Emco PC turn 55 upgrade..

Hi,
I would like to upgrade my emco PC turn 55 cnc machine so I can use linuxcnc to control it. I have a good technical background but no cnc experience so I am just going to jump in. I would greatly appreciate being told which driver cards to buy and which servo motors I could use with them. I am thinking change all the electronics with the new drivers. Swap the steppers for servos and maybe change the spindle drive. The machine is working at the moment but uses some crazy dos control system. I would much rather start learning linux cnc. Any suggestions which hardware to use greatly appreciated. I am ready to start on this now. Any links to ebay items (servos etc) accepted..

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers,
John

Like John wrote, you should keep everything that you can. It is already there and dimensioned for that propose.
It is just a matter to know what type of control your motors need and buying the correct hardware for that.

Hi guys,
Many thanks for the replies! I would like to change the steppers for servos. I hope to get better results like this and improve upon oem performance slightly and also learn about servo setup and configuration for future projects...

Many thanks,
John

Mech wrote:

Hi guys,
Many thanks for the replies! I would like to change the steppers for servos. I hope to get better results like this and improve upon oem performance slightly and also learn about servo setup and configuration for future projects...

Many thanks,
John

My Emco which uses long Nema 23 steppers and a 70v power supply outperforms my system with budget servos...and the servos were almost 10x the cost. Put together a strong servo system properly sized for the application, and for about $120-130 per axis and a $200 power supply, and you will be happy with it. Check out automationdirect for motors and drives, and go to cnc4pc for a 70v power supply.

A well spec'd stepper system will blow away a mediocre servo, or any servo that is poorly tuned--and tuning is a time consuming task. If you need feedback, you can always add a $60 encoder, and you will still have much better resolution than a servo, too.

How about these servos for the x and y:

m.ebay.com/itm/221339717583?cmd=VIDESC&gxo=true

Thanks!

Might be interesting to read:
bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/59984-...o-interface-mods-%29

If this is the style you have then you can use it as is with just a parallel port machine.

Chris M

Thanks Chris. Yes interesting read. I will open my machine and see if the boards are the same. Mine is a later model but may have the same internals. If they are I will give it a go. If I was to swap the existing steppers for say Mitsubishi drives and servos ( MR-J2S-40B drives, Hc-kfs43 motors) which Mesa card and daughter board would I need?

Many thanks, john

I would go for a 5i25 + 7i77