Cncing My Grizzly G0619 Mill-drill

[LX Kid]

Well I jumped out of the skillet right into the fire! I purchased the equipment pictured and will build as funds come available. I'll be needing stepper motors, power supply or two, cabling, mounts, belts, gears, etc., etc. etc! Question! Any recommendations for my stepper mortars? 4-wire, eight wire, bi-polar, unipolar it's all Greek to me and I don't speak Greek! LoL I was thinking Nema 23's for the X & Y axis and Nema 24 for my Z axis. The spindle head for the mill is pretty heavy and was thinking it may need more power. Any suggestions on what I need would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[grepper]

I just started the upgrade process on a mini mill and learned a lot from this thread:
http://hobby-machinist.com/threads/manual-operation-after-cnc-conversion.43608/

It's not directly answering your question, but it sure was helpful for me. Starts out on a slightly different subject but becomes very informative quickly. Probably worth a read.

 

[JimDawson]

I found this link,

And from the comments section of the above link:
''...............I am using a usb smooth stepper to the breakout board and longs motor D2HB542MA drivers for nema 23 motors X,Y and longs motor D2HB882MB driver for the nema 34 motor Z axis...........''

I thought I remembered people using NEMA 34 motors on the Z-axis on those mills. This should get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[jbolt]

A lot of these mills have been converted. Plenty of info out there to google. Here is a link to a friend's conversion. http://www.home-machine-shop.com/X3_Mill/Super_X3_Mill.htm

Jay

 

[LX Kid]

A lot of these mills have been converted. Plenty of info out there to google. Here is a link to a friend's conversion. http://www.home-machine-shop.com/X3_Mill/Super_X3_Mill.htm Jay

That is really a great link! Thanks

 

[LX Kid]

I got to thinking, and that's dangerous for me, but what controls the spindle speed?

 

[Al-Hala]

I got to thinking, and that's dangerous for me, but what controls the spindle speed?

Only looked briefly at the link, but the speed seems to be manual control still, via the embedded rpm controller and motor feedback; no NC control. For some of the Sieg based machines, an additional motor controller board and chip are required, which takes a PWM train from the motion controller to set the desired spindle speed.

Edit: here you go:
LMS Control Upgrade

Edit2:
In the PDF on the website, claims to use a PWM module from KB Electronics; changed out the drive entirely.

 

[LX Kid]

Only looked briefly at the link, but the speed seems to be manual control still, via the embedded rpm controller and motor feedback; no NC control.

Seems like a relay could be added to switch between CNC control or manual control. There would have to be some sort of speed control board for that I would think!

 

[Al-Hala]

Seems like a relay could be added to switch between CNC control or manual control. There would have to be some sort of speed control board for that I would think!

To be sure But in most cases, it is an either-or. The LMS Seig controller requires the original programmed PIC to be replaced with a differing one, and the controls disconnected. Considering most motion controllers have a manual data interface, and the code to turn off and on the spindle is only a single command each and possibly with a single S-word behind it, it really is not too much of a sacrifice in time, and would be simpler than running two parallel control methods, where a multi-pole or series of relays or electronics would be needed to switch multiple lines at varied current and voltages.

Tormach M3, M4, M5 Spindle Control
LinuxCNC Spindle Control

 

[LX Kid]

I just found link to the The Little Machine Shop. It's a controller board for the SX3 but disables manual control.

https://littlemachineshop.com/instructions/4213CNCSpindleControlUpgradeKit.pdf