Easimill 3 conversion preferences

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mineexplorer
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Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by mineexplorer » Thu 15 Aug , 2019 21:45 pm

I have an Easimill 3, it cuts metal fine but I cannt get it to save the program either by RS232 or via the cassette drive, I have decided to convert it to work with Mach 3 what is the current thinking on the best way to achieve this as since I last looked it seems parralel ports are out and USB is the latest flavour, does anyone have an opinion or know of a recent conversion?
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Steven

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Lone_Ranger
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Re: Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by Lone_Ranger » Thu 15 Aug , 2019 23:00 pm

FYI USB is well outdated, the best system is via Ethernet connection, virtually bullet proof regarding interference (Electrical "noise" from compressors and the like)

Also the USB only runs on 5 Volts and you can only run shortish cables (2~3 Metres) max is usually best, Ethernet will run fine across a machine shop spanning 50~60 Metres easily without problems.

The controller you select should be Ethernet connection and should run on a decent quality 24 Volt industrial type power supply (RS 0nline for those), for the controllers I use the ones from CS Labs https://en.cs-lab.eu/ on all my machines :D

Mach3 is also a bit "old hat", Mach4 is way better and the licence cost is only about an extra $20 US, CS Labs do the plugin needed to run their hardware with Mach4, they also have their own control software (simCNC) that is designed to work very well with their own hardware.

There are of course many other hardware and software options out there and the selection is up to you, I can only tell you what I use after using several different Parrallel Port and USB boards eg Smooth stepper etc, the stuff mentioned above is industrial quality and not that expensive, you get what you pay for :D :D :D

Regards
Rob

DavidB
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Re: Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by DavidB » Sat 17 Aug , 2019 19:13 pm

Not trying to put off a conversion as that may be beneficial but I was wondering what you have tried regarding the RS232 comms. I know from personal experience as a programmer for 20 years that RS232 causes more trouble than most anything else and seems to have caused some on the BB to lose the will to live regarding getting comms working. My personal experience is that it has always been a matter of getting the correct lead, I was lucky with my standard Orac that the first lead I tried worked and allowed me to transfer programs from the Orac to the PC and back. A mate helped sort a Bridgeport machining centre that wouldn't communicate and that was a change of a couple of comms chip for about £5 in parts and a bit of time soldering, Bridgeport wanted about £1000 for the board IIRC.

mineexplorer
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon 13 Jul , 2015 16:47 pm
Hardware/Software: Easimill 3 currently with all origianal controls
YOM: 1984
Control: PNC3 Issue 2

Software:
Easimill
EasyDNC
CAMBAM

Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by mineexplorer » Thu 29 Aug , 2019 21:35 pm

Regarding software and controllers, I did look at CS Lab, nice kit but at the top end of my budget, I am currently leaning towards UCCNC software through a AXBB-E ethernet motion controller and breakout board combined, but I am still open to suggestions.

As to RS232 and what I have tried, I am having to refresh my memory and re-learn as it was about 4 years ago that I last played with the connection, I made up a IBM to PNC3 cable as per the Denforsd A4-100054 drawing, I have just checked the continuity as I had doubts about the cable because it is hard wired at the interface board as the 7 pin DIN socket is damaged and for some reason it terminates in a 25 pin D connector which then has a 25 pin D to 9 pin D adapter but the pinouts are correct at the 9 pin D.

The pc is running XP, what do I need to configure at the PC end regarding ports etc?

Steven

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Re: Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by DavidB » Fri 30 Aug , 2019 16:09 pm

IIRC in Programs->Utilities you should find the program Hyperterminal, run that and open the com port your RS232 lead is connected to. Configure the port as appropriate to suit the mill coms settings ie baud rate, stop bits, parity and handshaking and then if all is good when you send a program from the mill to the PC you should see it appear on the screen, if you see lots of odd characters likely your baud rate is wrong. If it works then you can use the receive a file facility to capture the file and save it. Once saved you should then be able to send it back to the mill. I've done this with a similar terminal program on my Linux system with my Orac lathe and it works fine.

mineexplorer
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon 13 Jul , 2015 16:47 pm
Hardware/Software: Easimill 3 currently with all origianal controls
YOM: 1984
Control: PNC3 Issue 2

Software:
Easimill
EasyDNC
CAMBAM

Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by mineexplorer » Sat 31 Aug , 2019 10:33 am

Thank you for the tip David, I spent about 3 hours last night reading through various posts on the subject and printing out the useful bits so I am heading off to the workshop to implement the ideas, I will keep you up to date.
Regards Steven

mineexplorer
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon 13 Jul , 2015 16:47 pm
Hardware/Software: Easimill 3 currently with all origianal controls
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Control: PNC3 Issue 2

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Easimill
EasyDNC
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Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by mineexplorer » Mon 02 Sep , 2019 15:11 pm

I entered all the parameters as per the forum common settings and tried Hyperterminal, I got 1 line of code sent but no more, using the same format I sent a short program back to the machine but nothing happened, I then tried various other DNC software I already had on the computer with no luck, as most people had better luck with EasyDNC, I downloaded that and configured it the same as before, this time I got the whole program from the Machine to the computer. I then edited this program slightly, cleared the machine memory and succesfully uploaded the program and ran it.
We are cooking on gas.
The only thing it didnt do which I am not sure it is supposed to is it didnt upload the program number it was saved as and I cannot remember if it did it on the download, either way a big thank you to those who helped me in the right direction it makes the total forum reading time worth it.

Regards

Steven

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Re: Easimill 3 conversion preferences

Post by DavidB » Mon 02 Sep , 2019 20:57 pm

Steven,

Good to hear you have the coms working now which should make your life much easier regarding being able to enter and save programs to a PC and send them back to the mill later. I mentioned Hyperterminal as it ships with MS OS up to XP as standard IIRC but I don't consider it a good program like many standard items that ship with Windows, I understand it is a cut down version of a much better commercial offering but it served its purpose of proving you have a working coms system and is much like I used it for in the past. Good you have found EasyDNC allows full operation and successful program saving/loading so you can carry on using the mill as is more easily and investigate future upgrade possibilities at your leisure.

Regards,

Dave

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