Sherline Lathe & Mill with MX3660 driver

Months after buying an old Denford / Sherline mill and lathe from the Detroit Public Schools auction I have finally got the CNC lathe running. I tried to make the old Denford driver work... a waste of time. The goal was to add the CNC lathe to my arsenal of machines; having several years of experience on the mill I really wanted this addition.

I went ahead and bought what appears to be one of the best drivers out there, the MX3660 from AutomationTechnology Inc.Wishing to build out the enclosure myself I was very pleased with their help when I ran into problems.

The MX3660 is a compact unit that drives any three axis. I had been looking for a 3 axis driver in one box but most are one axis per box? So I am very happy with the size, built in options, DIGITAL aspects, and ease of wiring. I also bought a 48vdc power supply and 3 NEMA 23 hybrids from them.

I designed this 12" x 6" x 5" enclosure with on - off switch and indicator lights and X, Y, Z, and AC receptacles. I didn't have the nerve to wire the 25pin receptacle so it plugs direct into the MX3660. Also powered a little 12vdc fan (on the left) just because.

After careful assembly I was ready to complete the machining center. I decided to add the lathe to the rolling bench already dedicated to the mill. The reason I got the 3rd motor is so that I can someday (if necessary) get into thread turning or Rotary Table work.

I welded up a small table to suspend the lathe over the LCD screen. I had assumed that I would use a second computer for the lathe but then I ran across a 15 year old 25pin A - B box! So with a single load of Mach3 (using different start-ups) I have one computer and two drivers (with completely different pin-outs,) but by switching from A to B and opening either the Mill or the Turn versions of Mach3 I can jump between machines and the different loads of Mach3 are saved unique.

Ultimately I like the drivers under the table and the whole thing is contained on the one rolling bench.

Someday I will either take the driver out of the old Sherline computer box or better yet get another MX3660! But for now I think I will leave it and start making stuff again!


04.05.14

Someday is here!

After careful consideration I saw that the A-B box was between the wrong components, and so I built one that would go between the MX driver and either machine instead of between the computer and two different drivers.

Obviously the 12 year old Sherline controller buried inside a huge old computer box was annoying and having perfect success with the MX I decided to swap it out with one of those office style Dell computers with XP I got used from the Grosse Pointe Public School system. .

The middle row is the XYZ in from the MX, above and below are the XYZ out to one machine or the other. Finding the 12 pin switches was a little trouble but the physical and visual logic of the design is hard to beat.

 Huge amount of soldering.

Up for lathe, down for mill.

The rear view; old XP computer on the right, MX in the center, and the A-B box on the left.

Now I am very happy with the this new set-up, the MX is of course smoother and more quiet on the mill then the old Sherline too.

The whole machining center is more compact and I got to throw out the other computer after stripping the guts out of it.

Automation Technology Inc

Automation Technology Inc

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.

Automation Technology Inc.