Hi,
I am starting this thread as a record of the conversion a of Boxford CNC 250 PC lathe I own. The lathe is approx 20 years old and has had very little use. the lathe works fine using the manual controls. I have set up a PC with Mach 3 and have been unable to get any response from the lathe. The original computer system is propriety and Boxford has little interest in sharing the older lathe info I have decided to retrofit the lathe with a controller that will communicate with Mach 3 and the stepper and servo spindle drivers.
I have selected the CSLAB CSMIO/IP-S Motion Controller which I have just recently received from Poland and I am busy with my head buried in the manual at the moment.
I plan to update my progress about once a week with the next installment being a plan and circuit diagram of the proposed changes. I have an IT background but CNC is new to me and information on the hardware side of things has been difficult the find. I have been relying on the Mach 3 manual (excellent) and the CSMIO/IP-S manual (excellent) as well as locating the original driver specs on the web.
I had a few conversations with demonstrators at the recent Melbourne Model Engineering Exhibition and they indicated that they considered configuring a CNC lathe was more difficult than a CNC milling machine. I have a habit of jumping in at the deep end so we will see if I can swim.
I welcome feedback from forum members and hope this thread will become a useful record of the issues encountered retrofitting a Boxford CNC lathe.
I am starting this thread as a record of the conversion a of Boxford CNC 250 PC lathe I own. The lathe is approx 20 years old and has had very little use. the lathe works fine using the manual controls. I have set up a PC with Mach 3 and have been unable to get any response from the lathe. The original computer system is propriety and Boxford has little interest in sharing the older lathe info I have decided to retrofit the lathe with a controller that will communicate with Mach 3 and the stepper and servo spindle drivers.
I have selected the CSLAB CSMIO/IP-S Motion Controller which I have just recently received from Poland and I am busy with my head buried in the manual at the moment.
I plan to update my progress about once a week with the next installment being a plan and circuit diagram of the proposed changes. I have an IT background but CNC is new to me and information on the hardware side of things has been difficult the find. I have been relying on the Mach 3 manual (excellent) and the CSMIO/IP-S manual (excellent) as well as locating the original driver specs on the web.
I had a few conversations with demonstrators at the recent Melbourne Model Engineering Exhibition and they indicated that they considered configuring a CNC lathe was more difficult than a CNC milling machine. I have a habit of jumping in at the deep end so we will see if I can swim.
I welcome feedback from forum members and hope this thread will become a useful record of the issues encountered retrofitting a Boxford CNC lathe.