Denford Orac Conversion

All info relating to the Denford ORAC CNC lathes

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Trispectiv
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu 28 Jan , 2016 8:31 am
Hardware/Software: Denford Orac

Denford Orac Conversion

Post by Trispectiv » Thu 28 Jan , 2016 8:51 am

Hello,

I just purchased a Denford Orac and I am trying to convert it to more modern electronics. Before I tear it apart, is there anything that can be reused? Such as the drivers: do they take common step/dir signals so that I can use them with a parallel port breakout board? The VFD: can it be controlled via relay + PWM for the RPM?
New electronics and PC will fit in the box below. I should still have enough room to fit a cooling system bay in there.

In terms of hardware, I will try to keep the current stepper motors, even if they are only 150ozin / 1Nm. Same for the spindle motor, gonna see what type of cuts can that 0.37kw take. I currently have an Optimum TU2004 (30mm between centers) and the spindle motor is almost half the size of the Orac, for a 0.55kw output. Probably around 20 years gap between their manufacturing dates.

A couple of photos of the Orac:
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IMG_3595_resize.JPG (311.65 KiB) Viewed 8630 times

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