Re Fanuc drives
I don't have the fanuc drives, just the actual mill which is fitted with Fanuc red tops. I have used several machines with Fanuc control (Model O) and found it ok, but so outdated even when compared to MACH3
I'd like to steer away from using old Fanuc parts. The reasons being that as it is all Fanuc specific, you have to replace with the same parts, extra axis have to be unlocked, adding in additional functions is impossible, and to repair anything needs a Fanuc engineer. The programme length is minute so CAD/CAM generated programs have to be drip fed.
If I use "off-the-shelf" parts and a modern up to date controller, especially LinuxCNC as it is always being updated, I can do pretty much what I want with the machine. And if a part fails, it can be readily replaced with if not an identical part, but something very similar.
I'm also building another machine so would need another CNC control for that at some point.
The only reason I ask about keeping the Fanuc servos is that the eusurplus wiki shows how to tune a motor, so in theory I should be able to tune the servos myself??? I have no problem removing the Fanuc encoder and fitting a standard type encoder. I was only thinking about keeping them as they are specifically for CNC machines, and I'm assuming they will be a better quality than the cheap chinese servos???
If anyone has used any of the chinese drives/servos and found them to be ok then I wouldn't have a problem using them.
