I have been a Mac person since 2003 so I won't switching back to PC's anytime soon, so when I heard you could convert this to Arduino powered, I went from "that CNC is a neat tool" to "that CNC will be mine".
This type of system is old, dated and is Windows only. Signal pulses will be sent from the Mach 3 software to the port and that drives the motors and makes the CNC machine come alive. The controller box on almost all of these machines will come with a very old Mach 3 style Parallel Port interface. These machines will come setup with stepper motors and typically have cable tracks already built in, also they will come with a controller box. I have experience with both the ball screw and lead screw type movements, for the money you are paying, it's better to get a machine with ball screws as they wear better and very little, if no backlash (side to side play) is present. 3040T will have "trapezoidal leadscrews" and a 3040Z will have ballscrews (ballscrewz?) :D You can tell which model has the leadscrew or ballscrews by the letter after the model. the 2015, 20 machines (some 3020 will have ballscrews) will have a nylon or Delrin type nut for linear travel. The range of these models makes for choosing the right one for your shop pretty easy, the more expensive and larger ones (typically 30) will have the more accurate ball screw type linear movements instead of a typically trapezoidal lead screw. the 3040 is 30cm x 40cm, the 6040 is 60cm x 40cm etc etc. The model numbers denote the size of the workable area, ie. They can be found all over eBay and Aliexpress, in my experience, you can find marginally cheaper options on Aliexpress and their buyer protection is much better than eBay's. All in all, these inexpensive machines (ranging from $600-2500 shipped DHL) are a great way to get into CNC. For the professionals, these machines with their relatively accurate leadscrew/ballscrew assemblies allow for another machine to be pumping away making parts if the machine machine is occupied with a job. If you are a DIY type, these machine offer a great way to repeat processes and basically do some things that no hand tool will allow you to do. The 3020, 30 (and the more obscure 2015, 20) CNC router milling machines that come out of China are hugely popular in the hobbyist and professional circles. It's my first instructable so hope this helps get you where you need to go.Ī little bit of background, before we start: Let's convert an inexpensive Chinese CNC machine from Parallel Port to Arduino and GRBL.Īlright guys, this is a culmination of weeks of reading, researching and determination.
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