Originally, I was going to CNC a PM-940m with hardened ways from the ground up. When I started to gather the components for the build, I ran across the Centroid Acorn controller, and that was the first component I purchased. But during the course of starting the process, I decided to switch gears and purchase a turnkey machine instead and give that a try. Once I received the machine and checked out the nMotion controller with Mach 3, I decided to switch it out with the Acorn controller. One reason was that there is not a lot of information on the nMotion controller, and another is that I don’t have any experience with Mach 3. With all of the issues that I’ve read about Mach3, I decided to focus my efforts on switching to the Acorn controller and becoming familiar with the Centroid control software. This thread will document the process and I hope that others who have similar machines and want to change the controller/software will benefit from the information gathered here. Please feel free to share your knowledge and opinions during this process.
There is a wealth of information on the Centroid Acorn site page and Centroid’s Acorn forum. I will post the links below in the outline to get this started.
The general outline will be as follows:
There is a wealth of information on the Centroid Acorn site page and Centroid’s Acorn forum. I will post the links below in the outline to get this started.
The general outline will be as follows:
- Gather information on the Centroid Acorn setup
- http://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_diy/acorn_cnc_controller.html has links to all of the info needed for this setup
- Focus on the Lead Shine schematic for this setup
- The videos link has detailed videos in order on setting up the controller
- Compare and match the nMotion schematics to the Acorn schematics
- Identify wiring matchups and changes needed. Determine what’s missing (5v power supply, momentary jog contact for limits)
- Know that the wiring numbers may vary from machine to machine (thanks Jake)
- This link to a post I created in the forum will fill in some of the info from questions that I had: http://centroidcncforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1270
- Document the changes needed for getting motion working on the machine with peer review
- Focus on the Spindle/VFD setup
- Formulate and verify the necessary changes through peer review
- Test Spindle function
- Look into adding flood coolant pump, lube pump, etc to outputs