Denford Orac rescue

[ownthesky2010]

Hi all
Here is my latest project.
Its a Denford Orac that has been languishing in a shed for 20 years that I won on ebay for £113.
Its missing most of the electronics and almost all of the sheetmetal.
The pictures from the listing tell a grim story of rust and neglect but a few key factors made me quite positive about it namely:
The corners of the slideways still look sharp so the rust hasn't penetrated.
Both axis motors are still present.
The spindle motor is still present.
The ballscrews look rust free.

Since collecting it I have torn it down completely, removed most of the rust, purchased a load of new bits and tested the existing motors which all seem ok.
The spindle was completely siezed when I started taking it all apart but freed up completely so I think it was just the old grease preventing it from moving.
I have set myself a total budget of £300 for the whole project and so far I am on track.
Here is the breakdown of what I have spent so far:

Machine - £113
DQ542MA stepper drives - £56.34 for two new
48v Power Supply - £17.65 new
Breakout board - £11.74 new
Computer - £9.18 used
POS Touch Screen - £23 used
Serial cable for screen - £2.69 new
Energy chain - £10.50 - new
VFD vector drive - £0 donated by an enthusiast

So far I'm at £244.10

I still need to decide on a toolchanger and I will probably replace the power chuck with a scroll chuck as its a closed centre.
I will post some more pictures as I start putting it all together.

 

[blighty]

Well thats something to get your teeth into

when it come to getting the POS Touch Screen up and running.... would like to know how you did/do that. as for my lathe project i wanted a touch screen and i got a POS Touch Screen from ebay. i didn't know it was a POS it was just advertised as a "touch screen" but i could never get the touch side of things working.
after a few weeks/months of trying with no joy, I just got a "normal" touch screen monitor in the end.

 

[ownthesky2010]

The screen I got is by 3m and was advertised as a POS screen but has a serial port interface.
All I did was download a driver, install it and reboot and it worked fine.
TBH, the driver didn't even seem like the correct one but it worked anyway.
I have heard of people tearing these screens down and replacing the touch controller with a generic one to get them to work.

 

[blighty]

I did all that and the thing still didn't ruddy work. thought about fitting a new screen but in the end ebay came through.
i got the POS for about £30 and the monitor for £50. so still saved quite a bit over a new monitor.

 

[ShopShoe]

Posts with costs (money, but not time) are few, so I appreciate the accounting you are providing. I won't be doing anything similar, but I like to folow all kinds of projects.

I will be watching this to see how it turns out.

--ShopShoe

 

[Wizard69]

Well looks like you will be busy for awhile. LOL

The heavy rust is a problem but it looks like there is lots of life still in the ways so a regrind ought to be feasible. My biggest concern would be the spindle.

As for the electronics, with a lathe that has been setting around for 20 years and then how many years before that, you might as well consider the electronics as so outdated as to demand replacement anyways. Thankfully it is possible these days to do far better at very minimal costs.

In any event keep the pictures coming.

 

[Blogwitch]

Blighty,

I bought a very hi spec touch screen made by 3m that came with no drivers. It took many downloads until I found one that worked perfectly. Complete with a small second hand PC to run the software, the total cost came to around £100.
Then, through a good friend, I came across a full package in one little unit that controlled everything, and although fairly small, the screen and controller can all be held in one hand. Nothing else required, all software built in, so it works out very cheap when all that is taken into account.

This sort of thing, but can be obtained much cheaper and better from China

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Axis-DD...ol-System-Controller-CNC-G-Code-/262236470537


John

 

[JCSteam]

I'll be watching how you go about restoring this old lathe, may get a few tips along the way that I can apply to my lathe

 

[jeep534]

I wish you all the luck in the world.
I will be watching this with much interest.

Happy hunting
archie

 

[dalem9]

Get some Evap-O- Rust . It will clean the rust off nicely . I have used the stuff with great results