Need help with a Paxton Patterson training mill!

Hello im new to the forum and Linuxcnc. I just got a Paxton Patterson training center mill that is in really good condition. The sad thing is that all I got was the mill no software or the PCI card that serves as the controller. I have contacted the manufacturer and they want $350 for the PCI card, $250 for the software or I can pay $875 to get the updated equipment and software for windows 7. They even want me to pay $100 just to change ownership in there records before I receive anymore support. I only sent one email and only recived one email from them and their telling me that I have to pay $100 to get anymore support!!! Wow thats crazy what a bunch of vampires. I mean come on the machine is more than 10 years old. Sorry I just had to get that off my chest. So that is the reason why I'm hear. I need to find the best most cost effective way to get up and running. So my questions are. Can I somehow use the optidriver board that is located inside the mill itself? Through my research I haven't found much but I did find a little bit about how that the parallel port on the original PCI card does not match up directly with the pc's parallel port "by this I mean the pin out changes when it reaches the other side of the PCI card." So if you were to go directly from the PC to the optidriver(the mill) it will burn up/ground/short stuff out. I'm pretty sure I can use the power supply and board thats in it. Its titled Power 36, I know it works because I can run the machine in manual mode. Finally if I cannot use the driver board thats in it which driver board would you recommend? I also should add that I am extremely electronically savvy, I can do any kind of soldering even BGA, I can identify any part on a circuit board and what it purpose is, that being said if I cannot use the optidriver board then will I be able to repurpose any ic's or parts from it to create my own driver. I do apologize for such a long post like I said this field is kind of new to me. Thank you so much for your time.

Well I have to say man did you ever nail that right on the head. You see my father just recently retired from our local school district. Just before he left they had shut down the shop and drafting classes. So they let him take the mill and a matching lathe for FREE! They were barely used, I remember when I took drafting class there it was just a couple of years after they got the machines and I had to learn auto cad 2000 for almost two years before they let us use them. So yeah I'm definitely going to take your advice seriously to be truthful you are thinking the same things I am, screw paying all that money when it can be fixed for no more than $75US. I actually just found a post in another forum giving the pin out for the optidriver boards parallel port. So that solves my problem of hooking up straight from the PC and I won't have to buy another driver board or repurpose parts to make one. No just need to figure out how to hack the optidriver board like you said, but I'm not the best at programming.

ok so I have found some really good info here
en.industryarena.com/forum/cncmill-paxto...workable--19359.html
Both pages of this thread are just what I was looking for. I'm going to go ahead and solder up the cable now. Once I get to where I can safely connect the PC I will try out the xylotex config in linuxcnc. Thank you guys so much for your help I will report back as soon as I get this done.

ok so I've decided to make a PCB that has 2 female db25 connection and I will be using regular cables on it. The mill already has the drivers for the spinal and the 3 stepper motors. It looks like its using some atmel ic's and Darlington ic's. I want to post some pictures for you guys. What is the best way to post pics on here? So I got my work cut out for me. I'm currently building a custom pc to run this and designing this PCB for the parallel cable. So yeah just let me know how to post so pics and I will be able to let you guys see everything.