Denford Software & Machines

I am really new to this CNC stuff so would appreciate a bit of help.
I have been offered a Triac ATC from September 1994, which is currently at an engineering works that is closing. The machine has a couple of bashes on the cabinet and must be considered as a non - runner as I haven't seen it powered up. Price was originally £800 but dropped to £400 as I couldn't see it powered up but I think I could get it for £250.
I need to know, in the worse case, what is likely to be wrong with it and how much it is going to cost to put it right. As the back panel/flap is open I can only guess that something is wrong with the electronics, which are by North Eastern Electronics I think.
So worse case, is it as simple as buying a Stepmaster or Routout motor driver and a Mach3 package or am I missing something.
Would like to be able to upload dxf drawings as I am not familiar with G code programming etc.
Don't really want to learn by mistakes again so would appreciate any help.
By the way there is no tooling whatsover with the machine so are the toolholders for the ATC standard and easy enough to come by or not.

Thanks ...Richard

if you dont want it for £250 i'll take it!!

come on though Jimbob, you are hardly answering the question are you! is i worth £300 as is £1000 or where abouts in between?

Bite the guys arm off. If you consider it to be the bare mechanical basic machine (assuming everything was knackered electrically - worst case) then you are getting a very sturdy machine complete with ballscrews fitted etc. You pay £500 for a cheap chinese mill with half the metal in it and crappy screws.

You lucky so and so - I would easily gve £400 for that.

If you think it may be knackered electrically allow £200-£400 extra on top for refitting with Mach 3 etc. If the drivers are good I can probably provide you with an interface circuit to re-use them. If you do retrofit to a modern controller then you will have an awesome machine.

My starturn, retrofitted with Mach is absolutely brilliant - rarely use my manual lathe!

Cheers

Dave

Bite the guys arm off

I agree !
With an ATC as well

TriacWhizz is going to be green with envy

I reckon a good condition Triac without Toolchange would fetch around £1000 on ebay

Re the tools- I'm pretty sure they are the same as what we are using now.

Dave - Can Mach 3 do the toolchange logic ? - I suppose he might have a problem if its that weird NE toolpost controller which had its own protocol / interface - if its a standard ATC with a Geneva CAM and AC motor then it would be a lot easier to get working again ?

Do you know where there is a fools guide to updating such a machine to Mach3 for £200 to £400 detailing the steps and items, sources etc.?
At this sort of cost I may consider doing my own.

There are plenty of other projects for stepper control cards - all with different qualities and prices.
https://www.cncdudez.com does a usb stepper control card with the circuits diagrams and PIC firmware for free (if you build your own bits)

Another alternative to Mach - that looks pretty capable is the DeskCNC USB board and control software
Loads of further info on https://www.cnczone.com/forums

I'm pretty sure Mach could work with the toolchanger - plenty of people run machines under Mach with ATC's. With the toolchanger on my Orac, Dave's going to help me modify it to be controlled via a programmable chip type controller, which will receive a signal from Mach to tell it which tool is required, and then the chip will take care of the rest. I suspect you could do something similar with the ATC control for the Triac.

Regardless of the above, that looks like a brilliant deal even if you just treat it as a kit of mechanical parts

Alastair

Toolchanger would probably be the most difficult part as you may need to build some electronics along the way.Their are a variety of ways you could do it.
e.g
Using individual parallel port pins on a second port
Use a microcontroller
Use something like the ModIO board from Peter Homann

The one thing you will have to do is write some VB script in mach to get it working.

Unfortunately I don't think you will find a 'fools' guide to doing it - but there is plenty of guidance out there.

I may even be able to help with some wiring diagrams for a Triac ATC

Their is very little you can't do with Mach -
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=641.0
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=627.0
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=1234.0

Some inspiration for you.

Cheers

Dave

worth buying or not ...it's bought
I got it home last night and couldn't get it through the door so had to strip off the two rear control panels to save an inch or two. Anyway it's in now.
Before I rip all the NEE electrics out and replace with gecko's etc i suppose i should really fire her up and see if anything happens. Does anyone have a instruction manual as I don't want it setting off with a mind of it's own!

thanks ...Richard

There is a maintenance and programming manual to download here:

viewforum.php?f=15

You lucky so and so - I'm jealous!!!

I'm a bit busy at the moment but copying the Triac manual is on my list of things to do - I will try and get round to it in the near future.

While your here perhaps you could help PAB on this thread - viewtopic.php?t=574&sid=6b15131fe29c719 ... e43a85890b

Cheers

Dave