Hardinge Superslant retrofit project. What sort of pendant?

I have been busy at rebuilding a Hardinge Superslant and am wondering about what sort of operator inputs people use and like? I don't have many inputs left, so I want to know what I can do. I am removing the old panel and putting in a screen and keyboard in its place.



Recently I came to the startling conclusion that the encoder on the turret could not be used by the encoder on the 7i77 Mesa card I have. The encoders in question run on 12VDC and are a 4 wire output for the two turrets. This lost me 8 input wires, taking up nearly all the inputs I had left on the 7i64 and leaving me with 1 input left. I can use 5 more from the parallel port.

As is, the operator inputs I have are:
- Start cycle
- Stop cycle
- Single Block
- Open collet
- Close collet
- One rotary encoder

I have been looking at the pendants available, but wondering what people use and like?
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Using_...Wireless_MPG_Pendant

In my case I have a few things I really want to do. I want to be able to index the turret and the tailstock to change tools but I may have to do that on the screen. Change between which axis I am moving (XZ + Z tailstock). I would love a feed, travel, and spindle speed control, however this is all way too many inputs for my setup.

What do other people have and what have they done?

I am using a 6i25. I will look into using a secondary card. I didn't know if going for a second card was the best option, or if someone has found a good pendant to use with a lathe. If it was a mill I'd go pendant, but the lathe is a little more tricky I think.

I have two encoders open so I can do X and Z motions with the wheels and that is certainly an option. I have one jog wheel left over from the front panel. The currently used encoders are on X, Z, Tailstock, and Spindle.

I can have two encoders for XZ and the last input for switching control between tailstock and carriage.

I was hoping there was some kind of USB input card that could handle less-than-real-time input for controlling rapid / feed / rpm and rotating the turrets.

At this point, if I was serious I would get the cable/bracket kit from Mesa to use the second port connection on the 6i25 to get me the other inputs I desire. As much as spending more time on the design, I want to get the machine moving first before diving into the interface more. I will wire in two hand wheel encoder inputs but not connect anything yet.

If there are some other USB I/O boards that can just plug in to be a pendant I would likely go for that before getting an expansion card.

I am more following advice from what I read and see. This is my first time going into Mesa/FPGA route instead of a parallel port breakout to do step/dir on a mill. At this point price of a solution isn't as much of a concern as getting a product that I have to deal less thought with. If it cost even $500 and the machine was done and operational without programming, I'd likely go for it. If a $200 pendant already interfaces with LinuxCNC and does what I need and is ready to go as opposed to wiring, the $200 pendant seems a good choice.

I think now that the 7i64 was an okay choice for the machine. A 7i73 may have been a better option, but I was worried about the payoff of how much time it would take to learn and modify code to meet my needs instead of doing something (potentially) simpler that I know how to do (organize wiring diagrams and put wires in spots). I have a few projects that have ended at the point where I just can't get the code to do what I need it to / upload / compile as needed and have gone away from those in the future. This is also what I am afraid of if I went to a USB port that wasn't a complete package.


I want a feed%/rapid%/rpm% control, but looking at the old control panel dials they had 5 bit interface for the feed and rapid and a 3 bit for the rpm which is a lot of input ports. I'll use the screen and keyboard hotkeys for those and coolant.

If there is no easy solution, then so be it. I didn't know if there was a ready-made thing for LinuxCNC out there. As well, I am nowhere near done. I have what I think of as a mountain of work to get the I/Os for the various sensors and turrets wired right. That may be the bigger task at this time.

These guys do a Mesa compatible Wireless Pendant
xhctech.en.alibaba.com/

6 axis, 3 scales, estop, a DIN rail relay box to go in the cabinet and a small antenna with a magnetic mount.

Delivered to Australia was USD $352

Some details on my build up here.
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/32029...tter-build?start=150

There are 3 spare buttons you can use as you like. Correct part number is ATWGP-01-6BB-3 which says, 5v, 2 wire Mesa compatible MPG and coded selection outputs which save a pin or two. I can share an email address if interested.

I have briefly tested this and it seems quite OK and responsive enough. It was pretty easy to set up in HAL.