Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ? - Page 2


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Thread: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

  1. #21
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    CL_MotoTech:

    See below:

    Quote Originally Posted by CL_MotoTech View Post
    I dont think my land lord would have liked me poking holes in the floor.
    No, you're not supposed to tell 'em!

    Quote Originally Posted by CL_MotoTech View Post
    I own a house and detached two car garage now. Space isn't unlimited, but I don't have to worry about the 30" wide stair case either.

    Here's my G0704.
    That looks like a nice machine. Enclosure and even a tool changer! I need to build an enclosure also. I now have a Sherline and got tired of it spewing chips all over so built an enclosure from scrap. It was a real help so I plan to do this for the new machines, and a better one for the Sherline. It was a hassle opening the enclosure to apply cutting fluid though. I've always used mist coolant and plan to add this, for Sherline and new machines. Thus a wood box should work fine, rather than for flood coolant.

    I don't need a tool changer for the runs of 1-5 parts I do. I'd surely want to build up a fourth axis though. Getting way ahead of myself though. I still have to pick a machine and order it.

    Thank for the help and the pic.

    Hugh



  2. #22
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    maxspongebob:

    I wrote Prescision Matthews asking the questions you brought up. I also went to the LMS site and looked for a driver board. I only found these for the HiTorque (Sieg?) SX2 mini mill and SC2 mini lathes. Is this what is being used for the PM1228?

    Thanks.

    Hugh

    Quote Originally Posted by maxspongebob View Post
    Also you should ask for some details on the motor drive. You will want to be able to control the driver with your system. It says the spindle is brushless DC. Find out what the driver is. If it is the same as the driver on their PM1228 lathe, then Little Machine Shop has a board you can use to control it.




  3. #23
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Quote Originally Posted by currinh View Post
    maxspongebob:

    I wrote Prescision Matthews asking the questions you brought up. I also went to the LMS site and looked for a driver board. I only found these for the HiTorque (Sieg?) SX2 mini mill and SC2 mini lathes. Is this what is being used for the PM1228?

    Thanks.

    Hugh
    Here is my thread on the motor driver.
    https://www.cnczone.com/forums/bench...-sx4-bldc.html

    The BLDC driver they use is actually fairly common but few seem to mention it in conversions. The board is marked XMT_DRIVER_1000 or XMT_DRIVER_1500. Several people have tried in the past to create an interface board that lets you feed it a Start/Stop, Direction, and 1-10V speed signals but LMS is the only one that I have seen that was successful.



  4. #24
    Member phomann's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Hi,
    If you’re looking to tuck the axis motors away in your conversion have a look at how I did it. It may give you a few ideas.

    https://www.homanndesigns.com/info/i...cnc-conversion

    Cheers
    Peter.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

    -------------------------------------------------
    Homann Designs - http://www.homanndesigns.com


  5. #25
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    maxspongebob:

    It would be nice if the motor control was the same. Both from PM so there is a change. But the PM1228 is Chinese, I believe, while the PM728VT is Taiwanese. Hopefully PM will send us useful information. Thanks.

    Hugh

    Quote Originally Posted by maxspongebob View Post
    Here is my thread on the motor driver.




  6. #26
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Peter:

    A very nice and well thought out conversion. Nice work and just what I was thinking on tucking the steppers under the machine. Did you lose any X or Y travel doing this?

    I hope you are away from the fires down there. We get a few reports of them way up here in the US. Take care.

    Thanks.

    Hugh

    Quote Originally Posted by phomann View Post
    Hi,
    If you’re looking to tuck the axis motors away in your conversion have a look at how I did it. It may give you a few ideas.




  7. #27
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    I got a response back from PM to the questions I sent them.

    Regarding CNC conversion: "We are actually planning to offer this is a CNC Machine, it will be some time, but it will be available. Looking like around 6 months. It will be an excellent small CNC mill. I do not have a conversion kit for them though, thats something we also talked about."

    For CNC spindle control: "I do not have much info on that other than it uses the standard potentiometer to control the speed, so I am sure it can be made to run from a CNC control."

    About the column bolts: "No, they are not accessible from above, I have included some pics of the parts when they are being assembled. You cant see the bolts, but they bolt from underneath, up towards the column." The pictures show no bolts as seen from above.

