Zenford Zeigler Retrofit

haha. didnt realize you had replied already...
Sounds like a bit of fun for ya.

Well 10 weeks has come and gone, havnt heard from Mesa yet in regards to building 2 x 7i29's. Hoping to hear something soon. I did manage to test my spindle motor and drive (just in open loop). Happy that went without any problems, also hooked up axis and spindle resolver feedback signals to the 7i49.

Slow going, but i guess its not a race.......

Well, over the last few months, i have been working on changing my little router from GRBL based system to Linuxcnc. Started with a simple Parport setup, then went with a 7i76e, that i got from fellow Aussie Rodw. I initially bought the 7i76e to learn linuxcnc setup with a simple hardware configuration. I really enjoyed the progressive setup of this small machine. I was n enjoyable way to learn, without fear of damaging expensive larger mechanical and electrical components. It runs great. Just need to make a nice little pendant for it.

Looks great. Glad my spare card is being put to good use

A wired pendant using the 7i76e MPG inputs and a couple of switches for axis selection and scale would not be that hard to do.
I installed an extravagant wireless pendant that has a relay box/receiver in the control box that resulted in another mass of wires as part of my learning journey. But it cost me about $500 ex China. Might be overkill for your machine.

Good job on that router! You might consider getting a cheap water cooled spindle online for it, along with an inverter, to replace the Makita and get nicer results for less noise (you can also set it up in LinuxCNC and control the rpms from your programs, if you ever want to change them for a job).

Thanks guys.
Rod, I had my cnc mill console hooked up to the router. touchscreen with mpg, jogs, axis select, etc (learned alot from your posts). Was pretty cool, but overkill again. I was drooling over your nice wireless pendant. Then i checked the price and shit myself... Haha, it all starts adding up. Wired pendant will be perfect.

Glemigobles, ooohhhh, I would love a new water cooled spindle.... Oh and laser....oh and a dust extractor... Man i have to stop spending time and money on this thing and start using it. Hahaha.

To be honest, i enjoy tinkering with my machines more than actually using them.

Lol, well I guess what I'm suggesting is that you'd enjoy using it more if didn't sound like the end of the world when working in plyboard

I don't really know how loud it is, tbh, but I've heard a Kress working on a CNC machine once and it was brutal.

I definitely wouldn't call it quiet. I don't like to run it to late at night, So the neighbors don't get upset with me. I'm super tempted to look at a nice spindle. Was thinking 800w might be a good size for my little router. 1.5kw might be a bit big.What you think??

What do you want to cut? I have an 18000 rpm 1kW spindle for acrylic and it works great. For aluminum they usually recommend 24000 rpm and my friend does fine with 800W and small end mills that he sharpens himself. I think for wood you also need lots of rpms. Slightly oversized is good because it allows you to cut at lower rpms as well (e.g. my machine is too slow in terms of feeds to use the full 18000, I run it at ca. 14000) and still have a little torque left.

Didnt know they did a 1kw. That sounds good. Engraving acrylic and aluminium mainly. Is yours a chinese ebay type? Any recomendations?