I am starting my SX3 CNC conversion shortly and got excited when I found out that the Little Machine Shop was planning on selling their spindle control board designed for 230v (I am in the UK and the original was 110v - they are in the US) and then discovered that it disabled the front panel controls, and stopped being excited...until I found this thread that looks like it is EXACTLY what I am trying to achieve?
I am trying to retain the 'manual' operation of the mill as well as being able to use it with CNC - the conversion kit for the motor fittings I have allowed this, and if I could also control the spindle, this would be the icing on the cake I can cope with slow spin up speeds and 1750 RPM top speed (only had the mill 18 months and it is my first! - although I was interested to read about swapping the pulley to up the top speed? Can the original motor cope with this?)
If there is anything I can do to help, I would be happy to do so? I have limited electronics and engineering skills, but am attempting to build my own CNC electronics - using a parallel breakout board design driving stepper motor drivers based on the THB6064AH chip - the motion controller software is LinuxCNC?
The BOB design I have found has the following features?
- 4 driver outputs with PMinMO compatible flat cable headers.
- 0-10V PWM output for spindle speed.
- Mach3 charge pump.
- 2 relay outputs (12V).
- On board 12V regulator.
- Improved Estop and charge pump functionality.
- Extremely flexible connection scheme for limit switches, supports normal NO or NC contacts and both NPN and PNP proximity switches.
If the drivers are not up to the job I will probably go for Gecko's - G201X's perhaps?
Waiting in anticipation for any news...
Chris