expert computer and CNC opinions wanted

[Stuart Kent]

I have an older Busellato machining center (http://www.casadei-busellato.com/c-9-cnc-machining-centers.aspx) that was used for cabinetmaking. The machine was taken offline when we purchased our Northwood (http://northwoodmachine.com/products/3-axis-cnc-machining-centers/ta-single-table-left-to-right), and has been in storage ever since. From a physical machine perspective it has a full compliment of tooling in good condition and no significant maintenance needs beyond lubrication and general 'out-of-storage' stuff. This machine is truly a workhorse, overbuilt in every way and extremely well equipped. It features a rotating linear ripping saw, bidirectional horizontal boring, multi-spindle shelf pin boring (which can be adapted to any vertical boring operation), and all of that works in support of the main 3 axis routing functions.

I want to explore the possibility of completely changing the controller so I can adapt the machine for furniture making and CNC classes at The North Carolina Furniture School. I have seen clever hacks for similar machines, where people overcame outdated controllers and software with low cost solutions - BUT - that kind of computer expertise is totally beyond my abilities and information seems sparse on this kind of stuff. From a software perspective I have most of what is required for this machine to be made current - all current AutoCad, Fusion, etc. as well as Cabinet Vision Screen to Machine.

So with a machine that features the very best quality servos, spindles, bearings, electronics, etc. I think there has to be a low or no cost solution to wake this thing up and welcome it back to life without dumping tons of money into it.

Am I dreaming or is this possible?

[Mike Heidrick]

Why would that be low or no cost again? Maybe I need to know what low cost means to you. Replacing the controller on an amazing machine costs money if you know what you are doing. Double or triple that if you expect someone to teach you or do it for you. Servos, encoding, intelligent relays, all take plc control.

Why not use the original controller again?

Research centroid controls. I did one on a 4 axis knee mill with nema42 servos. Sure is not cheap though.

[Stuart Kent]

Why would that be low or no cost again? Maybe I need to know what low cost means to you. Replacing the controller on an amazing machine costs money if you know what you are doing. Double or triple that if you expect someone to teach you or do it for you. Servos, encoding, intelligent relays, all take plc control.

Why not use the original controller again?

Research centroid controls. I did one on a 4 axis knee mill with nema42 servos. Sure is not cheap though.

You're really asking several questions here, so I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

The original controller is DOS based and no one supports it. It has been many years since I did anything at all with DOS, and I certainly am not proficient enough to troubleshoot things when they go south in that world. As far as 'low' or 'no' cost, I have seen what people are doing with home made CNC machines with off the shelf laptops serving as the 'controller' with screen to machine interfacing and I am wondering if that is a direction that is possible - I have a very good, new computer with a CORE i7 and 16G of RAM in it that will more than suffice for any computing needs that I can dedicate to the machine if there is an option there - so that part of the equation is a 'no' cost. We already have both Stiles and Cabinet Vision for all CAD, CAM, and nesting needs, so again there is 'no' cost for that. Between the heads around here we are perfectly capable of doing any physical component swaps, wiring/electrical work, etc.

What I don't want (and am not willing) to do is throw $25K at a new Siemens or similar controller for a machine of this age, which is worth less than the new controller alone would be. As for the plc, that's where I start to fall short, and thus the origin of this thread.

So here is the hypothesis put another way: if I put this thing on a street corner with a 'free to new home' sign on it (there is no scrap option in this hypothetical), is it plausible that some hungry computer savvy person would come along and say "hey all I need to to is __________, ___________, & _________ and I could have a serious CNC machining center for like $2,500" ???????? Some part of my gut tells me that there are a lot of us that would say 'can't be done' while others would say 'watch me'.

[or am I just dreaming...]

[William Adams]

You need to find out what the control requirements for the motors are — do you have a wiring diagram?

Then you need to find a controller which can be adapted to make those outputs work.

Does the DOS PC use a parallel port breakout board?

Have you looked into booting it up w/ LinuxCNC?

[Dennis Ford]

I have no doubt that an upgrade like you posted about is possible for the right person. This person would have a high level of mechanical, electrical and software skills. He (or she) would also have a large shop with 3 phase power, lots of spare time and a few thousand (probably much more than $2500) dollars of disposable cash. Unless this person spent a huge amount of time on both the upgrade AND documentation; they would be the only person who could economically repair the machine once operational.

[Gary Campbell]

Stuart...
What you ask is more than doable, however you may have to adjust your budget. Depending on the actual products used for servos & drives and the resolution and reduction, many, if not most of the lesser cost PC based controllers will not output code at a rate that can drive hi-res combos at a reasonable speed. Most lesser cost controls will not have the I/O required to actuate and monitor the additional tool operations your machine has.

I have done a number of these with WinCNC which is more than capable, but does have a 75kps per axis step limit. This would limit an axis with 4000 counts per inch to around 1100 in/min max speed. In many cases this is adequate, but may not be what can be obtained from a proprietary controller system, but comes at a much lower cost. Hardware will run in the $2500 range with another $3-4K for installation. Depending on required actual use, macro programming and tool offset calibration for the ancillary operations could be another $2.5K. Compared to what these machines cost in todays market, $8-10K is a bargain.

Very few of the proprietary controllers will be under $10, plus installation, calibration and programming.

None of this includes CAD or CAM software that can post files to accommodate the multi operations. This could easily run over $25K

[William Adams]

There is one nascent development regarding multi-axis machining — AutoDesk has been adding support for the Pocket NC 5-axis machine: http://cam.autodesk.com/community/partner/pocket-nc/

Free so long as your company is earning less than $100,000/yr.

[Stuart Kent]

There is one nascent development regarding multi-axis machining — AutoDesk has been adding support for the Pocket NC 5-axis machine: http://cam.autodesk.com/community/partner/pocket-nc/

Free so long as your company is earning less than $100,000/yr.

hmmm. thank you, I'll look into this