If you can re-use your servo motors and drives, Delta Tau makes a good cnc control that's not hobby grade. Really a good control. Steep learning curve, but worth it.
I recently bought a Kitamura Mycenter 1 1985. I was told it was working but some rats chewed into the motor cabling. The spindle is a BT35 and the controller is a 3M Fanuc with a 6K spindle. The Fanuc servos are yellow caps.
Let me just preface this with: I am not new to the CNC world and have done lots of programming, macros, repairs, system adjustments on many different machines (mostly Fanuc).
So my questions are:
In your opinion should I just get the cables patched and get the machine running or spend the time and the money on doing a retrofit with a new controller and panel? Why?
Do you know of any good reasonably price retrofit kits? How much do you think I should spend or have to spend?
Do you think it would be cheaper just to source all the parts for a kit myself, would you recommend any suppliers?
My Situation:
I am starting a machine/ fabrication shop on some family property. Not in a position where the machine needs to operate now (or anytime soon). Really need 3D capabilities (which can be "faked" in drip feed). Looking for a long term investment to hold up for the next 10 years. The machine will be disassembled anyways for a complete refurbish. The machine is already delivered and ready for the refurbish. To anyone who thinks I should have gone for another machine, I paid $750 for a box way CNC milling machine.
Thank you for the help. If interested I will be creating some kind of walk through to share with others thinking about the same thing.
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If you can re-use your servo motors and drives, Delta Tau makes a good cnc control that's not hobby grade. Really a good control. Steep learning curve, but worth it.
Sounds like you got a pretty good deal on the machine. If it's in good mechanical condition then it will be a good candidate for a retrofit. If you can reuse the existing servo motors and drives then you are way ahead of the game. You'll have to figure out if you can run the yellow cap motors without the Fanuc control system. I think the yellow cap motors are brushed DC motors so it may not be not too difficult. I was not able to figure out a reasonable way to run the red cap motors without the Fanuc controller on my lathe, so I just replaced all of the servos and drives with modern hardware. On my mill I'm still running the old DC drives and servo motors and it works fine.
Upgrading the controls to a modern computer is well worth the effort and expense, will give you a lot more capabilities and is normally much more user friendly. Not to mention you can run million line G-code files. I would take a hard look at Centroid to see what they can offer. If you're up to it, writing your own CNC control program is also an option. I've upgraded a number of machines this way, and it allows you to add features as needed and you're not locked into someone else's idea of the way the world should work.
Jim Dawson
Sandy, Oregon, USA
I would try to replace the motor cables to see if that is the only issue.
If that doesn't work or if it does and you find the 3M control doesn't serve your needs, I would also recommend going with Centroid. Their Allin1DC board is $2300 and should work with your Fanuc servos. You might have to replace the encoders, but that is something a quick phone call would clear up. The electrical schematics they have on their boards are helpful in figuring out what needs to go where.
I recently ran into the same decision you are in with a Milltronics partner 1 from 1990,I went with retrofit for several reasons. I can by a sigma 3 yaskawa Ac servo and drives (SGDS single phase in) for cheaper then I could buy a replacement dc brushed replacement should one go on me. Performance and ease of use with newer system is fantastic.
If you retrofit machine you will generally know quite well how to troubleshoot down the road.
Personally I'm okay with mach 4, once you figure out the macro programming it's a solid hobbiest solution I'd say. And finding support for something 30 years old can be troublesome.
My 2 cents