    Is the manual available: "Not yet, but its close."

    More information little by little.

    Thanks.

    Hugh



  8. #28

    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    The price point and specs on the CNC version are eagerly awaited!



  9. #29
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Quote Originally Posted by currinh View Post
    Peter:

    A very nice and well thought out conversion. Nice work and just what I was thinking on tucking the steppers under the machine. Did you lose any X or Y travel doing this?

    I hope you are away from the fires down there. We get a few reports of them way up here in the US. Take care.

    Thanks.

    Hugh
    Hi Hugh,
    No, there is no lose of travel. Also one of the reasons for using belts is that I can use them for gear reduction if I want to use servo motors

    As to the fires, they are all north at the moment. We are likely to see then in late January or February. In Victoria.

    Cheers
    Peter


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

    -------------------------------------------------
    Homann Designs - http://www.homanndesigns.com


  10. #30
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    This is definitely good mill. Quality of Taiwanese machines is surely better than Chinese. I have PM-727 ( https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-727v/ ) very similar model. High quality. The highest power and torque possible from 110-120V . There are differences though. Mine has 1.5 HP motor, gear driven, 6 steps spindle speed ranges and it is ~100lbs heavier. Both models equally good for a conversion. I haven't started it yet but the research is mostly done and the parts to get are known. If you afford to get a new one I'd recommend to add few options which are much cheaper to get from them in a single purchase order than to buy later anywhere else (not even mentioning that their parts are of high quality compared to buying from ebay even though PM order will be cheaper). If you decide to buy from PM directly, let me know I can give you more advice details. for ex. ballscrews and bearings you most likely can get from ebay if they happen to be the same size as PM-727...
    This mill conversion will be fun guaranteed and the results can be made equal to the commercial CNC if you are careful with tolerances, precision and then calibration of software.



  11. #31
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Peter:

    Nice to hear this can be done without losing any travel. I'll probably go this way even though a CNC version is coming. Space is critical so tucking the motors towards the machine is attractive. But also if I do the conversion I know exactly what's in there, similarly with the electronics and software. No clue what the cost would be for a CNC from PM either.

    I do hope the fires lessen. Good to hear you're in no danger.

    Thanks.

    Hugh

    Quote Originally Posted by phomann View Post
    Hi Hugh,
    No, there is no lose of travel. Also one of the reasons for using belts is that I can use them for gear reduction if I want to use servo motors

    As to the fires, they are all north at the moment. We are likely to see then in late January or February. In Victoria.




  12. #32
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    eBirdman:

    Responses below:

    Quote Originally Posted by eBirdman View Post
    This is definitely good mill. Quality of Taiwanese machines is surely better than Chinese. I have PM-727 ( https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-727v/ ) very similar model. High quality. The highest power and torque possible from 110-120V . There are differences though. Mine has 1.5 HP motor, gear driven, 6 steps spindle speed ranges and it is ~100lbs heavier. Both models equally good for a conversion.
    I hadn't looked carefully at the specs for the PM-727. I'm surprised the PM-25, PM-728 and PM-727 are so close in size. Quite a difference in weight though. The Taiwan pedigree is very attractive to me. I've had two Taiwanese machines, although made over 40 years ago, and have been very pleased with them.

    Quote Originally Posted by eBirdman View Post
    I haven't started it yet but the research is mostly done and the parts to get are known. If you afford to get a new one I'd recommend to add few options which are much cheaper to get from them in a single purchase order than to buy later anywhere else (not even mentioning that their parts are of high quality compared to buying from ebay even though PM order will be cheaper). If you decide to buy from PM directly, let me know I can give you more advice details. for ex. ballscrews and bearings you most likely can get from ebay if they happen to be the same size as PM-727...
    I'll send you a PM regarding which add-ons you suggest. Will also be in touch when I get to the design stage for parts, pieces and suppliers. Not sure ball screws for the 727 would be close enough in size but maybe.

    Quote Originally Posted by eBirdman View Post
    This mill conversion will be fun guaranteed and the results can be made equal to the commercial CNC if you are careful with tolerances, precision and then calibration of software.
    It will also be long and frustrating. But in the end I'll know what's inside the machine and get to pick my controller.

