New DM 2100 owner... lots of questions!

[johnsquared1978]

Hi Everyone - I’m pretty new to machining and to CNC in general. (I’m a hobbyist and have far more interest and curiosity than I do money or training!). Anyway, I saved a DM-2100 from a trip to the scrapyard recently and want to see if I can do something useful with it. The electronics seem intact except for a couple of strained connections but all I can get it to do is spin the spindle. So, long story short, I’m thinking of pulling ALL of the electronics and making some hand wheels on my lathe to turn it in to a manual mill, at least in the short term. I’ve really enjoyed learning the old-school basics on my dads old Craftsman 101 (aka Atlas 618) lathe so I like the idea of doing the same with the mill. Am I crazy? Has anyone done such a thing?

In any case, I would of course keep all the electronics and not cut or permanently modify anything on the mill so I can return it to original someday or refit it with more up-to-date controls, etc... or maybe the parts would be of value to someone here?

Either way, I could sure use a maintenance manual or any other documentation that may have been available for the little beast at some point. I believe it is very similar to the 2200 and 2400 so a manual for one of those would be better than nothing... which is all I’ve got at the moment!

Thanks for reading and thanks for your help in advance!




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[MrMetric]

Good pull! It is always nice to hear of machines being saved from the scrapyard. What a waste. Mine was a story similar to that but I got it before it ever left the shop. The old owner couldn't really sell it and he offered it to me for the cost of moving some machines around when the rigger came to remove mine. Everyone was happy. He got to see the machine go to a home that appreciated it. I got a machine that was working and in pretty good condition (with some tooling), for a very reasonable price (effectively free). His father was the original owner and I even got an indexer with it. It was dirty, but I'm happy.

The biggest problem with the Dyna mills is that they use a retention knob that is unique to the brand (for the smaller 30 taper guys... don't know about the larger ones). There are people that will make the studs for you, but they want minimums and that makes them unreasonably expensive for we hobbyists. Drawings exist if you want to make your own, although it would be nicer to buy them. The supply of the studs is sketchy.

Anyhow, I would think again about the idea of using the machine as a manual mill. Truthfully, I've never felt that CNC machines work well as manual machines or vice versa. The ballscrews work best for computer control because they are fairly coarse. That type of thing...

Alan

[johnsquared1978]

Thanks Alan! I'm still undecided about the manual conversion... The other benefit of it is that it's cheaper than trying to get up and running as a CNC unless it just magically works after I clean it up and replace a couple wires. I've kinda blown my budget building a CNC router over the last couple months and I don't think I can convince my wife that it makes sense to dump a few hundred bucks into another shop project just yet!

Anyway, do you happen to have PDFs of any of the manuals or literature for your machine that you'd be willing to share?

[boroko]

Hi johnsquared19,
I'm in Holland and I have a DM2400 that is getting repowered. Just dug it out last night and decided I needed to finish it. May not be able to help, but it's nice to see someone close has one.

My major holdup has been trying to decide what to do with the screw bellows. Mine are rotted and I hate to tear up the screws running it without any. If anyone wants to chime in on a solution, I'd love to hear it.

bo

[MrMetric]

Hi John,
Just tell your wife that machinery is less expensive than drugs, alcohol, and other women. Now, there is a 50:50 chance you'll be sleeping in the doghouse for a week, or she may agree and tell you to go get some tooling. :-) . After many many years, I think my wife is about ready to test the comment and tell me to buzz off. LOL.

Sadly, the "M" on the end of DM4400M stands for Mitsubishi. My machine has a Mitsubishi Meldas M3 control which is an *entirely* different beast from the Dyna produced controls. And the machine mechanicals are also completely different from your machine. So, manuals that I have would have no use for you.

[machinehop5]

Welcome to the zone.

After a quick search for DM2100 looks like not much available. Hopefully some zonemember can help at some point in the future. So, until that happens maybe we can get the machine to run for you. You said the Spindle runs so, thats a start. Does the Control run or what does it do when you try to start the Control. Photos of the Operator Panel and the Electronics in the machine would help us troubleshoot.

[MrMetric]

I'd second the request for photos, but add to it a bit.... I can't find much about a DM2100 out there. The DM2200 looks similar to the DM2400, and are the smallest of the Dyna's that I've really seen photos of. I'm assuming that the DM2100 is a variant of that "style" of machine?

