Well - I've gone and done it, I bought another Hurco CNC mill. My existing machine was a 1990 KM3P with the MAX32 upgrade and the whole 9 yards of software upgrade options... Which is fantastic - if it would only boot. This machine is kinda unique with many special gotcha's if you were trying to do a conversion / retrofit.
My new aquisition is a 1987 KM3 which is the little brother of the KM3P. Being older in this case is a very good thing as it uses standard 10V analog drives with encoder + tach feedback. Both displays (control console uses 2 CRTs) are toast and the console layout was barely adequate with the Ultimax Conversational control program. If you switched into NC mode then the console was a hemroid for program edits etc. Bottom line is the old console will be reconditioned and fitted with new displays and sold to someone still holding on the the old Ultimax II control platform. The console died back in bout 2002 and I have been trying to get the owner to sell it since then... my persistance has finally paid off. This blue iron has special meaning for me as I was hired on to run it when it was first bought new back in 87 (delivered 12/87). The shop was a custom tool & die shop which had expanded into doing production CNC turning, but this was the first CNC mill and the existing staff was quite lost trying to understand it all. I was somewhat lost myself trying to wrap my head around Ultimax II, as I was trained in 'normal' RS-274D type G & M code word address programming. I was the primary operator / programmer of this machine until 2001 when I was laid off. By this time the company had added other vertical machining centers and the Old Hurco had been retask as a tooling / short run and prototype platform since it requires manual tool and speed changes. After I left it pretty much just sat unused until it finally died. So I know its entire service life and repair history. For those who have no idea what a KM3 is... Think Bridgeport type Knee/turret mill with Vari-drive back gear head 60-499 in low and 500-4000 in high with a hand cranked adjustment to the variable pulley system. The spindle motor is a 3phase 1800 rpm (at 60Hz) 2.2Kw (3hp). As shipped it has FWD and RVD contactors and an air activated spindle break to lock the spindle. Spindle is a Universal Engineering Kwik Switch 200 and is often mistakenly called a 30 taper. Travels are: X 24" Y 13" Z 5" Yes this uses a Quill for its programed Z motion, but this allowed 250 IPM rapids from a control based on a pair of Intel chips, the 8086 teamed with an 8087 running at a blistering pace of 4.077 MHz. There is un-used headroom as I could jog my KM3P at nearly 400IPM. OK - Planning. The console is a goner... but I will want to make a better suitable replacement - I'm old school CNC as in I used to punch paper tapes... so forgive me if I love older classic styles control panels. I would love something with simple elegance based on say the FADAL CNC88. I want true override switches and buttons and indicators... not something you manipulate via a PC keyboard. A keyboard exists for setup, MDI commands and program edits - anything else and your just playing around. Phase I - Get the mill up and running in a basic configuration: a) Re-use existing DC Brushed servos and analog amps and existing encoders for motion. b) Use a TECO FM50 VFD to utilize existing 220V single phase power to drive spindle motor FWD & RVD at a set 60Hz speed and use mechanical vari-drive to adjust actual RPM. No encoder feedback at this time. c) Re-use existing limit switch wiring for limits and homing. d) Add 1/4HP VFD to drive coolant flood pump. e) Add relays for Air mist coolant solenoid, and spindle break air solenoid. f) Re-build E-STOP chain, and make a spartan minimalistic operating console. This gets the machine up and back into use. Phase II - As good as it can get. 1} Build final operating console. 2} Add 'A' 4th axis ( most likely stepper based with encoder feedback and Index homing ). 3} Encoder feedback with index on spindle, PID tuned for rigid tapping. 4} Auto sense High / Low gear via feedback from encoder. 5} Allow VFD to make minor speed PID speed corrections ( +/- 10%) 6} Mount Stepper motor to Vari-drive crank to allow machine to set inital spindle RPM (no load). 7} Add web cam for remote monitoring of excessively long programs. 8} Add monster sized stepper to knee to allow 'W' Axis movement to allow extra long or extra short tools in a program. Feedback via glass scale. = = = Now here is what I have. I have a 400K version 7i43, but I have been also looking at the 5i24 as hosts. A 7i33TA would get the ball rolling but I wonder if I should be looking at a 6 axis card considering the spindle and 4th axis, and who knows I might add a bolt on mini 4th/5th axis at some future point. The 7i42TA looks the kit for I/O for limits and relays, but I will also need something fast for passing step/dir commands for the other stuff above. Also not sure if there would be enough I/O for the operator panel. I'm not set on using that 7i43, as I will also be doing a simple CNC lathe conversion following getting the mill up to basic phase I level. Anyway Peter and the rest of the Hive mind wants to make suggestions I'd really welcome hearing all my options. Maybe if someone could explain how these daughter cards can be daisy chained and / or what are the limits in that respect. I do have a few of the 50 pin direct to screw terminal breakouts if they can be used with the 7i42TA to pass the fast stuff. I have done parallel port and stepper based conversions before but this is my first big iron job. I will need lots of help before this is all done, as the phase II ideas are a bit unique as a package. This is worse because instaed of working in the machine trade I have fallen on hard times and had to revert to IT work to pay the bills supporting windows and active directory. Mind numbing :( Anyway I thank you all for reading my mini novel and any comments you care to make. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dive into the World of Parallel Programming! The Go Parallel Website, sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
