TOS FN20 from manual to EMC to Mach3 to LinuxCNC

It all depends on what you want to do.
If you are making a heavy cut / slot in steel the speeds are slow so the knee might get you where you want to be.
Go down to depth then cut away.

But if you are thinking about 3d profiling at a fast rate and light cuts that is a different story.

If you look up linear slide actuators you will find plenty of pre built router mount Z axis assemblies that you may be able to adapt to your set up.
You could create more than one configuration.
You could then set up an XYZW machine using the knee as W and the router assemble as Z.
Also a XYZ configuration just using the knee as Z and the original spindle locked.
And a XYZ configuration using the router assembly as Z.

Rick G

Einar wrote: the Mesa stuff was for some reason not shipped very promptly and it seems it will not arrive before the holidays.

Mesa have been very slow to ship for some months now.
store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=inform...ion&information_id=6

I think you are in Europe, so you might be better getting a kit from eusurplus:
eusurplus.com/index.php?route=product/pr...ue&sub_category=true

They don't have any stock at the present, but are expecting a delivery, I believe. I suggest contacting them first.

Most of the configuration regarding steps/mm etc. I think can be pulled from Mach3 before I pull the disk.

You should be able to import the Mach3 XML into LinuxCNC Stepconf wizard and run a parallel-port system with about 5 minutes work.
(Plus the time taken to get Linux and LinuxCNC installed)

The boards were shipped. But just late enough they were delivered after christmas.
Had they been sent one day earlier, I would have had them in time.
Not a very big deal, but the original plan had to be scrapped.
I will get stuff from Pico Systems or Eusurplus next time.

Now the boards are here, but I now have some tools to make on the mill to put a power steering back in one piece.
Mach3 can do it.

I installed LCNC on a PC that I plan to use and had an issue with the mouse. (Other post) But solved now.
The latency jitter is not great. Mostly 15us/24us when browsing, listening to Youtube music and such.
When starting GLXgears it shoots up to 50us/50us. But I don't imagine I will run anything heavy while milling.
Probably an editor, some webpages (LCNC site) and not fiddling about with them while running the machine.
And although this is somewhat unclear to me, I believe the step generation is in the Mesa card, so I should be fine?

Also I now run without limit switches and home switches. So I may as well make the brackets and stuff to have them mounted before doing the switchover to LCNC. And put in some connectors so the mill and cabinet can be easily separated. Maybe I'll just pick some motors and stepperdrives from the drawers and make an "air mill" in the computer room to emulate the real machine. Figuring out the correct wiring and config before connecting up the machine may actually be a good thing. So I don't have a crippled machine longer than necessary.

Einar wrote: I installed LCNC on a PC that I plan to use and had an issue with the mouse. (Other post) But solved now.
The latency jitter is not great. Mostly 15us/24us when browsing, listening to Youtube music and such.
When starting GLXgears it shoots up to 50us/50us. But I don't imagine I will run anything heavy while milling.
Probably an editor, some webpages (LCNC site) and not fiddling about with them while running the machine.
And although this is somewhat unclear to me, I believe the step generation is in the Mesa card, so I should be fine?.

Yes, with the Mesa hardware 50uS is absolutely fine for latency. I think PCW has said that 10x that can be OK.

Yep, with the correct setup (DPLL position sampling and PID feedback)
the Mesa stepgen hardware will work fine with up to 500 usec latency