Gerber 408 retrofit

Hi Guys,

Retrofiting a 408 Gerber as well.
Starting from scratch, pre-itch really, as I'm without a pc.
Aiming for Mesa FPGA setup.
A Fanuc om-d controlled CNC Mill is used for aluminum machining at the shop and hoping to get this router up to speed to pick up the load.

Any advice is welcome, specially where to start and what to focus on, to get this ball rolling.

Looking forward to any replies

Cheers,

I have retrofit two Gerber Sabre 408's with LinuxCNC, and plan on retrofitting at least one more in the near future. I use Mesa cards and custom adapter PCBs mounted onto a plate that becomes a bolt-in replacement for the original Gerber motherboard in the top of the electrical cabinet.

Here is a video of the first machine I did (it has an after-market ISO30 ATC spindle):

Gerber Sabre 408 retrofit with LinuxCNC 3D routing foam


If your original setup had the "high frequency spindle" option, then you have a Perske (non-ATC) or Colombo (ATC) spindle with a Saftronics/Yaskawa VFD in it's own electrical box. This box is controlled by two signals: a relay to turn the spindle on, and Modbus over RS-232 (not RS-485!) to control the spindle speed.

If you have a "dumb" 120V router (like a Porter Cable, etc.) hooked to the outlet on the side of the Z axis, then your spindle is controlled by a relay within the main electrical cabinet. (None of our machines are like this.)

My current setup provides access to the following:

• encoder feedback from the servo encoders
• analog torque / enable signals to torque-mode brushed DC servo drives
• limit/home switches
• +5V & +24V power from the motherboard power connector
• controlling the "high frequency spindle" electrical cabinet via Modbus

It does not currently handle the following:

• respecting the physical E-stop buttons on the machine itself
• no pendant support (the original pendant was proprietary with a brain of it's own)
• controlling the 120V "dumb" spindle electrical outlet on the side of the Z axis
• controlling the 120V vacuum electrical outlet on the electrical cabinet (for dust collection?)
• listening to the optional auxiliary sensors on the side of the Z axis (does anyone ever use them? Our machines just have hole plugs and no connectors...)

I eventually want to come up with a 100% drop-in replacement that has all the features exposed, but I haven't done this yet (since we didn't need them). In the meantime, if you need control of the 120V outlets I can design more adapter PCBs, it will just add some lead time. I attached photos of the electrical connectors I am talking about.

If you are interested in buying a retrofit kit from me, please private message me.

--Forest

Has anyone else made progress on this recently?

Am looking to do the same but am new to CNC controllers and finding it hard to judge the overall cost

Ajvr wrote:

Has anyone else made progress on this recently?

Am looking to do the same but am new to CNC controllers and finding it hard to judge the overall cost
 

I am actively working on a monolithic motherboard replacement, attached is a photo of the physical form factor. I am 90% done with the schematic, and then will knock out the trace/component layout on the board. The motherboard is huge (14x17") so there aren't space issues thankfully.

I expect to have prototypes within a month, I'll keep you all posted.

Considering buying a $4000 Gerber 408 in my area. Your conversion to Linux is making the idea very tempting! How much do you charge for your kit?

If you are interested in buying a retrofit kit from me, please private message me.

--Forest

Interested, don't know how to send you a PM on here.