Mini CNC Lathe Retrofit Part 1 - SZGH Controller, Steppers, VFD and Spindle Motor

[@mysticmarble94]

Currently working on a big cnc build but getting some valuable infos from your vid.

[@uptimefab7412]

That's good to see, thank you!

[@bobweiram6321]

This is going to be an awesome build! Looking at the lathe bed, it looks as if it's the same size as the SEIG C0 lathe.

[@uptimefab7412]

Travel seems quite similar indeed. The EMCO is a bit more bulky due to the enclosure, but I actually like that. Keeps most of the chips inside.

[@59jenwren]

SZGH also make/sell hybrid stepper motors and drives. If you buy a complete controller/driver/stepper motor system it makes the job easier to assemble and trouble shoot with their technical man if there is a problem.

[@seabreezecoffeeroasters7994]

A little late to the party but if you want to silence your VFD fan then a 'thermal switch' inline with one leg of the fan wiring then place it on the heatsink next to the power electronics would work. Pick a fairly low temperature one but at idle the fan should stay off. I have used a bunch of these on PSU's and test equipment. Good Video too 👍

[@uptimefab7412]

Thanks for the tip! This indeed seems like a great solution. I might give this a try. The fan is really noisy and most of the time the spindle is off when making a couple of small parts. Of course this is hacking a cooling system on existing equipment so I would not recommend this to others, but without making a video about it I would not mind giving this a try once.

[@nathalieadams]

Going to be a great series! Can you put it in a playlist so I can save it to my library?

[@uptimefab7412]

Good plan, will do my best once I have other videos ready. Makes sense actually, but never thought of organizing videos that way. EDIT: done, made a couple of playlists, including one for the Lathe. Now I hope I can remember to put new videos in there :)

[@nelsonbravo7971]

I'm very interest in the next videos of this series, Will be great if you could explain the CNC controller calibration

[@uptimefab7412]

Thanks for the feedback, I am editing the other videos as we speak. Hope to release the second one tomorrow. There will be (around) 5 for the series. It does make sense to go through the controller settings and calibration of the axes. That could be a separate video. No promises but I will do my best to cover this.

[@mahmoudfawzy4987]

My best greatings

[@uptimefab7412]

Thanks for visiting the channel!

[@alphadog6970]

Very good video 👍👍

[@stevesimpson3589]

I watched all episodes, thankyou for the detailed build, purchased the controller panel and having some issues tuning the stepper motors to travel the correct distances, i could not find any reference in your vids where you tuned them, any chance you can advise?

[@uptimefab7412]

Thanks, sure, I hope I can point you in the right direction. In the axis menu under parameter you can set the length each axis travels per pulse. This is done by x and z settings for "electron gear". For example for the x axis you can change parameter 17 and 18, which are acting basically as a virtual gearing ratio. You cannot use decimals so I set 18 to a very large number, in my case 1000. For 17 I have 8000. So this will give a ratio of 8:1. For the z axis I have 19 set to 6440 and 20 is set to 1000. So a ratio of 6.44:1. How did I come up with these settings? First I tried to rationalize this by the amount of microsteps, ball screw pitch and pulley ratio, but in the end I just set a value and measured the distance travelled. If there is an error you can increase or lower the ratio by changing 17 or 19 depending on which axis you are working on. Hope this helps. Robin

[@stevesimpson3589]

@@uptimefab7412 legend, thankyou very much

[@marcio.roberto.torneiro4897]

Hello, can you make a video showing how to program the G76 threading cycle? How to fill in the variants and explain each one?,🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, sorry I don't have a lot of time to make videos currently, so I can't do request videos. The G76 command has quite a lot of parameters. Hope you can make it work with the manual. I have not manually programmed threads using G76. I only used G32 or as output from fusion360.

[@newkercncnandylee7889]

nice

[@erikslagter3231]

Epic!

[@dcalf1]

i just purchased a southbend magnaturn 612, the machine is 100% there, its not running, not sure why, it looks to have been upgraded when new with the delta 50 hardware, i purchased a masso g3 touch and accessories to retrofit it, they built this thing like a tank with all baldor brushless servo motors and power supply, i have been trying to wrap my head around how to do it, hopefully this video will shed some light

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, the magnaturn looks like a very cool machine. Hope you can get everything working with the g3, good luck with your project!

[@seimela]

How do you calibrate the cnc to move right distances

[@uptimefab7412]

There are calibration parameters for each axis in the controller. You can measure the moved distance and adjust the parameter for that axis to correct for the found error.

[@choco107]

Did you increase the frequency of 50hz on the motor ??

[@uptimefab7412]

Yes, I have set the max rpm for the spindle to 3000 rpm after replacing the bearings. The pulley ratio I am using is not exactly 1:1 from motor to spindle but let's say the motor runs at least at 100Hz. I would have to get to the back of the lathe and look at the vfd setting, since that is how the rpm is calibrated, but this the rough number. Note that I am typically only going up to 2500 rpm for no specific reason other than noise. I should be running the lathe even higher than 3000 for small brass parts, but it mostly cuts fine at 2500 rpm already.

[@choco107]

@@uptimefab7412 thanks for the info

[@DPTech_workroom]

Nice! I'm making a micro lathe too ))) Only on my instagram there are a few short vids and photos yet. But the control (brains) with a touch screen already on my channel. Also I'm finished an ELS for my other lathe.

[@uptimefab7412]

Thanks! I see you have a number of interesting lathe related videos. I will check them out later, best of luck with your micro lathe project!

