Centroid Acorn experience

Has anyone got experience with using Centroid Acorn, particularly on a lathe? Andy

First off i'm a relative newbe to CNC with only 2 - 3 years experience having had absolutely no experience of CAD CAM and CNC etc prior to this and was pretty computer illiterate apart from surfing the web etc.

But yes , i have been running a small cnc lathe on a Centroid Acorn for about a year.

Prior to this I was using a good quality ethernet motion controller and Mach3 Turn.

The Acorn and CNC12 software are a joy to use compared to Mach3 Turn which i found somewhat unpredictable and some features such as CSS i never managed to get to work with Mach3 Turn all work fine with the Acorn ( i think Mach3 Mill is probably much better than Mach3 turn)

I wasn't keen on the Forum based info resource that Centroid use at first but it has proved very useful and when i have had issues the people at Centroid and other users have been very quick and helpful to reply to any of my queries.

My one reservation with the Acorn is you are somewhat buying into their product line , if you want to expand I/O , use an MPG , digitizing software etc you are tied to Centroid products (although i'm sure if you where sufficiently technically minded you could get round this ) ,

I have a friend who uses Linux cnc and this is relatively cheap even with Mesa cards , very powerful and hugely adaptable . But i'm simply not computer techie or interested enough to want to learn , i wanted my lathe to run reliably as quickly and as simply as possible so i could get on with making parts.

Overall i'm happy enough with the Acorn to have bought a second one to fit to a Mill conversion i am doing when i get the time.

Thanks, that is encouraging. Did y purchase direct from the states?

The 1st one , yes , i paid around £70 on import fee's etc and it arrived within 10 days.

The second one someone brought over from the US for me !

Lathes don't seem to be nearly as well catered for or popular in the DIY CNC world as mills and routers etc.

Apart from Linux and Mesa cards there is nothing else i am aware of that i would have been tempted to use at the moment with my lathe

Edited By T.B on 13/04/2020 22:06:17

Edited By T.B on 13/04/2020 22:22:50

I'm looking at the Acorn board at the moment as well, although I'm a fair way off making a purchase as I don't even have a mill yet (about to try and order an SX2.7L). I did notice a seller in Poland though so that may help reduce the import cost?

**LINK**

I must admit I just want hardware/software that works. Linux CNC is a little daunting!

I don't have a Centroid setup, my Denford lathe has been changed to PlanetCNC control hardware/software.

Here's a video of it running some lathe code and showing some features on my 'indoors' laptop in simulation mode, but it works exactly the same as on the workshop computer, except for screwcutting as there is obviously no attached spindle encoder without the lathe itself being present.

Just to give an alternative if you are interested.

Martin.

I looked at these but was put off because I didn't quite get the thing with the computer ( something about single thread )

I wasn't sure how easy they were to find and what they would cost.

Can anyone expand on this?

Regards.

David.

PlanetCNC looks good and seems cheaper than Centroid - I hadn't heard of it before so will have a closer look. Centroid Acorn does look good although once you take into account shipping, import taxes and the Pro software it is nearly £500 to get started.

BTW I saw a thread about PlanetCNC where there are Chinese clones that don't work with updated planet software. There was a response from Planet that they were only selling only selling hardware to work with their software or it might have been only software to make their hardware work. Either way you were totally tied and no support was given for third party products.

Why would a business support an inferior ripoff of its products?

PlanetCNC provides a combined hardware/sofware package to ensure things work as they should, that's all. I think Centroid does too.

I contacted PlanetCNC and got a quick reply, a motion control board, a board to control spindle speed and a software license comes in at about £250. So much cheaper than Centroid Acorn. PlanetCNC software can also run on Linux, Mac or a Raspberry PI whilst Acorn needs a fast PC with Windows 10 - so a potential big cost saving there. I presume a power supply is needed for the board too. Documentation seems somewhat sparse so I assume support is via a forum but that is also the case for Centroid Acorn.

I downloaded the software and gave it a quick trial, it seems very simple and obvious to use. It seems set up for mill or router use with 4 axes displayed and a 3D view of the part. I could not see any way to customise or get a lathe centric view - it must be possible though as you have that in your video Blowlamp, was that a simple job to customise?

There is also UCCNC that supports screwcutting - details here

Sherline are currently using Masso

This is a bit more expensive, but is a stand alone system that doesn't need a computer - just plug in a monitor & keyboard. Not sure how much in the way of import duties there is to pay on technology products from Australia.

Nigel B.

Masso looks great - not having to bother with a PC is a big advantage. It isn't cheap though at $630 US with VAT, import duty and delivery on top - probaly around the £700 mark. We seem to be in a blackhole in the UK having to pay a big wack of import duties and tax on everything.

I use a UC300 on my lathe running Mach3. Although the milling does support rigid tapping (with an encoder) the lathe only supports screw cutting with a single pulse per rev. I have emailed them at intervals over the years that I have had this set up and this was certainly the case last year. I don't know about their own software as I haven't tried that.

Regards

David.

Andrew.

If you go to my post (No 12) on CNCZone, you can download my lathe profile plus some lathe gcode to try. Just go to File > Import Profile ... and load it in. Your software will then have the same settings as mine.

The way to customise PlanetCNC for your machine would be through the Settings ... option under the File menu - it's very comprehensive!

It's quite straightforward to set up - start at the top of Settings and work your way down.

A separate power supply is needed, so I use a 12vdc 'wall wart' type that cost about £6 if I remember correctly.

Martin.

PS. If you try that gcode and some arcs are incorrectly displayed, that is due to a mod I asked for that required a further tweak to get right. The devs have fixed it now and will be in the next release.

To show correctly for now, go to: File > Settings ... Scroll down to User Interface then click 3D & scroll down to the Properties section and untick Show Offset.

It was jut an word of caution that you are tied into their combined package as with Acorn. Unlike Mach 3 or LinuxCNC which is only software and expects you to find an interface elsewhere. Some people have bought the Planet hardware thinking it filled that role because Planet do not make it clear they are running a closed shop.

Nobody has yet mentioned the DDSCV controllers. The late JS was giving some approval to them for a simple perhaps beginners intro to CNC.

Nobody has yet mentioned the DDSCV controllers.

Would that be because they are milling machine controls that don't support threading & the OPs question related to a lathe control ?

While you could probably use one for straightforward turning & boring, not having threading capability is a big loss on a lathe IMO.

Nigel B.

MASSO have a UK supplier - the lathe version is £640 which is 1 to 1 with the $, so again much more expensive in this country.

Blowlamp - i will use your files and have a play.

I hope they help you make a decision.

The documentation is definitely 'to the point', but is helpful non the less. If you haven't noticed yet, the User Manual & G-Code Manual can be accessed from the Help menu.

The board manuals can be missed quite easily on their website, so here is a link if you need it.

Martin.

Martin - I got your settings file up and running and it helped me make a decision, thanks. I ordered a PlanetCNC setup yesterday for my Denford Orac conversion so it should be here next week hopefully. A 4 axis USB board, a board to control a VFD and a license. My plan is to get it running on a raspberry pi with a touchscreen and try to recreate the original Orac design that had a small VDU built into the base of the lathe.

BTW - if anyone is interested in Centroid Acorn I found a way to potentially get a discount, PM me for the details.

For this conversion the cheapest bit has been the lathe itself!