[Newbie] Good Find Or Do I Now Own A Lot Of Whatchamadoodles

silverforgestudio

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I need some serious help just understanding what pieces of the puzzle I have and what I will need to connect them... or even if these things are just paperweights. So sit back and get a chuckle and let me know if this Rube-Goldberg Spruce Goose Widget collection is headed in the right direction or off the deep end!

Helped a fellow in a bit of a bind clean out a garage... he was a bit of a hoarder and tinkering kind of soul (The hoarder part was an understatement) and made a deal for a bunch- I mean a BUNCH of CNC related items.

I know some of these things are old... I have researched and done my searches on some of the items... I have started the Basic CNC thread read Bill began (THANK YOU BILL!) and have learned:
1- I am in WAY over my head
2- I still have NO idea how these parts will (or can) fit together.

A DIY build CNC build is at least a year down the road- I am hoping to begin my learning now as well as my planning. I know what I want the thing to do... and the materials I want to cut... and the relative size I will need the table...

Thanks in advance and please understand I am not intentionally a slow learner... but unfortunately I am still an analog minded fellow- I'll "get it" just have patience with me.

And I have visited my local "Makerspace" to see if they would be of any help... and unfortunately that did not leave me with any warm and fuzzies. Unless I wanted to buy one of their build-it-yourself kits or a makerbot and attend their "I did it" classes (offered while I worked or other similarly convenient times...) it probably wasn't going to be a good relationship. Not complaining- they are a business- that is their business model... but a bit of a wash to an older independent learner.

Pics posted next... Stay tuned! (And if you are STILL reading- Good on ya!)
 
Technical difficulties with the pics (yes its 100% user error)... I will post in a few once I get the RIGHT pictures... SHEESH- Murphy even lives in my computer!
 
OK- Now we are cookin' with gas!

First up- the "Hardware" portion of this freak-show...


First up- I have TWO of these guys... they look like they have never been installed although there is some surface dinging from being in a box... the plastic sheathing is still over the screenprinting!
AMC Servo Amp.JPG

Next up- I have ONE of these- is it redundant to have an amplifer AND a drive???
AMC Servo Drive2.JPG

Last is the "Motion Controller"... its a Galil 1580. These guys are no longer made- but still supported as "Legacy" hardware according to the website... This old girl looks like it was never plugged in as several of the ports on her backside had spacers and plugs in...
Galil Motion Cont1.JPG Galil motion Cont2.JPG
 
Now the motors... Each will have a separate entry so there is not one looooong epic mega post... Pics are THUMBNAILS so you aren't scrolling for days

First up are 3 ELCOM motors- These were IN something before finding their way into the motor bin I found them in (Look at the gear- plastic pressed on to the shaft like a drive belt and mushroomed or gnawed a bit.

These also have an encoder on the end but no plugs for the encoder.... but the price was right even if I just make these sacrificial learning motors.

Elcom1.JPG Elcom3.JPG Elcom2.JPG
 
Next we have a set of FOUR Minebea Astrosyn steppers- these little hockey-pucks are still in the box with plastic baggies over the motors... problem is- I can only find info from 2010 on another forum about a different flavor of Minebea- not my precise model... Seems like these were used in higher end dot-matrix and plotter printers at one point.

No encoder on the back- so probably not good for precision- So how can these little buggers be put to use- they are CUTE!

Minebea1.JPG
 
OK- so these little fellas were bagged up and still had dessicant packets in the wrappers as well- they have never been installed in anything and when I called the fine folks at MOOG down in Murphy, NC (beautiful little town- by the way) they were not only friendly- but I had a return phone call from one of their head motor technicians and an email schematic the next day! The schematic is a .pdf but I snipped the data table...

I have 3 of these- and in all honesty I want to find something to do with these- they just look COOL... Picture 3 is the data table from the schematics...

Moog1.JPG Moog2.JPG Moog3.JPG
 
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Finally for the steppers I present the VEXTA series... 3 of these little folks with no apparent abuse in their previous life- look like they too have never been plugged in.

In the pics I have highlighted the specs for this motor- Are ya laughing yet?

Vexta1.JPG Vexta2.JPG Vexta3.JPG
 
Now for the unknown "X" element here... I think this may be a good idea for a 4th axis... However- my limited knowledge and even less application experience may prove to be a pipe-dream for this facet of any CNC ideas...

Its a "Globe" motor with a very fine toothed gear-head and meshing with a face-plate at 90deg with another fine toothed cog.

Globe1.JPG Globe2.JPG Globe3.JPG
 
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