Greetings all-
I have a Terco Mill Trainer that I want to convert/update. This is the one that I starter looking at foing when I joined in 2005, but life happened. I actually have the programming station, the control module and the mill and manuals. There is a bad board in the controller station, so its either build up a new box or convert this one. The manuals unfortunatley are of little help. the only real schematics are in the programming station and it really has to do witht he 68-series architecture of the chips from 1983.
My needs right now are for some light milling and possibly engraving. The work envelope is only 3"x7.5", so its not very big, but big enough for what I need right now.
I am inclined to convert this one as much as I can - there are already toroidal transformers, rectifiers, capacitors and the like wired up to everything. The motor control is there too, though I think I best update that too. Motors are basic 6 wire steppers. I have factory motor data as far as wiring, windings, impedance, etc....
The milling spindle is coupled to a brushed motor of some kind. It has 2 wires to the brushes, and one ground wire. I can not tell if its AC or DC yet.
I am hoping that folks can give input and guidance on this journey... Here are some pics of the overall unit. I will make a new post of the internals as I go.
I am torn between going with Linux EMC and Mach 3/4.... as simple as this machine is, I think that with a basic C6/C10/C11 type board and a Pentium 4 I have lying about, its not going to be an issue either way. I really could use some guidance here. Heck, I could dual-boot and really torture myself.
Right now, I am assuming that I can abandon the old electronics and reuse the case to house new drivers and motor controls.
It woudl be really great if I could resue the controls on the panel for things like feed override and jog control and the like. It would be REALLY great if I could figure out the programming keys too, but step by step for now....
I am hoping people that have done a conversion like this can give input and suggestions. All of the components are attached to the aluminum chassis with thermal heat paste between the device and the chassis.
Now for some overall pics...
Dennis
- - - Updated - - -
Now for some pics of the internals-
Motor Connections at the rear of the unit-
Devices inside the chassis (this is a mirror image of the stuff on the outside)