Threading with A B phase only?

The rising edge will be used as the index.
This is perfectly OK, as long as it is consistent.

Hi I am a hobbyist and I too have (just acquired) an Emcomat 20E with faulty electronics (so faulty that spindle drive nor feed drive works) and want to upgrade/swap out all the electronics to a modern control system (with DRO and quasi-CNC). I could maybe keep the stepper motors for feed and for the thread cutting auto insert/withdrawal, but will fit a smaller spindle drive motor to match my inverter for domestic supply which has a 3hp max limit (so will replace with a 2.2kw 3 phase dual voltage motor). I have found very little info from EMCO on the electronics although I do have a complete manual. In particular I cannot find any info on the Linear encoders to usefully find a matching DRO system, nor what program could set pitch diameters to the the existing leadscrew feed motor for thread cutting. In terms of control, I would ideally like to have allthe original program functions and add to those an ability to cut diagonal paths (in other words drive X and Z simultaneously). I would be very grateful to hear what you have done and at what cost. Kind regards, Adam

Actually I have now located the info on the different encoders (Rotary and Linear) all made by Heidenhain and have been today onto Heidenhain UK to check what compatible DRO's and Controllers they have that could take the input of these encoders in order to form a basis for partial CNC operation. How should I think about controlling the thread cutting leadscrew feed motor rotation to match different TPI's on demand? Anyway would love to hear about your final solutions Mtndrew77. Do you live on the Isle Of Wight by any chance (I ask this only because I heard that there was a fellow there who worked on a DIY CNC conversion of an Encomat lathe...). Adam

Below is what I used and approximate cost. I Attached the info I have on the heidenhain encoders. The inverter will run the 5hp
motor on 220v supply and will connect to the mesa spindle interface. The mesa card also has a spindle encoder interface. I connected the a and b phase from the heidenhain rotary encoder and used the balluff proximity switch on the spindle for the index pulse for threading. The balluff sensor is 24v so I had to make a voltage divider to connect it to the mesa card. I also modified the sensor ring so I only get one pulse per rev. Also I have pdf's of the manuals if you need them. Hope that helps




Mesa 7i76e-$200
Huanyang inverter 7,5kw-$350
Wanti steppers and drives-$250
Old Okuma Control Panel -$40
Misc supplies-$200
Time- $1 Crap ton

Very many thanks Mtndrew77! That is very interesting and helpful. Does the result offer all the performance of the original system including being able to command whatever TPI / Pitch mm you need for the leadscrew feed motor rotation to allow thread cutting?

Well actually the result is way more capable than the original. I added a x-axis motor to mine so it has full CNC capabilities now. The original only had one motor for x and z, and you could only execute one program step at a time. To answer your question LinuxCNC can handle any thread pitch. All you need to do is configure it to whatever hardware you decide to use.

My finished pictures are below if you haven't already seen them

forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/31744...finished-emcomat-20e