[EngraverGar]

I have a DM2400 that I have run with Mach3 on Chinese BOB and drivers using the existing spindle control and the 24v onboard power. It was easy enough once you understand all the terms and how they apply.
Next I set it up with a Gecko g540 with Mach3 off a parallel port. Real easy but kind of expensive. Now parallel ports are getting harder and harder to find and since I crashed my Z axis and dropped the control computer I am now using a Raspberry Pi4 and LinuxCNC. I'm still using the Geckos. I was running an engraver on a RPi4($35) with an Arduino($30) as a breakout and getting good control.
I think you can run directly off the RPi4 but have not tried it yet. One thing to do is run the power direct to the motors and not through the Pi or Arduino. Another small issue is heat on the RPi4, just added a small fan ($3).
The RPi4 and Arduino can be had for well under $100.
I'm still testing and the learning curve has been straight up learning Linux OS but I'm already getting movement and have even done some air pockets that appear to follow the G code.
My test is only on the X and Y because I broke the 100 tooth drive gear on the Z. I will post some results when all is running.
Check out threads by Fastest1. He has done a retrofit and has good pictures and is very knowledgeable on Dyna. I think he has 2 or 3 different Dynas.
Dyna identified my machine as a 2100 but my factory badge and manual says its a DM2400 with a manual oiler. I believe they are all very similar and are a very capable machine even though the working envelope is small.
Last night I found a link to the manual but I cant remember exactly where. I was searching info about fitting direct drive motors to eliminate the gear drive.
Send a PM if you would like more info.

[johnsquared1978]

Hi everyone - thanks very much for the info and support! I’m a lot more confident trying to make something of this little fella knowing there is a “base” of users out there! With that in mind I think I’ll keep it a CNC for now and see if I can get it functional. Then I’ll figure out if I should resurrect an XP machine or something to connect to it or start planning a refit with up-to-date electronics and controls.

I’m hoping to dig in and get it going soon and will post some pictures and more specifics about what it will and will not do. Fastest1 sent me some DM2400 manuals so I’ll compare those with what’s on the bench and report back when I can.

Thanks everyone!


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[johnsquared1978]

Hello again - Still not pictures... sorry. BUT - I cleaned the machine up a bit, repaired a few loose/broken wires and connections, and blew a LOT of dust out of the control enclosure and when I plugged it in it came to life! I was able to initialize all three axes in manual mode and can manually control them from limit to limit in all three directions! I was very pleasantly surprised! I do have a couple of parts questions though and wonder if anyone can help?

First, I need to buy a new collet nut. The collet retention "ring" that holds the collet on center while it's being tightened either very worn (far more than the rest of the machine) or has been damaged somehow. It just doesn't hang on to the collets. Looking in to it a bit, I am pretty sure it is an ER16 collet holder, but I know there are some variations in "types" of ER16. If anyone has any guidance as to where to find the correct replacement nut that would be very helpful.

Second, the spindle depth fine-tuner that's on the left hand side of the head is missing an internal spring or friction ring of some kind. The worm and wheel are in good shape and engage properly but there's nothing that engages it with the spindle cross shaft. The worm wheel just spins on the shaft. The DM2400 manual I have shows a spring there but there isn't enough detail to tell what type or size. Any ideas for what I could replace it with?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[johnsquared1978]

Hi johnsquared19,
I'm in Holland and I have a DM2400 that is getting repowered. Just dug it out last night and decided I needed to finish it. May not be able to help, but it's nice to see someone close has one.

My major holdup has been trying to decide what to do with the screw bellows. Mine are rotted and I hate to tear up the screws running it without any. If anyone wants to chime in on a solution, I'd love to hear it.

bo

Hi Bo - Don't know how I missed what you wrote a while back about being in Holland! Definitely always good to know you're not the only wacko in the woods! LOL!

I was just trying to find some screw bellows for the DIY CNC Router that I'm building and came across these on Amazon. I didn't buy them because I need them to be close to 4' long, but it looks like something close to what's on the Dynas. They probably have other diameters and lengths as well.

Anyway, nice to meet you!