D&M computing lathe,mill

[chrispare]

Just wondering would anyone know anything about these cnc's?
I may be aquiring a lathe and mill,(what would they be worth?)

thanks chris

 

[ibuildstuff4u]

They are ok machines as long as you get them for the right price. Basically your getting a Sherline milling machine that has been converted to CNC. The trouble with these machines is the hardware will only work with the original D&M software which is totally out dated and will only work with a computer running a DOS operating system. To get these machines up and running with some thing like Mach 3 software you need to do a retrofit and replace most of the electronics.

You can re use the spindle drive, power supply and some other bits, but you will need to get a breakout board, stepper drives and motors. If you want to save some cash you can re use the original stepper drives and motors, but I found that they are really weak and easy to loose steps when milling. It's a small machine so you don't have to get super large stepper motors and drives, just something a bit larger than what it has.

If you get them post some pictures. Make sure to include some pictures of the electronics so I can see which model you got and I will see if I can help you out as I have converted a lot of these machines.

Dale P.

 

[Wizard69]

One point to consider with electronics in a CNC is that it really doesn't matter who made he electronics, if it is more than a decade old the electronics should be consider obsolete. Two decades and repair parts may be a huge problem.

So what I'm trying to say is that, if you get a decent price the cost of upgrade electronics might be acceptable. Thankfully G-Code interpreter boards are fairly cheap these days.

 

[ibuildstuff4u]

Here are a few pictures of my D&M mill. It had a 386 computer built in when I got it and some chopper stepper drives. I originally removed the computer and put a breakout board inside to run it with Mach 3, but soon found that the original drives and motors were pretty weak so I replaced them with some mid grade motors and drives. In the end I think I sunk $400 into it for all of the electronics. I bought the mill for $125 so I think it was still a good deal.

Dale P.

 

[Jon.unique]

hi i just bought 3 labvolt cncs
5400
5500
5600

Can anyone help me retrofi with just a breakout board?



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View attachment 81974[/QUOTE]
Hi i

Here are a few pictures of my D&M mill. It had a 386 computer built in when I got it and some chopper stepper drives. I originally removed the computer and put a breakout board inside to run it with Mach 3, but soon found that the original drives and motors were pretty weak so I replaced them with some mid grade motors and drives. In the end I think I sunk $400 into it for all of the electronics. I bought the mill for $125 so I think it was still a good deal.

Dale P.

View attachment 81973

View attachment 81974

Here are a few pictures of my D&M mill. It had a 386 computer built in when I got it and some chopper stepper drives. I originally removed the computer and put a breakout board inside to run it with Mach 3, but soon found that the original drives and motors were pretty weak so I replaced them with some mid grade motors and drives. In the end I think I sunk $400 into it for all of the electronics. I bought the mill for $125 so I think it was still a good deal.

Dale P.

View attachment 81973

View attachment 81974

 

[Jon.unique]

hi i just bought 3 labvolt cncs
5400
5500
5600

Can anyone help me retrofi with just a breakout board?



View attachment 81973

View attachment 81974

Hi i[/QUOTE]

 

[Jon.unique]

Here is my labvolt 5600 and 5400