Anyone know anything about Hurco mills?

That is a saga alright. I hope you get it all sorted out.

Have you decided on which retrofit kit to go with? As I recall Jim doesn't seem to like the Mach upgrade very well I don't think. I haven't looked into the different kits much yet.

I guess if I do get a CNC mill my plan would be to retrofit it before I start making parts for people that depend on me for on time deliveries. At work we are on overtime now in the shop. First time in 3 years we have done that. The owner told us if we don't have the product our customers will go elsewhere, and it would be very hard to win their business back. I completely agree with his thinking and this is big in my decision to retrofit first.

I added a subscription to your thread. I will be watching to see what you end up doing.
 
alloy said:
Have you decided on which retrofit kit to go with? As I recall Jim doesn't seem to like the Mach upgrade very well I don't think.

I guess if I do get a CNC mill my plan would be to retrofit it before I start making parts for people that depend on me for on time deliveries.
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I might change my mind on Mach3 if using closed loop steppers. We'll see how the new Mach4 works out. I would also be happy to give you my control software, but there are some down sides to that in that it is not exactly industry standard and requires it's own post processor. I could make it compatible with the Fanuc post but I have been too lazy to do it. It does have a lot of nice features the make it more user friendly.

I highly recommend NOT doing what I did: I did my retrofit right in the middle of a production run when my old Anilam controller failed. I never took the fixture off of the table and did the change over in a day and a half. But I'm crazy like that.:nuts:

When you do get a machine, you are welcome to drop it at my shop, and I'll help you do the conversion here.
 
That machine looks very similar to my Millport 1050. I did a ajax centroid allinonedc retrofit. It is not cheap but I really like it. With the centroid mpg you can easily control all the axis like it was manual. I was unsure of why folks said the Z was difficult with a conversion.
 
bloomingtonmike said:
I was unsure of why folks said the Z was difficult with a conversion.
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The normal way of driving the quill is with a ball screw that replaces the quill stop screw and the assembly covers the entire front of the head. The only reason the Z was a bit tricky on mine is that I wanted to maintain full manual operation of the mill, with a quick change over. My quill stop hardware was not disturbed and is fully functional for manual operation.

There is one Z-axis conversion kit, from a fellow in Arizona, that that allows you to disengage the ball screw from the quill, but you have to remove the cover, then remove the attaching screws. I designed mine to be able to disengage the quill from the drive by shifting a lever. I can switch between manual and auto in about 10 seconds. I have the option of switching from full manual, 2 axis CNC, or 3 axis CNC in a matter of seconds, and can do it at any point in the operation. Very handy for the type of work that I do.
 
I would like a CNC mill that was full 3 axis and had the capability of going manual, but it doesn't look like that is very practical for me. My space it at a premium, and I'd like to sell my manual if I get a CNC, but if the CNC goes down I'm out of business for my transmission conversions. So I'll have to find a way to have two mills in my garage somehow.


I have been looking at his mill. He's not far from me and the mill uses Universal 200 Quick Switch holders and I have a lot of those here. I like that it has a new retrofit on the control.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231451210923?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
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Keep looking, you'll find one. I just kind of tripped over mine. The other option is to just convert a standard machine, a lot of those around. Find a good deal and then just do the change over time, then when you get it done, sell your other one. The offer to do the CNC conversion in my shop is still open.
 
Jim,

Something may have just come up actually. I just may be taking you up on your offer soon :)

Check your inbox in a few.
 
You guys mean a full conversion of a manual mill not a retrofit of a cnc mill which is what I did. Sorry for not thinking that through. Mine was an "easy" conversion as the machine was a cnc machine already in 1987.

Mikie

PA300039_zps0cd75b1d.jpg

JimDawson said:
The normal way of driving the quill is with a ball screw that replaces the quill stop screw and the assembly covers the entire front of the head. The only reason the Z was a bit tricky on mine is that I wanted to maintain full manual operation of the mill, with a quick change over. My quill stop hardware was not disturbed and is fully functional for manual operation.

There is one Z-axis conversion kit, from a fellow in Arizona, that that allows you to disengage the ball screw from the quill, but you have to remove the cover, then remove the attaching screws. I designed mine to be able to disengage the quill from the drive by shifting a lever. I can switch between manual and auto in about 10 seconds. I have the option of switching from full manual, 2 axis CNC, or 3 axis CNC in a matter of seconds, and can do it at any point in the operation. Very handy for the type of work that I do.
Click to expand...

PA300039_zps0cd75b1d.jpg
 
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