CNC daydreaming

Looked at a Tree 750 VMC tonight just a few miles down the road. Probably bigger than I need, but it helps bring it together in my mind.
 
ArmyDoc said:
Any updates on this?
Click to expand...
Sorry, missed your comment until just now. I'm working on building a new shop: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...uildings-expansion-building-on-a-grade.91117/

Contractor is suppose to start "By the end of January" (Jan 3 was the original tentative start date). Until I get the additional square footage, I don't have room for the tools I already have much less a decent sized VMC. Just today I was working on building out the new meter panel to upgrade the power feed to 400A for the house, so I'll basically have a 200A service to the house and a 200A service to the new shop. To run a VMC I may have to also upgrade my RPC, currently using a 20HP on a WNY panel. Looking at adding another 10HP or 20HP idler and making that one a pony start to avoid the horrendous inrush on starting a large RPC necessary to feed a VMC and still allow other things to be going on in the shop.
 
Almost a year later. Shop is almost done. Still need to put in the NG heater and the flu on the wood stove. Heat pump mini-splits will suffice for mild fall weather.

Went to visit another hobbyist that is looking to get into building some things as a sideline revenue stream. He went from CNC'ing a PM-30V to buying a new Okuma M560-V, a monster 18,000 lb VMC. Impressive what he can turn out, but certainly not what I'd consider a hobbyist budget given the 6 figure cost of the machine, before shipping and rigging and ....

Still like the plan of retrofitting an older VMC with newer electronics/controller. I do think something with an ATC is in the cards even if it isn't a day one feature.
 
Last edited:
If you are going to refit a pro size machine with an ATC, I'd strongly suggest Camsoft. I have done half dozen refits with this software over the years. Very similar to the custom software way that Jim Dawson goes. I'd suggest you use him for all the servo and drive selection

This is quite a huge project the first time - steep learning curve here.

karl
 
Karl_T said:
If you are going to refit a pro size machine with an ATC, I'd strongly suggest Camsoft. I have done half dozen refits with this software over the years. Very similar to the custom software way that Jim Dawson goes. I'd suggest you use him for all the servo and drive selection

This is quite a huge project the first time - steep learning curve here.

karl
Click to expand...
I’ll add camsoft to my list of things to dig into.
 
The NT 4.0 based Siemens acramatic 2100 controller on this machine has lost it's nvram battery so the BIOS is shot. Current owner tried troubleshooting it but I think he made more of a mess of it. Windows NT gives me heartburn ;)

I've taken a dive into looking at LinuxCNC, and am pretty well set on that route. May not be the right route in general but I have a predilection for open source software, and have years of experience messing with embedded Linux, realtime extensions (for software radio, but same concept) , C programming, and even some kernel hacking. VHDL programming for the MESA FPGAs would be a bit of a stretch but probably not necessary. So rebuilding the controller is rather tantalizing, as I'll then know the guts of the machine inside out. Unfortunately MESA cards are unobtainium right now given the chip shortage. But it'll probably be a month before I even get the machine moved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top