Bought a CNC lathe

[cycletec]

Just picked up the same unit without control box, I will be following this project. New to CNC so this should be fun.

[ibuildstuff4u]

Really!  That's cool.  I would love to see some pictures.  I pretty much have my retrofit figured out so I would be more than happy to share you the details.  My build is going to be slow though as I don't have the cash to buy everything right now.

Im going to bolt a large metal box to the back of the machine to house the stepper drives and electronics and will start rewiring everything to the box.  When the budget allows I will be able to buy the drives and power supply and wire them up.

Dale P.

[pjf134]

Dale,
 I might be getting one next week too. Look at my post for more info.
Paul

[ibuildstuff4u]

Wow, That's so strange that we all found the same lathe this month.  I have been watching E-bay and Craigs list for bench top lathes and mills for quite some time now and have never seen this model until last month when I accidentally found a guy with one to sell.  I just keep seeing the little D&M machines and the overly expensive Emco machines for sale. 

Paul, it looks like your machine is going to come with the stepper drives and if you need it I have software and a handbook on how to operate the machine.  From what I understand you may also need a card to insert into the computer to make it work.  Some of these machines will only run on an older DOS operating computer so hopefully yours is newer and works with windows.  Because of all this I was happy that the seller didn't have the controller as I didn't want to have to pay for it and then find out that I would have rather built my own. 

Let us know if you get the machine and what came with it.

Dale P.

[pjf134]

 Dale,
  I think everything that shows up in the pic is what comes with it, maybe other parts are inside, but who knows, just have to wait and see. It might be a older model and they did a upgrade, so I better keep my old computer parts that I was going to toss out just in case.
Paul

[ibuildstuff4u]

It looks like everything that you need!  One of the boxes is the stepper drive and I think the second is the computer!  It looks like the lathe has a tool changer just like mine.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Now there's friggin' three of you and you all suck.;)

Sorry, I'm just jealous.

[cycletec]

Dale, I'm following the other thread on cnczone also. I was checking out the wiring today and you do not have to do away with the rpm display and you can disconnect the D4 plug on the display/encoder board and connect to 0-10 v to control the spindle speed. Disconnect the serial cable on display/encoder board and apply 5vdc to pin 4(-) and pin 7(+) this powers the display and rpm encoder.. You can still use the speed control to manually control speed and select computer control. I have the link to the speed control if needed. Can you help me with the wiring on the steppers? I believe they have seven wires. Also I see you figured out the brake/power relay is 120vac. Thanks

I'll take pictures when I get a chance.

  I picked mine up for a whooping $25.

[ibuildstuff4u]

$25.00!  Where did you pick it up from? 

I see you also have the automatic door on your machine.  I hooked mine up to an extention cord and it works good.  I'm going to hook it up so the computer can open and close it.

I was about to toss the spindle speed board and install my switches in that spot, but it looks like I will see if I can get it working.  Do you know if the board uses the encoder to read the RPM or if it uses the optical pickup.  The reason I ask is I think I'm going to use the optical pickup to send the speed back to the breakout board so Mach 3 can do threading.  Another option is to add a second optical pickup such as the C3 Index Pulse Card from CNC 4 PC.

As for the stepper motors they are seven wire motors, but there are only four wires running to each motor.  If you see more than four wires running to the motor the other ones are for the limit switches.  You can see the limit switches if you carefully look under the bellows.

Have you figured out which breakout board you going to use yet?

[cycletec]

School auction. It uses the encoder, I left the optical sensor off when checking the motor and speed control and it still read the rpm's . Not sure on which breakout board or drivers yet this is a first from me.

[DICKEYBIRD]

I picked mine up for a whooping $25.

[ibuildstuff4u]

No kidding.  It makes you wonder how much stuff gets thrown out every year too!

[cycletec]

See what's available in your area. http://m.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,nc/browse/home?tm=m

[cycletec]

Can I ask, what's your thoughts on Gecko G540?

