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boxford 125 tlc

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norman royds 112/03/2011 22:47:22
4 forum posts
how can i convert the lathe to run on mach 3
and what part would i need to buy
David Colwill13/03/2011 09:50:50
782 forum posts
40 photos
I have never done a 125 but I have done an easiturn and a compact 5. Usually you can keep the spindle drive controller and motor. Keep the axis drive stepper motors but get rid of the stepper drivers (modern micro stepping drives are much better and smoother in my opinion ). Limit switches can be kept and if you have a tool changer it should be possible to make that work.
 
A rough list would be:-
1) Two micro stepping drives
2) A break out board (Has a socket that a printer lead or similar connects and terminals that allow you to connect the electronics to the PC.
3) A 0-10v spindle speed interface if not on the breakout board (this allows mach to change the spindle speed)
4) Wire, connectors and other bits and pieces of electrical hardware.
 
It isn't to difficult if you take each stage at a time and the end result is a much improved machine.

Apologies if I've forgotten anything (others will be sure to say) and good luck with the project. If you get stuck you can PM me.
 
Regards.
Dave
Jon13/03/2011 12:17:10
1001 forum posts
49 photos
This will be of great interest to me, i took a flyer around 10 months ago and bought one to do up eventually. Its been outside since October i need the room to get another much bigger machine up and running.
I only need it to do the boring repetitive stuff and intend using Mach3 as well.

Terryd13/03/2011 18:04:05
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1946 forum posts
179 photos
Hi Norman,
 
The Boxford was originally designed to run on a BBC micro sold to schools mainly. We ran a BBC simulator on PCs in our school. Boxford later produced an upgraded firmware on a dedicated chip to replace the original. You may be able to access one of those.
 
This company produce a conversion kit which may be a better way of upgrading as you know it will work.
 
Regards
 
Terry
Tony Jeffree14/03/2011 00:00:12
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569 forum posts
20 photos
Posted by Terryd on 13/03/2011 18:04:05:
Hi Norman,
 
The Boxford was originally designed to run on a BBC micro sold to schools mainly. We ran a BBC simulator on PCs in our school. Boxford later produced an upgraded firmware on a dedicated chip to replace the original. You may be able to access one of those.
 
This company produce a conversion kit which may be a better way of upgrading as you know it will work.
 
Regards
 
Terry
I had one of these a while back & was planning to convert it. I started looking into availability of the original software and the conversion - Boxford informed me that they were licensed only to supply to the education market, so nothing was available to the hobby community.
 
Regards,
Tony

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