If looking for lowest cost solution you can us the old "Atom" computer to control the grinder as long as you do not need to run the mill and grider at the same time. Get an Eiternet interface Mesa card for the new machine, You need two config files, just load the one for the mill or the one for the grinder.
Then someday you buy a second computer you only have to move the Ethernet cable over. The best option is a newer version of the Atom. They seem to sell for just under $200. Finally Newegg.com always has many used oe refurb PCs Used PCs sourced locally can be a cheap as "free" But 9ld PCs tend to burn up a lot of power. I am trying to get mone to do "wake on LAN" so it can not use power until I need to log onto it On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 6:52 PM Kenneth Lerman <ler...@se-ltd.com> wrote: > I'm considering converting a surface grinder to CNC. To start, I'll > probably just convert the longitudinal and transverse axes. > > I'll go with steppers for this -- I'm thinking NEMA-42 motors. > > My current Bridgeport clone uses servos and Jon Elson's hardware on a > little Intel Atom Box. I'm thinking of using a Rpi for this. It will need a > minimal display/control panel when completed, but initially will need a > display with touchscreen or mouse and possibly a keyboard. In the long run, > some buttons. and perhaps an mpg might be useful. > > I'd like to use a raw Rpi without adding special hardware directly. That > probably means using a USB or ethernet interface to control the steppers. > I'm thinking of using Mesa hardware. > > Can someone suggest the most cost effective way to do this? (Although I > have to admit, that after buying the timing belts and pulleys, the > steppers, power supply, stepper drivers, ..., it's too late to be really > cost effective.). And the surface grinder only cost me $300. > > Thanks, > Ken > > > > Kenneth Lerman > 55 Main Street > Newtown, CT 06470 > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
