[MichaelHenry]

The MESA boards can take a daughter board that adds quite a bit I/O don't they? You'd need to add another DB-25 cable, perhaps.

[David Bord]

Please don't keep us guessing about what is new!

+1... come on, spill the beans!

[tmarks11]

The MESA boards can take a daughter board that adds quite a bit I/O don't they? You'd need to add another DB-25 cable, perhaps.

The Mesa board has another parallel port onboard the card, although you would need a 25 pin DB25 adaptor bracket like this:

Attachment 305142

Watching TS video, he used a second parallel port and BOB to add the I/O for the encoder. The cleanest conversion for Tormach would be to adapt their BOB to add encoder inputs, assuming their were enough unused I/O pins on the port to begin with. Adding another external parallel port connector and BOB into the existing electronics cabinet might be more modifications then most users are willing to do.

[TurboStep]

I Always make note when step finds interesting features .
Under water , what snow melt?

Not snow melt. A pipe froze in the stables and the ice pushed out a plastic part from a valve. The ice thawed and we had a new fountain.

Please don't keep us guessing about what is new!

Sorry guys, I like to tease (you may have noticed) but I don't think its in Tormach's interests for me to pass on this info. They're not major changes but one has been a discussion point on this forum in the past. They really should use a configuration management tool to separate new developments from published code if they want to keep stuff under wraps.

The Mesa board has another parallel port onboard the card, although you would need a 25 pin DB25 adaptor bracket [---]
Watching TS video, he used a second parallel port and BOB to add the I/O for the encoder. The cleanest conversion for Tormach would be to adapt their BOB to add encoder inputs, assuming their were enough unused I/O pins on the port to begin with. Adding another external parallel port connector and BOB into the existing electronics cabinet might be more modifications then most users are willing to do.

I have a couple of such cables begging to be used... I was shying away from the effort for me to (learn how to) adapt the Mesa configuration to add another encoder. I'm not sure whether I might mess up some special Tormach configuration - making matters worse rather than better. I was hoping that Tomach would implement it for me and save me the effort, but I'm still waiting.
The parallel port solution works fine and doesn't touch the Mesa file so I'm happy. In the meantime I now have a total of 3 encoders, 2 additional inputs, 2 additional outputs and this is steadily increasing so I might need a second parallel port soon! I modified the connector panel several years ago to replace the US style mains connectors with euro style connectors and added a second parallel port at the same time - I knew this was going to happen! Some of the stuff doesn't need to go through the cabined and could be build into a separate box with its own power supply - not ideal but not really an issue.
Step

[tmarks11]

...They're not major changes but one has been a discussion point on this forum in the past. They really should use a configuration management tool to separate new developments from published code if they want to keep stuff under wraps

Tormach definitely hasn't figured out the "Apple Next Product" secrecy plan.

[wtopace]

Tormach definitely hasn't figured out the "Apple Next Product" secrecy plan.

Some of the new stuff I caught seem to be a pretty major announcement, unless they stuck it in there just to be misleading =) ... although I wasn't as impressed after reading through the details as I thought I would be. Not going to say anymore here.

I'm guessing the new ADMIN commands weren't in the release docs because they might still be buggy/broken/not finished - but they will be nice for people not wanting to tear into the base OS to add dropbox. I tested it in a VM with no issues at all, but if you brick your machine, it's your fault =) In no way do I recommend using this until Tormach officially releases it in their release docs!

ADMIN DROPBOX INSTALL

[tmarks11]

I am just referring to things like the Tormach "Something big is coming" blog posts leading up to the 440 announcement.... when a google search of their website provided the 440 FAQ webpage that answers all the questions about "what something big" is....

And I sincerely doubt that Tormach is being intentionally misleading with source code.... they are not Apple, after all...

[keen]

Hi Step.

Many thanks for sharing this useful information.

Does this mean while doing spindle turning you can now screw cut threads? If so that is another big plus.

Cheers Keen

[TurboStep]

Hi Step.

Many thanks for sharing this useful information.

Does this mean while doing spindle turning you can now screw cut threads? If so that is another big plus.

Cheers Keen

Just tried cutting air with a G76 Threading Cycle it appears to work great. I'll try cutting something less tolerant when I find time
Steo

[LeeWay]

I doubt the profit margin on the T/C tapping head is enough to make that a consideration. I suspect they will get around to it eventually, partly because at least one competitor already offers it standard on their machine.

Anybody bought a new 1100 recently? It would be interesting to see if the BOB on the new machines has any un-used terminal blocks that the older machines don't have. Sort of like the Tormach controllers sold for a year had a "future use only" tag over the Mesa card parallel port connector.

And the was the deciding feature in my case. I went with the Novakon Pulsar over the PC770 because of rigid tapping. There are other features too that made this the right choice in my case. Most importantly was the excellent stand design and wash down pump. Also standard on the machine.
I was a little surprised to see the 440's stand and lack of coolant design on it. I can't think that it would have cost much more to have added features in it to allow for a coolant tank. At least a small one.

Great to see that the machine can rigid tap though. I do think that would be a promotable feature going forward and worth the additional kit they could offer in the future for retrofits.

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

It's been over a year since the past post on this... what happened? has the pcnc 1100 world lost its desire for rigid tapping?

Personally, I've grown tired of hand tapping or running my tapmatic as a second op. T/C wont work for me as I have a balance between through and blind holes.
It's a shame to have a CNC mill with such weak support for tapping.

[jttoner]

OT, but for the life of me that looks like a Bellanca. Yes, rigid tapping would be a nice enhancement.

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

You're correct, and Bellanca is never off topic 1959 Bellanca Cruisemaster 260 HP,, 200 MPH, Full IFR.
https://youtu.be/XASrcNxshQU

But back on topic, I've got the hardware all laid out, just need someone to help with the software changes...

[jttoner]

The Bellanca is an object of great beauty and good luck developing the rigid tapping.

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

Here's the sim for machining the encoder wheel.......

https://youtu.be/CJPZgWSNzrY

[jcposada]

How are you planning on mounting it to the pulley?

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

yup.. the 4 holes are for magnets

[jcposada]

have you figured out the software/config piece?

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

have you figured out the software/config piece?

Not completely. I know that there needs to be some additions to the HAL file for the encoder.. I'm still learning the HAL stuff.
There also needs to be some editing of the post processor - I am familiar with that.
Also, there needs to be a hardware connection to the computer.. the stock PCNC100 board has no room for it so it looks like I'll be getting a daughter board for the MESA card...

I'm going to run a test of the encoder wheel when it's done using a prox sensor, I think the freq response will be fine at tapping speed.

[kstrauss]

Could you use a pin on the parallel port which is unused with PP?