[cycletec]

Dale, can you post more pictures of the turret?

[ibuildstuff4u]

I thought about using the G540 too, but I think you can put together a better controller by buying separate parts.  In the end the G540 would be less wiring though and leave you an extra axis incase you burn one out.

The G540 is $250 and has four stepper drives and a built in breakout board which is nice, but you only get 3.5 amps per axis.  If I use a KL 6050 stepper drive I can get 5 amps per drive @ $150 for three drives leaving $100 for a breakout board. I guess it depends on how many amps we need for the motors.  I haven't been able to pull one of them to get the specs off from it and my motors are all turned so I can't read the label.  Can you read any of your motors?

Here is a picture of my tool changer.  It has four positions for standard tools and four more for round tools such as boaring bars or drill bits.

[pjf134]

 Dale,
  I did not get the Prolight lathe yet but I did get a pic of the serial no. Is there a way to tell how old it is by that?
Paul

[cycletec]

Thanks.

Link to stepper www.electrosales.com/warner/pdf/motion/Catalogslosyn-c.pdf

SLO-SYN  Hold 150oz  steps 200

TYPE M063-CS06. 3.35v.    2.9A

[DICKEYBIRD]

Methinks ya'll ought to get some modern stepper motors to go with your new drivers while you're at it.  150 in/oz is pretty puny; especially on the Z axis.  Prices on modern hybrid motors are pretty reasonable these days.

Actually, the whole machine is pretty useless and you should shove 'em out to the curb.  Just let me know and I'll meet you there.  I'll even bring the beer.

[ibuildstuff4u]

The stepper motors have a belt drive on both axises and it looks like 3:1 ratio so the 150 oz could really be 450?  That's still not a lot but more than 150oz.  I have a manual for the machine that states a rapid travel at 25 ipm.  I'm not sure if thats good for a small machine of this size or if that number is slow. 

Dickeybird your probably right about changing the motors, I will have to look and see if I can find some that fit as the X axis is really tight fitting.

Pjf134, I'm not sure how you can tell the age of the machine, but the guy who sold me his said it was from 1998.

Cycletec, I was thinking about the G540 again today and wonder what you would do with the two extra drives since your machine doesn't have the tool changer.  It would be cheaper to go with separate drives and breakout board, but a little easier to wire if you use the G540.  I also thought I guy could cut a hole in the back of the machine and mount the G540 in the back since there is some space between the two panels.  A power supply could be located behind the door that covers the Z axis stepper motor.  The retrofit would be pretty easy and all hidden inside the lathe.

Here are some pictures that show where you could mount the G540 and power supply.

[DICKEYBIRD]

The stepper motors have a belt drive on both axises and it looks like 3:1 ratio so the 150 oz could really be 450?  That's still not a lot but more than 150oz.  I have a manual for the machine that states a rapid travel at 25 ipm.  I'm not sure if thats good for a small machine of this size or if that number is slow.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the belt drive!  The 3:1 ratio does give it a bunch more grunt.

25 ipm will probably be poo-poo'd by the "experts" as being slug-slow but will be fine on a machine of that size.  That's what I have mine set at right now and it's fine for my level of experience.  You won't be cutting near that fast in most cases anyway; it just won't have those super-fast rapids you see on all those "Hey ya'll, watch this!" YouTube videos.

[cycletec]

Dale, I ordered the G540 and yes I was planning on mounting in the rear with the power supply. In the future I would like to build the 8 position turret. Do you know how the prolight turret locks internally? Thanks for all the input, Phil

[DICKEYBIRD]

Hey Phil, lookee what I found....you may've seen this already but I just bumped into it this morning.  A bit ambitious for me right now but maybe when I retire.  (Hah, what a joke!)

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f31/8-tool-rotary-turret-18508/

[cycletec]

DICKEYBIRD, just what I was looking for. Thank You

[DICKEYBIRD]

You're very welcome; all in a good days work!

Milton