Converting from grbl to LinuxCNC ... will this work?

Hello from a hobby CNC miller

I am a software engineer from northern Germany, who has become infected with the "Build your own CNC mill" bug a few years back. I have some professional experience with machines (learned die- and toolmaker in my youth, and worked 8 years as UI developer with Hurco in Indianapolis), and during the Covid nightmare I started to build my own CNC router. First all wood, by now it has grown to an aluminum frame portal mill. This has run on GRBL from the beginning, but I grew more and more frustrated with its limitations. You can probably imagine how happy I was when I ran into LinuxCNC

Here is what I want to accomplish, but before I start dishing out $$$ (or €€€ in my case), I'd like to run a sanity check that what I plan is actually possible.

Starting point:
my 3 axis CNC router. All stepper motors (your standard Nema 23s from stepperonline) with drivers - they were adequate so far. The x axis has two of them, as it has two ballscrews (one on each side). The other axes have one each. X and Y axes have a 10mm pitch, Z has 5mm. Homing is done via 3 normally closed inductive end switches (5V), they have proven to be accurate enough for my needs. The spindle is the standard China ware (1.5 KW, 24000 RMP, YL620A converter with 0..10V speed control, supposedly RS422 capable, but not sure).
As controller PC I want to use an old Intel NUC from 2015 that has collected dust the last few years. LinuxCNC installs fine on it, and the latency is OK (jitter around 25k, averaging between 10k and 20k). This uses an integrated graphics, which works fine. Due to the limitations of a NUC there is obviously no space for a PCI controller board in that little box.

Plan:
Buy a Mesa 7i96S ... because they are what one can get nowadays, and the ethernet connectivity seems ideal for the NUC (has both WiFi and Ethernet).
Hook up a touch screen, for ease of use (which I am not sure yet).
... and then out with GRBL, and in with LinuxCNC.
I'd love to add a handwheel, and a tool length sensor. Stretch goal would be a probe.

As I am obviously still a newby, I'd love to hear from more experienced users if this would work. Especially the two x axis steppers, and the normally closed end switches are open questions. Also the YL620 converter's 0-10V input for speed control - is that possible with my planned configuration, especially the 7i96S? Or would RS422 work better for that converter?

Many thanks for your answers in advance

Stefan

Just be aware the homing switches need to stay engaged until end of travel. This lets linuxcnc know which way to move to get to the home switch trigger edge. Read up on the Homing Configuration section of the docs.

Thank you for your answers. It sounds like the 7i96S on the NUC is a viable option for the plan I have

@andypugh Currently I use an Arduino shield from arduinoclub.de, that has a 0-10V output for controlling the spindle speed. The squaring is currently handled through physical connection of the two spindles via a shaft and a bunch of bevel gears ... something I'd like to replace, if only for reducing the noise this makes. The idea of using two x axis end switches sounds intriguing.

@rodw The end switches are near the physical end of travel, and they would definitely stay engaged. I will consult the documentation, as per your suggestion.

Thanks again,

Stefan

If you were to use a 7i96s, I beleive it includes a 0-10 volt spindle control on the board.(its predcessor the 7i96 didn't). Check the manual aa I've never used one.

The "UI developer" part of your CV are much wanted and welcome to the LinuxCNC world and comunity. There are some quite nice user interfaces already but we sure need some help here (I guess). Kind regards/Stefan