From what I've read on here - and what I'm in the process of doing - the two simplest options are: 1: Ignore the controller altogether, apart perhaps from the power supply. Buy a breakout board (cnc4pc) plus spindle / stepper drivers (Gecko) and connect it all up. Then you only need to trace the wir...

dscolwill wrote:Sorted by trial and error

Come on - giz a clue?
It could save many conversions, not least mine, a bit of time!

Si

Nothing to do with me, save for having bought a couple. They are a Bourne quadrature encoder with up to 240 step per rev. No detents - but I don't see that as a disadvantage. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=230294371648 Also, data sheet here: http://evin...

If it's any help, I'm going to do a Mach conversion on an EasiTurn with a PNC 3. I'm going to keep the PSU, axis and spindle drives - but you would be welcome to the rest.

Si

Right, assuming you have the same controller as me (a North east electronics VMC3). Looking from the front of the controller box, there is the monitor on the left and the tape drive on the right. At the rear, there is the RS232 port on the right which connects to a board (also on the right as you lo...

Shame it didn't have the tool-changer - I'd have bought it otherwise!

Don't suppose there are any old changers kicking around?

Si

It's probably irrelevant, but one of the DIL switch settings changes the bed (Z) length. I wonder if it, or another switch also alters X?

For sake of opening the cabinet up - it might be worth a play!

Si

Si

I've found that two of the three optical detectors have died - which I guess is why it had been dismantled in the first place! I'm going Mach - so I will have to build a controller for the toolpost anyway - and might as well replace the optos with inductive pickups and a laser-cut wheel. Thanks for ...

Yup!

I just switch the lathe off and leave the controller on. I think I'll add a UPS for the controller as we had a power cut yesterday and it lost everything! Not a big problem - but it took a while to set all the tool offsets.

Si

I've ordered one of the CNC4PC boards. All the inputs and outputs are opto-isolated - and appear to be able to talk directly to the driver boards in the EasiTurn. When it arrives I'll start a thread for the conversion - cos there's almost nothing on the web about what is actually a bloody good machi...

Adee, would you do me a big favour? I have one of the tool changers, but someone has removed the encoder wheel on the back. I wondered if you would take a photo of the wheel (which will either have a castelated edge or lots of holes drilled in it? If I can see what it looks like, I can get a replace...

peter Homann or similar. For breakout boards etc have a look at CNC4PC CNC4PC sell a board with the 0-10v analogue output as well as all the breakouts. Still, people seem to recommend the peter Homann varispeed. Is the latter a better option than the CNC4PC, or is the CNC4PC board too new for many ...

Thanks Dave, that was an interesting read! The StarTurn looks pretty similar to the EasiTurn - just half the size! Not sure what control cards I have - I'll have a look when I get home. Do you know if the connectors used inside Denfords can be sourced these days? It loos like the interfaces to the b...

I think that's reasonable. You will probably get that kind of tolerance change between summer and winter due to thermal expansion, or by varying the torque of the bolts that hold it to the stand. In practice, it's rare to be machining something the whole length of the bed and unless the workpiece is...

On mine, it had a din socket on the back, but the wiring did not match any of the diagrams I'd seen. Inside the case there are three wires connecting to the socket. Black, Red and Blue. Black was the ground, Red and Blue the Tx & Rx (may be the other way round). I just soldered them on to a D9 conne...

I have an Easiturn Lathe with a NEE controller, which, to be honest is a bit basic and out-dated. The lathe itself is fantastic and very solid - so worth some effort and cash! I have been offered a Heidenhain (sp?) controller by a friend - but I'm not sure this is going to be any easier than going f...

Cheers Mr Magoo!

Ill give it a whirl later.

Si

Thanks for the info. This evening I got the RS232 working reliably both ways. Do you happen to know how I can persuade it to accept a drip feed? The manual does not mention much useful about the RS232. I can load a program on to the lathe then run it - but there doesn't seem to be an obvious way of ...

The NEE control appears to have an RS232 input. I would have thought that, so long as the comms protocol between the two can be 'adjusted' (with a VB app for example), the G Code it spits out ought to work similarly? Failing that, what are my options on a new controller? I don't really want to go do...