WARNING: Semi-off-topic amateur-hour CNC project! CNC stuff is really useful for composites work and I am very interested in bringing broken machines back to life. I do NOT know what I’m doing! Just sharing this to tell my retrofit story and add to the information out there.
This video is an overview of the process I went through to retrofit a broken industrial 5-axis router with a simpler and more DIY-able control. This is not a common type of retrofit project but it is totally doable!
Here is a link to additional information: https://explorecomposites.com/articles/cnc/my-5-axis-router-retrofit/
And if you’re shopping for CNC routers, here’s my article on Buying A CNC Router: https://explorecomposites.com/articles/cnc/buying-a-cnc-router/
My goal is to show an inexpensive upgrade path for older industrial CNC routers with totally-ok mechanical parts but very dated control and servo gear. PC-based controls and simple servo systems can work fine. DMM and Tecknic Clearpath servos are very user-friendly and available in large enough sizes to run industrial machinery.
You need to be really careful with these larger industrial machines. The pieces are huge and heavy and you need to be very careful with limits and e-stops – and electricity! You can crush your body (super bad) or break your machine (frustrating) very easily. Be safe!
I chose WinCNC because I was familiar with it and pretty sure it would work. Also, it has 6-axis step and direction outputs and plenty of IO. The price was reasonable and I knew I could use in on another machine if this didn’t work.
I ended up trading this machine for a smaller one because I needed to remove it from where it was sitting – and at 8,000lbs or so that’s not trivial! Hopefully I will have a chance to follow up on the tuning and post-processor creation.
Was it a good idea? I don’t know. I sure learned a lot doing it!
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