Does your XP pc have a serial card on it? how are you connecting your mill to it? It seems your mill is obviously working fine, and the software is running fine, but somewhere the com link is lost. If your cable is good, then the issue is the connection on (or in) your XP machine. Does your XP pc re...

Sorry I now realize my question was redundant to what you had already done with the Mill. So to clarify, both the lathe and the mill work with the original DOS programs for manual motions using the tutor, but neither is able to be run "full cnc?" The Lathe is on a win 95 pc hooked to serial directly...

Before you try new software, make sure to locate and save the security keys in a second location. I cannot say much for the Novaturn software, and I am not sure what the FanucLD is, or how you are using it, but I will try to help if possible lol! When you attempt to open VR Turning does it prompt yo...

That's kinda what I suspected, I think it might be reasonable to stall on any of the 3 jaws, as there will be a corresponding key hole no mater what jaw is hit. I think I will try to code it to reduce to the lowest non stall speed it can accommodate, then cut power and jog in the stalling device. Al...

I am interested in setting a point that the spindle will always return to when stopping, using the hardware on the machine, is this a possibility? So for transparency, I am considering making a device to automatically unlock a manual chuck, pull a bar forward, and then lock it once again. I have toy...

Hi Steve, So I actually didnt modify the mint file, that was absolutely going to take more effort than what I ended up doing. So as TDIpower mentioned above, you can change the profile for your machine to another denford machine that had a 4th axis as an option. You will need to reenter all the sett...

I can get some links tommorow, but I have had a lot of luck with a serial to USB converter, but I have the original cables to connect to that. It is called the terra grand premium usb 2.0 to rs232, got mine on amazon. There is a diagram of the connections in the cables on this forum here somewhere, ...

Blatter- that is exactly what I was hoping to find! Do you mind sharing the contents of the M code? I assume it goes to a safe Z height above the probe, rapids down until it touches, then lifts and drops at a fine feed? How did you hook in the sensor?

Sounds cool, have any pics?

Also at the bottom of the page near where it says "post reply" there is a wrench, if you click that and hit the "subscribe topic" you will see when people respond to this post. The little check mark is misleading, you have to "uncheck" it to start receiving notifications. Lots of posters never reali...

I wish you were on this side of the globe!

Welcome! Depending on the controller you have, you may find it worthwhile to just buy the denford software, as it is quite good. If your controller is too old, you may be out of luck for that to be a reasonable option. If that is the case, you would likely want to strip out the old controller anyway...

Has denford ever made a machine with a tool height probing feature? I would love if this were a feature, as it would save a fair bit of time when using er collets! Something like this to test continuity: http://www.yrcnc.com/product/cnc-tool-touch-off-probe/

I definitely think the novaturn is a good base to make a very capable desktop machine, I have held some beautiful surface finishes on monel! Cant say I know how long an insert will last taking the cuts that I was, but the machine was as rigid as I could ever hope. Fortunately the inserts I use are d...

Iron Man-
What is the control board on that beast? How are you planning to control your toolpost?

How are you moving your tool post motor? If you have it connected so that you can control it with 1 pin, everything should be perfect. (ie, turning on arduino pin moves it forward, and it moves backward when not activated) Then the other 3 remaining pins can be inputs for the 3 optical sensors insid...

are you going to let go of the spindle drive, and if so what is is?

Also if you haven't already, hit the "subscribe topic" button below under the topic tools drop down at the bottom of the thread. The check box is inverted, but if it is unchecked, you will receive notifications to your email. Makes it easier to snag those sprint drive deals

Sounds like things are progressing nicely! I suspect that tool changes are not handled by GRBL simply because of the huge number of different ways that machines have changed tools over the years. I dont know what is happening behind the scenes, but I cant imagine it would be too crazy hard to add a ...

Well I had hoped the fuse was just a higher value, but I have some good news haha, it is working with a .5amp fuse now. The fuse is glowing a very faint orange, but it has not blown haha! Something still isn't right, and I don't want to have a part fail because I bump my cabinet and jostle the fuse ...