'Best' controller/software for 2 axis lathe conversion

[dbsharp]

I was planning on using Lunix cnc and have bought a 5i25 and 7i77d combo as well as 400w dyne 2 DMM servoes to be used with lunix CNC for a jet 13x40 conversion. Now that I am digging into it, I see that while lunix cnc looks like it has been well developed with mills, it is lacking some basics of lathe control (canned cycles) and now I am questioning my choice. I have a Boss CNC mill I am doing an retrofit on and can use this MESA hardware on it if needed. Also I'm not sure that full closed loop is needed or useful on a lathe as feeds are usually quite slow.

I ask from the community for opinions on the best control out there today for 2 axis lathe? I would be looking for the following:

Required:
-Absolutely dead reliable
-Threading with spindle encoder
-MPG support
-VFD support

Wanted:
-Lathe Canned cycle support
-Ability to recognise gears and adjust VFD output or alarm if rpm out of bounds (i think linux cnc can do this)
- support for tool carousel (plan to make a simple one for my BXA quick change tool post to eliminate possibility of putting on the wrong tool.

Anything else I should be considering? Thanks.

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[Jim Dawson]

Dynomotion https://dynomotion.com/ and Camsoft PC Based CNC Controller For The Machine Tool CNC Retrofit And CNC Controller OEM market products might also be worth a look.

Your GHB-1340 would make a nice platform to retrofit. I was going to convert mine but bought a CNC lathe instead. You might concider a design that would allow you to easily switch between manual and CNC operation, that way you have the best of both worlds. I did get as far as designing the whole system concept.

I did retrofit my CNC lathe, the DMM servos are a good choice, what I used on mine.

The only canned cycles that I use are rigid tapping (G84) and single point threading (G32). The only reason for these canned cycles is to electronically gear the Z axis to the spindle, this needs to be done at the controller level. Everything else is generated in Fusion 360 using G1 moves.

Your ''Required'' items should be supported by any system. The rest of your ''Wanted'' items is really a matter of your programming creativity. I don't think you are going to find an out-of-the-box solution, but I could be wrong here.

I'll be interested in your progress on this.

[Mecanix]

ot @Jim - that dynamotion kflop sounds good and what I might actually need for an upcoming project. Although I can't seem to be able to find the list of GCODE and Syntax, which I'll end up needing for postprocessor programming. Could ask HQ directly but just in case you are familiar with them and know where I could find this please link me up (checked https://dynomotion.com/Help/ already, not there)

[Jim Dawson]

ot @Jim - that dynamotion kflop sounds good and what I might actually need for an upcoming project. Although I can't seem to be able to find the list of GCODE and Syntax, which I'll end up needing for postprocessor programming. Could ask HQ directly but just in case you are familiar with them and know where I could find this please link me up (checked https://dynomotion.com/Help/ already, not there)

This is the closest I could find. https://dynomotion.com/Help/GCodeScreen/GCodeScreen.htm Not sure if this is an inclusive list. I'm sure other functions can be added.

I'm not really up to speed on Dynomotion products. But the support from TomKerekes is great.

[Mecanix]

You beat me to it. What I was looking for, thanks Jim
ps. expert routing (land vs noise), quality components, quality fr-4, enig plating, good docs, etc... nice kit that 8-axis ctrl board, impressively affordable lol. Good find. Hope it'll make a behaving pick & place bot (6ax/2rot) a colleague and I intend working/prototyping on during spring.

[maxspongebob]

I just finished my conversion on a 12x28. Here is the build thread. https://www.cnczone.com/forums/verti...-software.html

I went with a Mach 4 running an Ethernet Smooth Stepper and ClearPath servos. It works really well. Mach 4 includes lots of conversational stuff so much of what I need to do doesn't require CADD/HSM. I spent a good bit of time on the built in MPG's for Z and X so I can still use it as a manual lathe (sort of).

[dbsharp]

K flop is interesting, I remember seeing folks very happy with it. Im going to have to look into the conversational programming, this is not really something have thought about much. thanks for the suggestions!

For those of you interested in my build:

I lost a lot of pictures when photobucket kicked the, well,... anyways there is some of the latest progress. I plan on disabling the drives via switch for manual mode and then enabling them to lock in if backdrive is a problem. I already have a 2hp baldor vfd rated washdown motor with a smaller pulley and a hitachi drive, so now it has a very nice range with good power 50%-200% original spindle rpm.

https://www.cnczone.com/forums/verti...6-cnc-cad.html