Searching for a consultant. Willing to pay.

(Moderators please move this to a more appropriate place if it isn't welcome here.  I didn't see a good place for it.)

I need some help on a partial retrofit of my existing machine (Supermax Bridgeport clone).  I've done a lot of work on this machine over the years so I know my way around.  Lately the ancient servodynamics amps have started acting up and faulting out.  I'd like to replace them with something more modern and reliable.

To figure it out is going to take more time than I have available right now.  So I'd like to pay someone to be my brain.   Help me figure out what I need to order and then be available online to help me work through the details of the conversion.  Nights and mostly weekends when I can find time.
I'm willing to pay and no in-person or on-site time is required (though welcome if you're near mid-missouri).

Of course if you've already done a similar conversion and just want to share what you learned here, that's welcome too.

Sliptonic, that name sounds familiar....are you the FreeCAD Path guy?

I'd help you out in exchange for code lol... I'm kind of in the same boat but code is my problem.

It might be something you want to discuss with whoever winds up helping you out but it would probably be best for you to come up with a budget and general expectations. Tommy's suggestion about Yaskawa servos certainly isn't bad but that's like $900 per axis. Yaskawa is good for OEM because the drives usually have special functions, kinda think they're overkill for LinuxCNC retrofits. I use DMM servos alot. They are not the same quality as Yaskawa but I can't imagine you would actually see any difference in performance using step/direction. I mainly use them cuz DMM is a good company to work with. I can get custom firmware cheap, discounts, replacement drive boards and somebody to actually talk to about issues.

Hmm, I'm unaware of that, did you make a thread? I've been using a DMM 5000rpm servo on my mill spindle with S+D for over 2 years...no issues there.

I also use them in a product I make. It's actually a replacement for Yaskawa servopaks and Sigma Vs with indexer module. Kind of a complicated arrangement with an external microcontroller that accepts Yaskawa's serial protocol and sets up rotary positioning and spits out DMM serial commands. No issues with DMM there either.

S+D is velocity mode and serial is Position mode. I've never commanded them through analog but I'm not really sure why anyone would want to do that these days anyway when installing new servos.

blazini36 wrote:

Sliptonic, that name sounds familiar....are you the FreeCAD Path guy?
 

Yep.  That's me.  Now founder of Ondsel the open-core company building around FreeCAD.  The new company is eating my lunch time-wise.  Hence my desire to get some help.

I'd help you out in exchange for code lol... I'm kind of in the same boat but code is my problem.

It might be something you want to discuss with whoever winds up helping you out but it would probably be best for you to come up with a budget and general expectations.

Absolutely. 

Tommy's suggestion about Yaskawa servos certainly isn't bad but that's like $900 per axis. Yaskawa is good for OEM because the drives usually have special functions, kinda think they're overkill for LinuxCNC retrofits. I use DMM servos alot. They are not the same quality as Yaskawa but I can't imagine you would actually see any difference in performance using step/direction. I mainly use them cuz DMM is a good company to work with. I can get custom firmware cheap, discounts, replacement drive boards and somebody to actually talk to about issues.

Do you really think it's necessary to replace the servos?  I'm not opposed to that but the motors work great.  I thought there must be options to just replace the amps.

Do you really think it's necessary to replace the servos?  I'm not opposed to that but the motors work great.  I thought there must be options to just replace the amps.

Personally I'm just used to working with servos and drives as a set. You tend to get off into the weeds trying to make sure the encoder is compatible and making cables. There's certainly options to re-use the servos (not sure what your machine has). It's just a matter of hassle to reuse them vs cost of new motors which can certainly vary. A 400w DMM servo is probably like $150, and if it goes bad it's easy to get a replacement. Not shilling for DMM I just use them relatively frequently. My last bill from DMM was $1464 for 3 0.75-1kw drives and 3 750w 5k rpm servos for reference. I typically make my own cables.

BTW, thanks for all your work on Path. Freecad and Path is all I really use. I'm not a major machinist or anything but it works for me.

tommylight wrote:

Damn, those prices are good!
I payed more for just 3 servo drives a few years back.
 

Well Cables would have bumped that up about $500. I make motor cables out of VFD cable from McMaster Carr, Chainflex or something (it's good stuff) and encoder cable from some 4-wire shielded Belden cable. Somehow Firewire connectors became a standard for encoder-drive and they're easy to get ahold of very cheap. I just use plastic liquidproof connectors at the motor which is better than the Molex style connector that smaller Yaskawa servos use

I would like to hear more about the problem you had with DMM though, was it just with analog velocity control?

Do you have any wiring diagrams for the machine? How much help are you looking for? If you can post a list of questions with details maybe I can help. Or do you need help even getting a list of details and questions together?

As others have already mentioned purchasing matched servo kits, is selection of kits and how to interface them to Mesa and LCNC as far as you need help or will you need someone to have/generate all the wiring details as well?