Basic Steps to a Conversion

[ktmrider]

I have a an old CNC mill. The servos are good. I have been looking into Mach3 as a controller. I understand the vipers are the way to go to push the servos. What else do I need to pull this off?

Thanks for the help.

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by ktmrider I have a an old CNC mill. The servos are good. I have been looking into Mach3 as a controller. I understand the vipers are the way to go to push the servos. What else do I need to pull this off? Thanks for the help.

As they say it all depends.
You say that the servos are good.
What about the drives and power supplies?
If they are good and usable you can go with the Kflop and the kanalog option or go all out and use the dspmc.
Both have the ability to drive the analog servo amps that are most likely on the mill.

If the servo amps are not usable then the vipers are a valid option. Of course it all depends on what the motors are rated for voltage.
If they are 80v motors, the G320x would be a very viable option to drive them.

For conversation lets say you are going to use the viper drives and already have a usable power supply. You would at the very least need a breakout board of some sort to make it easier to connect to the parallel port of the computer.
Limit switches should still be there but may need to be replaced do to age.
Then it all depends on what you want for options such as speed control from the computer or do you want to turn the spindle on manually.


Mike.

[ktmrider]

Ok I found the KFlop info.

What is the dspmc?

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by ktmrider Ok I found the KFlop info. What is the dspmc?

=

Here is a link to my build thread using the DSPMC/ip motion controller.
There is a link to the devices web page in the first post.

I will be doing some more updates soon as I have been doing more to the machine. Rufi, the man at vital system, has just sent me the upgraded firmware to do probing and the initial tests are sweet.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Mike

BTC-1 retro fit using DSPMC/IP controller.

[ktmrider]

Hey thanks for the help.

[TOTALLYRC]

Glad to help.
Remember to keep asking questions and do your homework.
This is one of those times that the dog ate my homework doesn't fly. LOL

Keep us posted on how it all works out.

Merry Christmas,

Mike