Gerber D-200

Yes, I can run our D-200 with Linuxcnc.
There are two ways you can approach this. The way I did it, or the easy way. I wanted to retain the ability to run the machine with the old Gerber software, so I needed to retain the old Gerber motor drive. If you won't ever want to run the machine as Gerber intended it would be much simpler, to just replace the old Gerber driver board in the large black box with 3 conventional stepper motor drives.

The key to making it work was a set of L239E chips, to convert the 5v TTL signal from the pc breakout board to the 24v signal used in the Gerber drive box to trigger the drive transistors.

The other difficult part was figuring out how to turn the spindle on/off. (If you are not using the original Gerber driver board this is a non issue, just use a relay.)

I still haven't taken the time to finalize the installation. (I still need to stuff my mess in an electrical box and make it purdy.)

Here is a copy of my config files.

Also, if Gerber's crappy software is the only thing keeping you from using the machine there are a few other CAM software packages that support running these Gerber routers.

One I know works is Enroute, It is a bit pricey but it is still cheaper than the garbage Gerber was peddling (last I checked Artpath was still Windows95 tech).
www.thinksai.com/products/enroute

Thank you again, this is really great!

I have explored Enroute, but don't use the router enough to justify the cost. Plus I'm not a Windows fan, so I'd love to utilize something non-Microsoft and lose the Windows XP computer that I have been using for some time now... I'd rather not invest in another PC so I can invest in more costly software.

I'm not overly familiar with board level modifications, or repairs, but I'm not afraid to jump in. Do you have a recommendation for both of your suggestions? Boards I should purchase to bypass the Gerber system entirely, or what you used, and (if its not asking too much) how you assembled it?

For the way I did it you will need:
1 - 37pin cable (either wack one end off so you can use the wire leads or get a 37pin cable breakout board, I have the board)
a piece of perf board
4 of these chips www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelec...Zq9rRehoCFTwQAvD_BwE
and a couple of ordinary parallel port breakout boards (I used a C10 board and another board I had laying arround.)

If I did another one of these I would not bother with the 37 pin breakout, but it was very nice for testing, and with both a male and female 37 pin plugs, let me easily snoop the old Arc Station's signals.
I would also probably spring for screw terminals for my home-made board (this one I just soldered on wire leads that I then connected to the other 3 breakout boards.

To to it the easy way you would need:
3 step motor drives (something like a TB6600 ought to work fine)
1 parallel port breakout board. (I needed 2 for the other way because I had to have 12 outputs to control the 3 motors vs 6 for ordinary step/dir commands.)
one or more small relays you can control with the 5v from the breakout board to control the spindle and other peripherals.

I also added a Z-home switch. to the machine using a prox switch.