Starting from scratch

[iborg]

I've used Sherline manual equipment for several years. To have the ability to make multiple duplicates, I'd like to move into CNC equipment. My previous Sherline equipment was damaged in a fire so I'm literally starting from scratch.

I'm considering the following equipment:

A 4400 lathe
A 5400 mill
a 2000 mill
a Sherline rotary table.

Source steppers from another source
a PDMX board to be determined

I'm unsure what computers to buy. I'm guessing I'll need one for each machine to work reliably.

Fuison 360 software

I'm I off base? Is this a workable package?

Thanks,
Mike

[Steve Stallings]

Starting from scratch gives you lots of flexibility.

If you equip your machines with bi-polar stepper motors, rather than
the Sherline stock uni-polar stepper motors, you can use modern
drivers such as our PMDX-340 box. This is a ready to use control
system and there is no need to buy breakout boards, power supplies,
and motor drivers that need to be wired together.

The only extras would be software and possibly a PMDX-407 if you
want variable spindle speed under software control, and if you
choose to run the Mach4 software, then a PMDX-411 to allow the
software to talk to the controller via USB.

The connections to the PMDX-340 control box are pluggable terminal
strips, so you could buy extra connectors and use one box with
multiple machines. The Mach software licenses allow you to use
the software with multiple machines for personal use.

[iborg]

Thanks for the reply.

Could I use one PDMX-407 to control multiple machines both functioning at one time?

Could I use one computer to control everything?

What are the computer specs needed?

[Steve Stallings]

Each machine would need a PMDX-407-S if they were to be running at the same time.

If you don't mind a plug and jack with multiple connections you could connect one
PMDX-407-S to different machines, one at a time.

For Sherline motor drivers we also recommend a power contactor to kill the input
mains power to start and stop the spindle. The "Inhibit" signal on the spindle
motor driver is not failsafe. Our PMDX-ContactorMD20-120 can be controlled
directly from the PMDX-407.

One computer can run Mach4 with different profile settings each customized for
the machine that it is running. The computer and the PMDX-340 can only run
one machine at a time.

The requirements for a computer running Mach4 are listed at the bottom of
this web page:

http://www.pmdx.com/Mach4Hobby

[iborg]

Any suggestions for stepper motors? I'm guessing NEMA 34's but beyond that are bi-polar. Any more info?

[Steve Stallings]

NEMA-34 motors are too large to mount on a Sherline and can deliver
enough torque to damage the machine.

All of the motor mounts that I have seen for Sherline use NEMA-23 motors.

I would recommend bipolar motors between 200 and 300 OzInch for
Sherline machines. The Sherline factory motors were between 150 and
175 OzInch and were unipolar. Unipolar motors as wired by Sherline's
five pin plug will not work with the PMDX-340.

Look for motors that take between 2.0 and 3.0 amperes with 2.8 ampere
ones being common and well suited.

The Sherline motor mount kits are quite nice. They expect motors with a
1/4 inch shaft.