Upgrading Koike plasma table (optical tracer) to cnc
I have a Koike ik-1200-j with the Westinghouse linatrol optical tracer (which is not working now) that I am contemplating upgrading with Mach 3 software but was wondering if this is even doable. Where should I start or have I just completely lost it. If any of you guys have done anything like this then please give me some advice and thanks in advance.
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Re: Upgrading Koike plasma table (optical tracer) to cnc
Anything is doable if you are clever enoughYou have the main mechanical hardware there so it's just a matter of figuring out what made it move in the original configuration. Worst case, replace the existing motors and drives with new steppers & drives and connect to Mach3
I guess I would start be finding out what kind of motors and drives are in the original system to see if they are compatible with any Mach3 type control system.
Jim Dawson
Sandy, Oregon, USA
I can submit some pics of the machine on the forum Jim if it would help. In a nutshell though, the tracer arm moves and moves the torch with it when it moves. The hard part to figure though is the drive for the tracer. It’s very unusual; you have drive motors with bearings on them that run on flat rails on top of the table assembly; it’ll be fun I do believe.Originally Posted by Jim Dawson
Anything is doable if you are clever enough
I guess I would start be finding out what kind of motors and drives are in the original system to see if they are compatible with any Mach3 type control system.
Re: Upgrading Koike plasma table (optical tracer) to cnc
Pictures are always helpful
Jim Dawson
Sandy, Oregon, USA
Well, here’s the latest in the plasma table saga. I went ahead and bit the bullet and bought a kit from dmm tech and am waiting on it. I removed the motors off of the machine and the gears. The motors in the kit from dmm are 14 mm shafts and mine are basically 3/8 so modifying my gears ain’t happening ( besides they’re helical). I took the diameters of both gears and added them together so I could figure what gears I could replace them with and came up with what breaks down to be a 1:80 ratio where it was a 4:29. I’m not too happy about that but somethings gotta give. Correct me if I’m wrong, but gear ratio should not be a major factor should it as the computer should configure everything when I put my parameters in upon setup; or am I wrong?
Re: Upgrading Koike plasma table (optical tracer) to cnc
Yes, you can adjust the ratio in software. You just set the number of pulses/inch in Mach3. The DMM setup software has ratio setting also, set this first then Mach3. Good choice on the DMM Tech servos, I like their products. I have installed 6 of them so far and have been happy with the result.
Jim Dawson
Sandy, Oregon, USA
The main selling point for me was tech support. A friend of mine told me how good it was and it really is. I hate that my gears won’t work but hey; make it work, right? I’ll keep everyone posted and will post some pics of the progress. I still have to get a computer, thc and the gears. I have to check my gear pitch depth on the gear teeth to make sure it will fit. There were 2 helical gears at 2.691 total pitch diameter (somewhere around 32 pitch) I would say without gauging. Now I’m going to a 20 pitch with total p.d. of 2.800 which is about .100 greater diameter. Wondering if I can pull it off? We’ll know more later.right?
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