Hello,
I've been poking around in the metalworking hobby for a few years now and a month or so ago I found myself the owner of a Taig CNC Micro Mill. The mill came with a hilariously old laptop running SuperCam in the DOS/Win98 environment. All of this software and hardware dates from 1999/2000 and while it does work, it does so very slowly (and somewhat unpredictably).
I can't help but think that nearly 15 years of development since it's release must have improved things. How can I cost effectively update?
So here's the info for my machine:
Taig Micro Mill
3x NEMA 23 (maybe 17?) stepper motors (unknown torque - whatever came stock in '99)
MicroProto Controller/Driver using direct phase control of steppers NOT step & direction.
SuperCam circa 1999
Can I use any of the above in the update process? The mill is still good, and I already have newer software to design and generate code, but working with the MicroProto Direct Phase controller and SuperCam is proving frustrating - what are my options from a hardware /machine control software standpoint?
Since I'm very new at this, I only make fairly simple little things for the shop - small one-time tools etc, but will eventually get into building assemblies (small robots and mechanical curiosities) This is all purely hobby interest, so my budget is fairly modest, and as such I'm prepared to deal with some of the compromises that go along with that. Any guidance to a more modern setup would be fantastic.
Thanks for your time. I'm sure I've left something out, so feel free to call it out and I'll see if I have the answer.
I've been poking around in the metalworking hobby for a few years now and a month or so ago I found myself the owner of a Taig CNC Micro Mill. The mill came with a hilariously old laptop running SuperCam in the DOS/Win98 environment. All of this software and hardware dates from 1999/2000 and while it does work, it does so very slowly (and somewhat unpredictably).
I can't help but think that nearly 15 years of development since it's release must have improved things. How can I cost effectively update?
So here's the info for my machine:
Taig Micro Mill
3x NEMA 23 (maybe 17?) stepper motors (unknown torque - whatever came stock in '99)
MicroProto Controller/Driver using direct phase control of steppers NOT step & direction.
SuperCam circa 1999
Can I use any of the above in the update process? The mill is still good, and I already have newer software to design and generate code, but working with the MicroProto Direct Phase controller and SuperCam is proving frustrating - what are my options from a hardware /machine control software standpoint?
Since I'm very new at this, I only make fairly simple little things for the shop - small one-time tools etc, but will eventually get into building assemblies (small robots and mechanical curiosities) This is all purely hobby interest, so my budget is fairly modest, and as such I'm prepared to deal with some of the compromises that go along with that. Any guidance to a more modern setup would be fantastic.
Thanks for your time. I'm sure I've left something out, so feel free to call it out and I'll see if I have the answer.