    Thanks for the help.

    Hugh



  13. #33
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    eBirdman:

    Sorry, I can't figure out how to send a PM. In FAQ a post from 2003 says PMs are available, link on each persons post to initiate. Then in 2010 it was noted that allowed PMs were set to 0. The admins had turned off PMs "till I fix the pm spamming issues ". No follow up post. My main page shows 30 allowed PMs, so it should be working again. But I can't find the links.

    So send if you send me an email (or PM with directions) I'll forward my questions. Mine is hugh.currin(at) gmail.com.

    Thanks.

    Hugh


    Quote Originally Posted by currinh View Post
    eBirdman:I'll send you a PM regarding which add-ons you suggest.




  14. #34
    Community Moderator RaderSidetrack's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Quote Originally Posted by currinh View Post
    Sorry, I can't figure out how to send a PM.
    Make sure you have PMs turned ON in your account settings. Click "Settings" at the very top right of the CNCZone window. See this screenshot for how your PM Settings should look (click the image to see larger, and maybe the "Zoom" button once the new page loads):



    Check to see that your settings match those shown in the "PM" section.

    And while there are multiple ways to start a PM, note that one way is to click the "Send New Message" in the "My Messages" box in the upper left of the screenshot.



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    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    RaderSidetrack:

    Thank you. I think I've figured it out.

    Hugh

    Quote Originally Posted by RaderSidetrack View Post
    And while there are multiple ways to start a PM, note that one way is to click the "Send New Message" in the "My Messages" box in the upper left of the screenshot.




  16. #36
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    I find the PM-728VT is too large for the space I have. I'm so disappointed, this mill looks like a great candidate for a cnc conversion. But it just won't fit.

    We spend winters in southern Arizona and just got a 10'x14' shed. It is for a small shop plus lapidary (rock) work. But the killer is it's also for summer storage of our side by side ATV. With even the smallest benchtop mill and lathe the ATV won't fit. So I'll continue using my Sherline equipment and possibly upgrade those with ball screws.

    Thank you all for your help.

    Hugh



  17. #37
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    Well, things have changed quite a bit in the last four months. The shake up has us not storing the ATV in our new 10'x14' shed. Thus there is room for the machines I've been looking at. Yesterday I put in orders for a PM-728VT mill and a PM-1022 lathe. Both to be converted to CNC. May take some time but will get there eventually. I'm very poor but happy!

    I saw on Precision Matthews site they are advertising a CNC conversion kit for the PM-728VT, $900. When I ordered my machines I asked a few questions, however the person I talked with had zero info. Will be interesting to see what they've done. I still want to tuck the stepper motors back towards the machine so will probably not go with their kit.

    I'll start threads on these conversions when I get going. Thanks again for all your help.

    Hugh



  18. #38
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    I just set up my PM-728VT. Obviously in manual mode for now. Looking forward to converting to CNC. I am following this thread to see how other people do it.

    As of September, PM still didn't have much info on their ball screw conversion kit. I think I will be looking elsewhere for those.



  19. #39
    Member currinh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    cxagent: I've had my 728VT for a few months now. The only thing I've done is build a stand for it. I have a knee mill that is CNC so it's hard to break away from it and use the 728 manually. It seems to be a nice machine though. I need to do a cnc conversion on a PM1022 lathe also. (Ordered it May 26 and it's due to arrive Sept 8) With that on the schedule I decided to take the "easy" route and order a 728 conversion kit from PM. That was ordered June 17 and the last I heard it might be here in October. If it's not on the way when I get the 1022 converted I may have to cancel my order and build the conversion from scratch. If I stay with the PM conversion I may still re-build the X & Y motor plates to move those more out of the way.

    I haven't looked lately, but have not seen anyone else doing a PM728 conversion. It's a brave new world. Good to hear I'm not the only crazy one.

    Thanks.

    Hugh



  20. #40
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    Default Re: Precision Matthews PM-728VT Mill for CNC ?

    I just got a new PM-728 as well. I’m waiting on the halls crew kit. Has anyone drawn up a 3D CAD model of the 728?



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