I did an upgrade on my Tormach CNC mill a few years back and replaced the servos. I kept the old ones and want to convert one of my lathes to cnc with these servos but I don't know what controller to use with them. How do I find this out and how to set the whole thing up?
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Lathe CNC conversion
- Thread starter Lynarnold
- Start date
- Joined
- May 27, 2016
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Many modern, now fairly low cost VFD inverter drives are servo drives in all but name. There are now hundreds of brands that have auto-tune for servo setup, and parameters that can set up for drives of various motor numbers of poles, and encoder feedback arrangements.
Brands that come to mind are Omron (Japanese Yaskawa), ABB, Copley Controls (Xenus). These things can get expensive, but not to fear, there are now so many, including American brands, that they are becoming affordable. Some can use motor shaft encoder feedback for velocity acceleration deceleration control, and simultaneously, the direct DRO position sensing for the input demand in microns. I expect the CNC enthusiasts in this form will be able to give you more tips.
I have two servo drives, and motors, scored as freebies. They are much OTT for my kind of machine needs, but I was much put out by the cost of the 4 connectors (for 2 motors). £129 (that's about $180 bucks)!
Brands that come to mind are Omron (Japanese Yaskawa), ABB, Copley Controls (Xenus). These things can get expensive, but not to fear, there are now so many, including American brands, that they are becoming affordable. Some can use motor shaft encoder feedback for velocity acceleration deceleration control, and simultaneously, the direct DRO position sensing for the input demand in microns. I expect the CNC enthusiasts in this form will be able to give you more tips.
I have two servo drives, and motors, scored as freebies. They are much OTT for my kind of machine needs, but I was much put out by the cost of the 4 connectors (for 2 motors). £129 (that's about $180 bucks)!
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
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Can you post some pictures and details of the servo motors? I may be able to help you find the correct drives and cables. I used to work in the industrial motion control sector so I have a lot of servo motor experience.
Thank you for the information.Many modern, now fairly low cost VFD inverter drives are servo drives in all but name. There are now hundreds of brands that have auto-tune for servo setup, and parameters that can set up for drives of various motor numbers of poles, and encoder feedback arrangements.
Brands that come to mind are Omron (Japanese Yaskawa), ABB, Copley Controls (Xenus). These things can get expensive, but not to fear, there are now so many, including American brands, that they are becoming affordable. Some can use motor shaft encoder feedback for velocity acceleration deceleration control, and simultaneously, the direct DRO position sensing for the input demand in microns. I expect the CNC enthusiasts in this form will be able to give you more tips.
I have two servo drives, and motors, scored as freebies. They are much OTT for my kind of machine needs, but I was much put out by the cost of the 4 connectors (for 2 motors). £129 (that's about $180 bucks)!
Yes I can. It might be a day or two before I can get to it but I will. Thank you!
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 2,719
Ah shoot, I reread the thread. This is a Tormach machine. Unless it is a new machine with their high end servo package, then these are stepper motors. Lots of drive options, but the one with the least fuss (and likely higher expense) is buying the replacement stepper drive from Tormach directly. It would help to know exactly what machine (and revision of that machine) these motors came from.
Once we know the voltage and amperage of the drive, we can cross it to a cheaper stepper drive.
tormach.com
How will you control these drives? They need a motion controller or microprocessor to send the signals to the drive.
Once we know the voltage and amperage of the drive, we can cross it to a cheaper stepper drive.
Tormach Mill Upgrade - Stepper Driver - SKU 32793
Replacement Stepper Driver (2-phase). Also replaces obsolete PNs 30737 and 31234.
tormach.com
How will you control these drives? They need a motion controller or microprocessor to send the signals to the drive.