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Retrofit of an EMCO 120 CNC lathe

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mukanico:
Hello everyone,

I would like to present my project of retrofitting an EMCO 120 CNC lathe with a modern controller and new servos.

The lathe was bought in 2017 and it came from a high school. It was in good condition but the fact that it required three-phase power and had a vintage Emcotronic T1 controller (with the inherent risk of potential problems that could derive from its age) pushed me to take the decision to retrofit it and convert it to single-phase power.

For the axes, I chose to use 750W AC servomotors and drivers from DELTA, model ASD-B2-0721-B, to replace the original 5-pole Berger Lahr stepper motors.

The original spindle motor was a 400V DC motor with 3.5hp. To simplify its connection to the new controller, I decided to replace it with a three-phase motor (2.2kW ABB branded) controlled by a single-phase input VFD (DELTA VFD022E21A).

The choice of the controller was a bit more difficult ... At the beginning I thought to use Mach 3 or Eding CNC but the fact that these systems are PC based didn't convince me. Therefore I decided to take the risk of buying a dedicated Chinese controller on Ebay. My choice fell on a Szghauto "brand" controller (model SZGH-CNC990TDb-2).

Apparently, as with most products coming these days from China, there are many available controllers similar to this one in which only the brand changes (Szghauto, Newkye, Newker,...). From what I understand, they are all "inspired" by vintage Fanuc controllers. For the moment I am quite satisfied with it. The price was competitive when compared to the cost of a license Mach 3 or Eding CNC + computer + screen + cards, etc. The only problem was the documentation. The Chinglish was almost incomprehensible. I wasted a fair number of hours because of it...

I will add the photos next...

mukanico:
The original EMCO 120 lathe


The Emcotronic T1 controller


The original electronics


Beginning of the disassembly (original headstock motor removed)


Original headstock motor



Original 5-pole stepper motors


Disassembly of the lathe part


Cleaning the headstock



Disassembly of the electrical cabinet

awemawson:
Welcome to the forum Mukanico  :thumbup:

Glad to see others rescuing and updating CNC equipment, good luck with the project and keep us updated.

mukanico:
The new controller (customized by the manufacturer with the EMCO logo :headbang:)




The 750W AC servo/driver from DELTA


The new headstock motor from ABB


To mount the new controller in the electrical cabinet, I ordered a 4mm thick laser cut steel sheet and attached it to the existing cabinet front cover




I also took advantage of my order to cut out the mounting plates for the new headstock motor, the servos, the limit switches and a back plate for the electrical cabinet

mukanico:

--- Quote from: awemawson on March 06, 2019, 08:45:34 AM ---Welcome to the forum Mukanico  :thumbup:

Glad to see others rescuing and updating CNC equipment, good luck with the project and keep us updated.

--- End quote ---

Thanks!

The retrofit is actually already completed. I thought that sharing my experience might be useful to somebody that is now starting such a project, especially because I followed a different route than what is commonly seen on the web (Mach 3, LinuxCNC, etc.). 

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