On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 10:18:06PM -0500, Charles Steinkuehler wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Besides my 3D printing endeavors, I am involved with trying to get a > hackerspace going here in Topeka. Recently a CNC mill that might make > a good LinuxCNC retrofit candidate popped up on the local craigslist: > > http://kansascity.craigslist.org/tls/3892182813.html > > Can anyone advise if this looks like it would be a good candidate for > conversion to LinuxCNC, and what I should watch out for if I actually > go to inspect and/or buy it? > > Thanks!
If you can find wiring diagrams you can determine a lot about whether it's a good candidate for conversion. A 1991 machine will probably have velocity mode amps with tachs, and LED-based encoders. So no real problem there. I'm guessing it's 40 taper - I would rather have a CAT spindle with retention knobs but those NST (NMTB?) aren't rare or anything. Mostly, good candidate means its drives and motors and encoders all work, and it's not mechanically worn out. If you take your indicators with you and it's under power and operable you'll know all that in short order. If it's not under power and you can't convince them to plug it in (I bet you $1 that's what you'll encounter here) you can tell a BIT about wear by pushing and pulling the table (compare readings in the center of travel to readings at the ends of travel) and by turning screws by hand (you'll feel and see any backlash). Something about the machine looks familiar. I think it might be the same base model as Stuart's Dah-Lih. If so, there are power drawbar parts missing. I notice there's no tool release button marked on the panel. I would really NOT want a manual drawbar on a CNC, especially if the top of the head's 8 feet in the air. (If your hackspace has 8 foot ceilings, take a tape measure with you!) This machine has a heavy knee and I notice there's no motor on it. That may or may not be a big pain depending on your work and tooling. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: Build for Windows Store. http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
