New member from Germany - CNC retrofit of a Leinen FM1

Wow, what a beautiful machine. In fantastic condition.

So there are separate motors on each of the axis? Should not be that difficult to retrofit LinuxCNC to it. You should be able to leave that lovely antique Heinhain control untouched, and just make up a separate LinuxCNC Controller with connectors for all the cables.

Hi Andy,

yes, he has.

Thanks a lot and best regards

Hartwig

Dear members,

my Leinen FM1 is now running with LinuxCNC on all 4 axes.
I have built a small cubicle containing the required components. I have not modified the original setup at all. The CNC cubicle can be activated by a simple changeover of the original plugs coming from the mill (HONDA MR 50 pin and 20 pin plugs and the 4 Heidenhain plugs) from the original control panel to the CNC cubicle.
The relevant hardware I'm using is
- MESA 7i97T
- 1 Heidenhain EXE with 3 channels from a MAHO mill (1 my resolution)
- 1 Heidenhain EXE 610 for the rotary axis (0,001° resolution)
- 2 Mattke two channel Tach DC motor controller MTRG 25/2D
- 1 Mattke MTRM 061/5 Tach DC motor controller for the spindle motor
- 1 cycloidal transfer 60VAC for the spindle
- 1 cycloidal transformer 2 x 22VAC for the axes motors
- 1 5VDC and 1 12VDC power supply
- 1 All-In-One PC
Only the MESA card is new. All the other other equipment is bought second hand and mostly about 40 years old. But it works !
To be sincere, without help I would not have been able to configure LinuxCNC.on my own. A very kind and knowledgeable member of this forum did this work for me. Thanks a lot to him.
If anybody needs the INI and the HAL files, I would be happy to send a copy.
The following functions are implemented::
- x-, y-, z- and rotary-axis control
- end switches for the 3 linear axes
I have and I need no homing function.
The spindle speed is controlled outside LinuxCNC with an old Beckmann 10-turn potentiometer. I know them from the 80th of the last century, using them in the university labs.
Furthermore I have installed an original old style Waldmann machine light
Best regards
Hartwig

Hartwig wrote:

Dear members,

my Leinen FM1 is now running with LinuxCNC on all 4 axes.
I have built a small cubicle containing the required components. I have not modified the original setup at all. The CNC cubicle can be activated by a simple changeover of the original plugs coming from the mill (HONDA MR 50 pin and 20 pin plugs and the 4 Heidenhain plugs) from the original control panel to the CNC cubicle.
The relevant hardware I'm using is
- MESA 7i97T
- 1 Heidenhain EXE with 3 channels from a MAHO mill (1 my resolution)
- 1 Heidenhain EXE 610 for the rotary axis (0,001° resolution)
- 2 Mattke two channel Tach DC motor controller MTRG 25/2D
- 1 Mattke MTRM 061/5 Tach DC motor controller for the spindle motor
- 1 cycloidal transfer 60VAC for the spindle
- 1 cycloidal transformer 2 x 22VAC for the axes motors
- 1 5VDC and 1 12VDC power supply
- 1 All-In-One PC
Only the MESA card is new. All the other other equipment is bought second hand and mostly about 40 years old. But it works !
To be sincere, without help I would not have been able to configure LinuxCNC.on my own. A very kind and knowledgeable member of this forum did this work for me. Thanks a lot to him.
If anybody needs the INI and the HAL files, I would be happy to send a copy.
The following functions are implemented::
- x-, y-, z- and rotary-axis control
- end switches for the 3 linear axes
I have and I need no homing function.
The spindle speed is controlled outside LinuxCNC with an old Beckmann 10-turn potentiometer. I know them from the 80th of the last century, using them in the university labs.
Furthermore I have installed an original old style Waldmann machine light
Best regards
Hartwig

You should be able to use your existing end switches as home switches and limit switches. It is so much easier if set up completely. Just make sure you have a home_offset to move the axis away from the limit switch (even 0.5mm is enough, sometimes less). Otherwise the limit switch will trigger as homing completes.

Hi Rod,
thanks a lot for your comments.
For me and my profile of usage, the homing is not usefull because of several reasons:
- I use a centering microscope or the touch-off by the miller to zero the axes in Axis
- My workpieces typically fit into a "space" of 50 x 50 x 10 mm. Homing would leed to a lot of additional movements and would create much more wear and tear on the gearboxes, leadscrews and dovetails.
- I would doubt, that my limit end switches have a repeatablility of +.-1 micron. So the home position would not be very precise.
- And finally the esthetic aspect: if my mill would sit at the end positions when it is not used, it would look odd to me
Best regards
Hartwig

Most of your concerns are not valid.

The final position after homing can set by HOME linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/config/ini-homing.html#_home so it does not need to finish at the end of the table.

Use G54 offsets to touch off using your microscope after homing. Most GUIs have touch off features to automate this and here you will correct any accuracy. (Machining should be done in G54 or similar coordinates). This lets you use multiple vices (G54, G55  etc)

I don't think your concerns about additional wear and tear are valid. Typically you only need to home the machine once per day
There are no wiring or parts required to implement this. Why don't you copy your config and give it a go. You might find you like it.