Also, for anyone looking to convert their Orac and turret... I originally got my machine and turret working under Mach3, in the last couple of weeks I've swapped it over to Centroid Acorn, everything still works and Centroid seems to be a far more capable system (supports constant-speed turning, etc...

Andy, start by confirming that each tool position matches the logic in the tool table. Manually power the turret to each position in-turn and write down the Hi or Lo state of each of the three data lines. It appears that Denford may have used two different encoder wheels (the logic table that I meas...

Sorry this is so late, I just checked and yes, both the motor and the mill are marked 220v on my machine. I'm in the US, 3-phase here is available in 220 or 440v, but not in my home shop. My mill gets 240v 1-phase from a dryer circuit, and I've got two VFD's to make it 3-phase, one for the spindle m...

My motor looks identical to the one in the photos. Pretty sure that the dataplate on my motor and on the mill are both marked 220v instead of 440v, I'll confirm when I get home tonight.

cheers,
c

It's been a few weeks and no stickers (or even a reply) from Denford UK, or my local Denford rep in AZ, USA. Oh well, if I can't get factory stickers, I guess I'll just have to reproduce the 1980's vintage logo myself. I scanned the mill's original panel on my flatbed scanner, then brought it into A...

Indeed it did :) I've turned my attention to the pendant, I relocated the switches since the ATC was blocking them. The new panel is made of .080 aluminum (same as the old one), but is powder-coated rather than having a decal on it. I was just about to start tracing the Denford logo so I could have ...

ATC is finished and working. Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvxwUqdcWg

cheers,
c

Junker398,
do you have any drawings or additional information about your riser? When I've measured and calculated travels, I came up with 6" as being the optimal height, looks like you did too. Any changes you'd make if doing it again?

cheers,
c

I've got the same exact machine, also running Mach3 since the original firmware on the EPROM's deteriorated over time. Denford apparently hasn't saved any of the old firmware?! Had to replace a bunch of perfectly good boards in an almost-new machine. :evil: There is no reason to replace the drives, ...

I've been building an automatic toolchanger for my Easimill 3. It changed it's first tool yesterday under human control, I still need to write a macro so that it can be done by the computer. Here's a video if anyone's interested. http://coreyrenner.tumblr.com/post/51740802522/the-automatic-tool-chan...

Why not post the program that you're trying to run, someone might be able to spot the error (if any).

cheers,
v

The Orac turret that I bought recently looks like it's never been installed on a lathe. It came with a mounting plate that is about 4.50mm thick and has a hole pattern that matches the hole pattern of the turret itself. When the turret is mounted without the plate, the tools are about 3.50mm too low...

Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you,
v

I just got my Orac turret working properly under Mach3. I need a set of bushings to load into the (4) 19mm holes in the ATC turret to hold drills, endmills, etc. Since I've got to make them anyway, I'd prefer to have them match the style of the factory parts as closely as possible. Does anyone have ...

Thanks for the info about the M06 syntax, I didn't know that. Ok, Ive got this thing running perfectly. I've added a delay so that the changer runs on for 700ms after it finds the correct position. This allows the ratchet to index. Mine works fine with a delay down to around 500ms, but 700 gives me ...

angel-tech wrote:i think mach turn needs the tool offset added to the tool number.

Is this the reason for the repeating tool number? IE: M06T0303 ?

cheers,
v

Ok, the line: 'Code "G4 P4.0" 'Wait for the tool to rotate past the sensor appears to be crap. The correct way to call for a delay in VBscript is: sleep(xx) Where xx is the delay in milliseconds. I have the script running correctly on my turret with a 700ms delay after the sensor trips. I'm going to...

Guys, I'm mostly-working now. Maybe we can fine-tune this a bit. In Max's macro, the input #'s that were chosen are in the opposite order from what Denford used. So: Sensor Lead REF Macro outer blue E Input3 middle white F Input2 inner mauve G Input1 Let's see how badly that chart gets mangled... I ...

Thanks Max, this was just what I needed.

cheers,
v

Bradders,
I don't suppose you have the blueprints for the Orac changer itself do you? I'd like to build one from scratch. Not having to design it from scratch as well would save me a lot of time.

thanks,
v