[@k.s.8959]

Does this apply to the Emco Compact 5 CNC too?

[@uptimefab7412]

Yes, you should be able to retrofit an Emco 5 CNC lathe in roughly the same way. They use mostly the same parts. Might be slight dimensional differences so I am not sure if motor and encoder brackets I used will directly fit on the older type. The szgh controller should work, it can be used to retrofit any standard old CNC lathe.

[@cncftian2893]

Peace be upon you. I want help. I purchased two control panels, model SZGH-CNC990TDb, 2-axis lathe CNC controller. SZGH-CNC990TDb 3-axis lathe CNC controller I am working on the Match 3 program I want to install the szgh control. I want a video of the motor settings for the size of the machine. I am not starting with the szgh control. Please help.

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, I am not sure if you mean spindle motor or stepper motor, but regardless I would just use the same size or amp rating that already came with the machine. I am probably not the right person to make a video about this, also I do not have time to make request videos, since I barely have any time to make videos based on my own ideas. Sorry about this, bit of you stick with known sizes you would probably be ok. That is what I also did with my lathe, buy a similar rated motor. Best, Robin

[@farhozz]

Can I built one using mach3 usb cnc kit with normal stepper motor,Sir ? I'm beginner on cnc stuff

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, yes it should be possible to use mach3 turn in combination with a USB board compatible with mach3. It should work fine since most lathes are the same even though they look different. They all have a X and Z axis as well as a spindle. Also regular stepper motors are possible. Start with whatever option is within your budget. If you are a beginner I would buy stepper motors together with the driver as a kit.

[@farhozz]

@@uptimefab7412 thank you very much,Sir

[@seimela]

Does it adjust the speed of the vfd from Encoder readings

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, no it does not adjust speed according to the encoder readout. The controller outputs a voltage between 0 and 10V to the VFD based on the programmed RPM. The VFD then runs the motor at the desired RPM and the controller displays the actual RPM but does not correct it's output. I have calibrated the VFD itself to the programmed RPM. There might be a setting for this that I have missed, but this is how mine is configured.

[@seimela]

@@uptimefab7412 thanks ...i wish i can find somome who csn assist bwith that ..i am about to purchase this controller

[@uptimefab7412]

It is a matter of finding the right parameters. On the controller it is quite straight forward. There is a spindle speed setting called P36. You can set this to the maximum RPM that you want your lathe to run at. This will correspond to 10V on the spindle output. For the VFD there is a similar parameter that indicates the RPM that it will run the motor at for the maximum voltage of 10V. Which parameter that is differs for each brand of VFD, but they all should have this setting. When this is done you can run it and tweak the parameter on the VFD if the measured RPM is off. When you have a controller and VFD and encounter problems please let me know and I will do my best to help. As mentioned in the video I am not a specialist in VFD settings, but I can share what I know.

[@seimela]

@@uptimefab7412 the reason why i need the controller to adjust the VFD (spindle speed ) based on an encoder reading is becouse my lathe has 3 position gear so i know maximum speed of gear 1 , gear 3 and gear 3 , so say for example i run the code with S2000 which corresponds to gear 3 the program shouldn't start since the spindle speed is not within 95% of the required speed i want to use M codes to chance the gear of the machine and use the input pin to register gear position, i have done this with Mach4 i just dont know how i will approach this with the SGZH controller looks like something possible , i just want the gear change to be facilitated by the controller ....Sort of PID feedback system .

[@uptimefab7412]

You are able to set max RPM corresponding to 10V for up to 4 gears with the SZGH controller. Also gear shifting is supported with M-codes M41 through M44. Have not tested this since my lathe does not have automatic gears, but from what I see it should work. See page 99 of the user manual. If you need more details it is probably best to ask the SZGH support team.

[@Maksim_Smirnov_REvision]

Hello! Which fusion 360 postprocessor do you use for szgh 990tdb?

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, I am using a slightly modified post based on the standard fanuc turning post processor that comes with Fusion 360. (Added change to canned cycle for drilling). The post is available on my website including info on what was changed. See link in the description.

[@josipmijatovic6974]

Hi, i have cnc 210 lathe machine with the same control unit. For CAM software i use Fusion 360 and I don't know which post processor would be good for the machine? Maybe you can help me?

[@uptimefab7412]

Sure, you should be able to use the MACH3 mill post processor that comes standard with Fusion360. Others may work as well but this is the one I use. --EDIT: referenced wrong post, see correct answer below.

[@josipmijatovic6974]

You think mach3 turn postprocessor 😊

[@uptimefab7412]

Sorry, was not paying attention, I thought you were commenting on the mill (CNC router) video. Please disregard my previous answer. For the lathe I am not using a MACH3 post processor, but a modified FANUC post. You can start with the one supplied with Fusion, however not all Gcode is supported. I modified the post, you can download it for free in the website article linked in the description.

[@uptimefab7412]

The cnc 210 lathe looks like a cool machine by the way

[@josipmijatovic6974]

Tank you, i'll try with your modified pp. Yes, the machine is interesting, it costs little, it has suitable dimensions and as such it will be used for education. Next to it, I have another milling machine with a Chinese adtech controller (the post-processor for it is mach3 mill). BTW, your project is excellent.

[@luisreyes534]

Hi, please send me INPUT PSW for 2 Grade, to change parameter for my CNC GH-980TC. thank you

[@uptimefab7412]

Hi, I only have used the default pw "111111". If that does not work for the feature you are trying to access, please contact SZGH support.

[@polloman15]

I’m working on a SZGH-CNC 1000TDb and this worked 😎