years of lurking here and other sites) purchased the Ajax system for 3rd party drives and am currently about 95% on the retrofit. I've had to rewire all 3 servos, all 3 limits switches and the entire electrical panel. I decided to use the old control panel and adapt it to its new 15" flat screen monitor. I used the old mill one last time to fabricate the new front for the panel. I built a shallow box to house the new monitor and the new control panel and attached it to the front of the old control cabinet. I decided to install the PC in this same cabinet. I cut up the PC's case into subsections and mounted them inside the cabinet. Everything is modualar and I can replace any part of the PC just as easily as if it were in a regualr PC case. I'm going to attempt to post some pics here for the first time. These pics are the "before" pics.
Thanks for looking and for any help/comments you may have,
Dave

[nvdave]

Here are some "during" pics:

[backyard_cnc]

Hi there,

Just wondering how the project was going? Making parts with the mill yet?

I have almost completed my AJAX conversion of a knee mill as well and hope to make chips by the weekend. Have the 3 axis motion working good and even the spindle with a MITSUBISHI VFD similar to yours is also working. Just need to bring an inverter fault line back to the controller to allow some added safety should the invertor fault and go offline when we still have motion.

I have done some jog tests up to 250IPM and run some GCODE cutting air and so far so good. I did opt to buy the AJAX JOG PENDANT and I am very happy I did as it was a breeze to install and beats wiring a panel :-). I have opted to purchase CNC11 rather than going with MACH3 which was my first plan. I think is money well spend for the CNC11 software.

Give us an update of whats happening with the machine please.

Gerald

[Jackal66]

Gerald,

That looks good!!!

I guess that you have done some wiring before?

You have already helped me, by confirming it is ok to put a power strip in the cabinet.

Be sure to show us some parts after you run it.

JAckal

[backyard_cnc]

Hey Jackal66

Thanks for the comments. I have done a few small test parts on the mill but nothing worth taking a picture of to post on here. I have actually been off this project for a little while getting ready to shoehorn a SHOPBOT PRT 4x8 router table into my workshop!

I have used power bars like this on several projects with good success. I generally try to buy a better quality metal cased unit. Since they are UL and CSA approved and have built in overload protection they are idea for quick and easy power distribution for low draw items. In my case the power bar supplies the PC, AJAX controller and the small 24Vdc power supply to supply the inputs and relays. Total draw not much more than 6~8 amps. For higher current applications you might be better served to use something more heavy duty.

Gerald