Light Machine Corp. Benchman XTr (retrofit)

I have a Benchman XT, however it is the model with a 45K rpm spindle and 12 tool ATC using ISO 10 toolholders.

My machine is functional using the original software, on an old Dell Optiplex WIN NT4 computer driving the NextMove card.
But I want to have an alternative should the PC or the NextMove (which sits in an ISA slot) go belly up in the future,
so I'm gonna be watching this thread.


image missing http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww216/bjorn_toulouse/Benchman/benchman01_zps08801c02.jpg


Rex

Hey! I have just acquired a Benchman XT for a high school robotics club. I bought it knowing it was not working and I just got it in. I plan to attempt to do a repair but if that doesn't work, I will do a conversion. The unit I got is a basic 5000 RPM but with a 20 tool changer. I'm not sure if it has flood but I will look at it closer later to see if that is installed. If not, it looks like an easy installation so I am pretty excited. I worked with an old EMCO and did a conversion and added a few cool things with Linux; a Z touch off and X and Y axis zero. The experience taught me that a solid base is necessary for CNC. This is relevant because we have a Chinese built SIEG X3 type mill that we converted to CNC. It works OK but the basic unit was not build for the precision of CNC so the results have always been iffy. I chose the Benchman because it is US build. I was also looking at German and I would have looked closely at Japanese but I've soured on Chinese quality. Anyway, the unit supposedly has a bad Automatic Tool Changer card, but I doubt that is the real issue. I looked at a picture of a board someone had posted and it is just a glorified interface card. That's actually a bad thing because it made me suspect the motion control pca, which is a very hard to find and pricey unit. If that is the problem than a conversion is a certainty.
Can anyone tell me if they can initialize the motion control board if the unit is disconnected from the computer? I still need to have a 230V socket installed so I have not done more then inspect the unit.
I will post my progress and relay what I learn. I have 9 tool holders and information on where to acquire more if anyone is interested. If I decide to do a conversion, I will offer the remaining control boards cheap! I also look forward to input from anyone else who is attempting to revamp their Benchman. It is an elegant looking machine and looks amazingly like a Haas!
Today was move in day and I unpacked everything so I hope to have pictures and more information in the near future.

Steve

Steve, Congrats on the new toy. It is taking a while for me to complete this, but a lot of that is the steep learning curve. Instead of picking up the LMC collet holders, the decision was made to use Tormach compatible collet holders from DARKON (4gt.com) and make new ATC holders. It was a lot cheaper to go this way than buying the original tool holders which were more than $100US each. With a 20 tool changer, that's $2K just to get going. The Darkons were $500US for 20, and the aluminum stock was about $40. I am in the last stages of getting the 4th axis, spindle and ATC up and running. Once it is all done, I cannot wait to put the back panel up, push it against the wall, and get to cutting stuff!

I am curious if you guys running the factory software have been able to come across PID values for the X/Y/Z axes?

Steve, if you need troubleshooting help, hit me up in #linuxcnc. I am not the best, but am pretty sure we have the same machine.

MacGalempsy, Thanks for the good information about the Tormach tool holders. I am not there yet but I hope to eventually populate the tool carriage.
I have done some close inspections of the unit and a few voltage checks. As I suspected, the computer cannot initialize the motion controller card. I suspect it is bad. When I got power and air I attempted to raise and lower the tool carousel with the front panel buttons. It did not work. I could manually push the pneumatic solenoid buttons and that operated the lift to the down position. I received an email from intelitek and the support agent indicated that there needed to be communication with the motion control card before the front buttons would work. Can anyone verify that?
Other than that I believe the unit has a 4th axis control built in. Also flood and that is a BIG plus. I did spot one small capacitor that looks like it was going bad and replaced it. So far, it is a big glorified paperweight.

steve_a wrote: So far, it is a big glorified paperweight.

The big bits are OK, (the castings and moving parts). Everything else is replaceable at moderate (or zero) cost.