"downgrading" from nextstep to denstep

[MadeForThat]

Without going in to the details of why, I am downgrading my novaturn ns from a Nextmove card, to a Denstep card. Will the DS Card control the lathe the same way as the NS? Will I need to specify the machine is a novaturn (no ns) to vr turning? Were the original (non ns) novaturns set up the same way with the same hardware, but with a denstep? I am just concerned about spindle and ATC controls functioning. Please let me know if you have any experience with a (non ns) novaturn, or if you are aware of any hardware changes.

[TDIPower]

If you go into the machine setup (denny) you can look at the parameters but i'm not sure if there is more to it than that.

Pete

[Martin]

The only issue may be the speed & feed override pots. There is a change from 5 volts to 12 volts. If it's fitted with the pots & it is connected to the wrong voltage the effective sweep of the pot is reduced.

Everything else should stay the same.

[MadeForThat]

Are the NS pots 12v? I would be concerned feeding 12v on the controller that expects 5v. Are the pots hooked to the controller or the spindle drivers? I assume feed is hooked to the controller, but speed I suppose could be wired either way

[MadeForThat]

Im concerned about this too: the novaturn says the control voltage is 24v, the micromill says 12v. I attached some pics of the serial plates that say this. and a pic of my dog

[MadeForThat]

In case anyone ever reads this and needs to know:
The pots for overriding speed and feed are both hooked to the controller board. This is for the Novaturn NS as well as the micromill 2000. I plan to update this thread with details of the switch once I have them. Something as simple as swapping cards can take a while if you want to make sure it works before you start

[TDIPower]

Glad your making progress, love that bench!

Pete

[TDIPower]

Glad your making progress, love that bench!

Pete

[MadeForThat]

Thanks Pete!
I have made some updates since then, namely to the PC. in attempts to modernize haha. I was able to find an old monitor arm for a crt, so i am mounting all my peripherals on that. It allows me to pull the monitor, keyboard, and mouse right up to the machine Im using! Im pretty excited about the arm. You will notice I am starting to get the nice oil stain started on the benchtop. So it begins!

[TDIPower]

We used to have an arm almost identical to that back in the early 90s it was between me and another guy at work but we had the phone on it!

I have become a huge fan of danish oil on wood, couple of coats with a roller and a wipe down I needed to do a quick shelf and couldn't wait for paint to dry!

A while ago someone was posting about using USB number pads, it meant you didn't need the whole keyboard at the machine when setting zero,

Pete

[MadeForThat]

I have not used Danish oil, from what i have read, it sounds like it dries to a hard finish? that sounds pretty nice for a work bench. I have been trying to decide if i can trust wireless devices for controlling, I would love to use a wireless mouse and numpad like you mentioned, but I'm just terrified of the possibility of a signal not making it when I need it to. Maybe that is unwarranted

[TDIPower]

if using the same PC to control either machine there is no reason why you can't have a USB number pad and mouse at each machine and plugged in to the PC. I have a normal keyboard and wired mouse at the PC, a number pad at the machine (which has a USB hub so can plug a USB drive in easier than reaching the PC) and wireless mouse (logitech). The wired mouse is for when I have forgot to charge the wireless!

[MadeForThat]

good call on just having separate mouse and key pads... I would be able to get rid of most of the arm's bulk then, and I am a big fan of that idea.

[TDIPower]

I was looking at your pics again, I don't know if this could give you any issues in the future but you have a mag base DTI on top of a stepper motor, Wonder if the magnet could impact its operation.

Pete

[MadeForThat]

good question! I have not tried to use the motor with it on there, in this case I was using it to check runnout, then stuck it to the cabinet shortly after!

[MadeForThat]

So the swap was a success for the lathe, and mostly a success for the mill! (don't have spindle speed control yet on mill) I will be investigating this week.

[MadeForThat]

While investigating, it seems the "spindle on" command will simply turn the spindle on to the minimum speed defined under "machine parameters." In my head I beleived the front spindle speed would adjust the speed between the minimum and maximum speed, but in reality, it scales the speed around the minimum value. ie: if the minimum speed is 100rpm, and the spindle knob is turned to 75% or 125% then the resulting real rpm would be 75 or 125 rpm respectively.

[Martin]

The pots on the front are override pots.

The range on the spindle pot is between 50% & 120%. Therefore if you request a speed of 2000rpm & the override is at 50% the actual speed will be 1000rpm. It does not go below 50% so you can't stop it if you are running in in auto.