Weiss VM32 CNC Conversion

[David]

On a value for dollar basis the LCNC or Pathpilot option is a winner by a country mile.
Mach4 is a costly beast.
Best price I can find on an Ethernet Smoothstepper is $209USD plus a breakout board at $36USD plus $200USD for software = $490USD + 30% + 25% = $851CAD

 

[jcdammeyer]

On a value for dollar basis the LCNC or Pathpilot option is a winner by a country mile.
Mach4 is a costly beast.
Best price I can find on an Ethernet Smoothstepper is $209USD plus a breakout board at $36USD plus $200USD for software = $490USD + 30% + 25% = $851CAD

Yikes...

 

[gerritv]

Some more info for anyone considering a switch to PathPilot. 5i25 is same pinout as 7i92 btw.

 

[jcdammeyer]

Some more info for anyone considering a switch to PathPilot. 5i25 is same pinout as 7i92 btw.

@David and my issue will be that we use step/dir for spindle speed. Makes it possible to put the spindle onto the index position or some spot relative to that for tool changing etc.

 

[David]

@David and my issue will be that we use step/dir for spindle speed. Makes it possible to put the spindle onto the index position or some spot relative to that for tool changing etc.

Worst case scenario there; couldn't we use PWM-->analog for the Bergerda drive?

 

[jcdammeyer]

Worst case scenario there; couldn't we use PWM-->analog for the Bergerda drive?

Yes. Been there, done that too. Prefer step/dir even if I do have issues with my closed loop encoder speed which is only there because I want to be able to power tap.

 

[David]

Yes. Been there, done that too. Prefer step/dir even if I do have issues with my closed loop encoder speed which is only there because I want to be able to power tap.

Oh me too, I love the precision of the step and dir

 

[David]

I looked at the Raspberry Pi 5 on a FlexiHAL board option and it's pretty compelling.
The FlexiHAL board is Canadian-built. Add a Pi5, and flash it with the Flexi-Pi image. The one thing that stops me from this approach is I cannot find anyone doing a pendant on a RPI.

Flexi-Pi/README_cdn.md at master · Expatria-Technologies/Flexi-Pi

Linuxcnc Image Builds for the Raspberry Pi and Flexi-HAL using Remora. - Expatria-Technologies/Flexi-Pi

github.com

Runs the QTdragon_hd gui which looks really good.

QtDragon GUI

Edit: found this
https://github.com/Stutchbury/Manualmatic-Pendant

 

[gerritv]

Worst case scenario there; couldn't we use PWM-->analog for the Bergerda drive?

Apologies, I misled you, the 1100-3 outputs Freq for spindle speed. I added a Freq->0-10v converter to connect to my VFD.

 

[David]

So I'm 99% sure this is my pathway:
Mesa 7i92s card
Would be great if I can get Pathpilot working with step and direction spindle control.
If not I'd probably go with either the Probe Basic gui or the Qtdragon_hd gui.

 

[gerritv]

if your goal is rigid tapping, this might lead to happiness: With some effort it will do rigid tapping, e.g.

there are likely other/better videos explaining what you need to add.

As lovely as QtDragon etc. are, for me the lack of conversationnal is a deal breaker. Once you start using those it is hard to go back.

 

[David]

if your goal is rigid tapping, this might lead to happiness: With some effort it will do rigid tapping, e.g.

there are likely other/better videos explaining what you need to add.

As lovely as QtDragon etc. are, for me the lack of conversationnal is a deal breaker. Once you start using those it is hard to go back.

Agreed, I would like to retain conversational programming capabilities.

 

[YotaBota]

Did you call about the Lenovo? Is it EB computers?

 

[David]

Picking up a Lenovo i5-6500/16GbRAM/256Gb SSD tonight. Private seller so far as I can tell.

 

[YotaBota]

Do you know what model, chipset, it is and do they have more than one?

 

[David]

Do you know what model, chipset, it is and do they have more than one?

He also has an i5-7500/8Gb RAM/256GB SSD.
Don't know the Lenovo model number though

 

[YotaBota]

Kelly is looking at one for her networking but needs to have the pci expansion slot. Not sure if these ones will have the slot.

 

[David]

Kelly is looking at one for her networking but needs to have the pci expansion slot. Not sure if these ones will have the slot.

It definitely will not. These are SFF (Small Form Factor), maybe 1.5" thick x 8" x 8"

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I'm very curious how this will work out with that computer. I have a SFF dell as my garage computer, and was wondering if it could be used to run a CNC too, but that's beyond my paygrade. I need to start collecting some bits and pieces for my little CNC lathe conversion at some point. One of these SFF computers if capable would be perfect. The lenovo's and dell's can be had pretty cheap on marketplace.

 

[David]

I'm very curious how this will work out with that computer. I have a SFF dell as my garage computer, and was wondering if it could be used to run a CNC too, but that's beyond my paygrade. I need to start collecting some bits and pieces for my little CNC lathe conversion at some point. One of these SFF computers if capable would be perfect. The lenovo's and dell's can be had pretty cheap on marketplace.

I'll keep you posted!
If I play my cards right I should have LinuxCNC on it tonight.