Subscribe to Blog
Email Address
 
Search for prolight returned 10 results.
Pages:(1) [1]

Prolight 2000 Documents

December 19, 2023, 10:42 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

PLM 1000/PLM 2000 Mechanical Specs

Travels/Work envelope:

  • X: 12.0"
  • Y: 6.0"
  • Z: 9.0"

Table Size:

  • X: 19.5"
  • Y: 6.0"

Table T-slots:

  • Number of slots: 3
  • T-Nut Size: 3/8-16 - 7/16 (11/16 base)

Spindle:

  • PLM 2000: 5000 RPM 1HP
  • PLM 1000: 10000 RPM 1HP

Both use R8 collet spindle.

Spindle Options:

  • Automatic Clamp/Unclamp option, that requires compressor.
  • Rack-style ATC for 4 tools. Also air-powered.

Dumping all available PLM 1000 and 2000 docs here.

proLIGHT_2000_DOS_Manual.pdf proLIGHT_2000_DOS_Manual.pdf Size:7.74 MB ProLight Spindle Head Assembly.pdf ProLight Spindle Head Assembly.pdf Size:0.17 MB proLIGHT_1000_WIN_Manual.pdf proLIGHT_1000_WIN_Manual.pdf Size:9.46 MB SUPER_proLIGHT_Manual.pdf SUPER_proLIGHT_Manual.pdf Size:1.38 MB proLIGHT_1000_ ATC_Setup.pdf proLIGHT_1000_ ATC_Setup.pdf Size:0.18 MB

T-800

August 8, 2021, 10:25 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Programmed and machined a T-800 head from thingiverse:

T-800 Picture

Here is a finished scull video from all sides: https://youtube.com/shorts/mdclf5LvdyM?feature=share

In the 1st op I milled the base with a 1/4-20 tapped hole right where my Z0Y0Z0 will be.

Then I mounted the base on a square fixture using the tapped hole. This way as I index the square fixture in the vise, my part Z0Y0Z0 remain in the same spot.

2nd op was the back of the scull

3rd op was the face, and the 4th and 5th were the sides

Here is a YouTube video of some of the 3rd op machining. Warning Loud Noise!

Shariff DMC2

July 10, 2021, 6:56 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Thinking about getting your self an affordable desktop CNC?

Check out this Shariff DMC2 designed and built by my fellow Canadian!

I wanted to purchase the first version about a year ago, but his Kickstarter campaign has ended by then and I ended up buying a used Prolight 2000 with auto tool changer.

This looks like a quite rigid, fast and a very powerful (3HP, 24k rpm) machine.

Certainly has better accuracy and power than my old heavy desktop machine with  0.001" backlash and just 1hp, 5k spindle.

Not affiliated in any way, by the way. Just looks like a great product all around.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/e5TsK2Sp-aM

3D Printed Enclosure for Touchscreen CNC Control

February 10, 2021, 11:29 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)
image.png

Since my garage/shop has a limited workspace, I have long wanted to upgrade the big and clumsy computer I used to drive my little Prolight desktop CNC to something more elegant and convenient.

TL;DR: You can read about the printing settings and download files on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4754968
Here is the shared Fusion Project: https://a360.co/36UhI15

After quite a bit of googling, and testing the UCCNC control software that i already have I decided to re-use my old Z83 mini-PC with Intel Atom processor.

Then I ordered a SunFounter 10.1" touchscreen monitor with a nice resolution of 1200x800 from amazon.

Since the display does not come with an enclosure I decided to design one myself.
A good opportunity to dust off my 3d modeling skills:

Read More 

First real project almost done!

December 10, 2020, 8:36 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Machined this 2-piece utility knife on my ProLIGHT2000 benchtop CNC.

Just one little lock left!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eldar Gerfanov (@hsmadvisor)

proLIGHT 2000 Benchtop CNC: Progress update and the First Finished Piece!

October 2, 2020, 2:27 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Finally got my proLIGHT CNC Mill running with UCCNC control software.

Chose that over mach3/4 because uccnc software seemed better made. Unfortunately, it too has bugs.

Most importantly, executing gcode.
Instead of running all codes in a block simultaneously, it does them in the incorrect order.

For example, code like

Code
G55
G0 G90 G54 X0 Y0

Instead of going to X0 Y0 defined in offset #54, it will go to coordinates of offset #55!
Only after executing that line, the offset will change to G55.
Similar issue with
Code
G28 G91 Z0

Don't need to tell you this may lead to crashes.
So I changed the MasterCAM's post processor to output some of the codes in different lines.

Hopefully, devs will fix this issue soon.

In other news, I have just finished the first 2-tool piece.

It was a miniature skull figure made out of aluminum:

I got 150 bucks for machining that for a guy I met in a Facebook group. Nice!

The smallest endmill was 1mm ball nose, and it held up perfectly at max RPM of 5000 and feed rate of about 25ipm.

The DOC and stepover were about 0.004"

Now I wish it had a 20k spindle. If I could run at 100ipm, it would make a quick work of that little piece.
This way, it took 1 hour, which is not too bad either.

Cheers! 

proLIGHT 2000. First videos!

September 14, 2020, 12:21 am by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

After almost one month of waiting for parts, tracing wires, testing, soldering, and assembling. Here is the finished product!

Milling case hardened t-slot nuts:

Quick Tool change action with Tormach TTS holders:

ProLIGHT 2000 retrofit. Installing All the components.

September 11, 2020, 9:01 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Having done all the motor tuning and testing on the table, it was time to mount everything inside the machine enclosure.

I cut the heatsink to size enough to house four drivers, laid out some mounting holes, and drilled and tapped them M3.
Then drilled clearance holes in both the heatsink and the board and joined them with some 19mm long brass standoffs.

Drilled a hole in the enclosure for the motion controller mounting and LAN cable connection.

Then the main board containing drives and the power board and the breakout board were installed in the machine.
At this point, I realized the drive mounting scheme I chose was a mistake because it was a lot more challenging to connect the wires to the drive terminals so deep and so close to the enclosure. It helped to unscrew the main board, pull it out a little, connect the wires and only then push it back in and screw it to the wall of the enclosure.

Traced all the black cable going to the fuses and found which ones control the spindle and which ones go to the appliance plugs.
By fiddling with the controls on the front of the machine, identified all the wires and their functionality.

The Gecko G320X drives use the same (ERR/RES) pin controlling the drive fault reset and the error status.
When the drive is at fault (every time you startup or when the motor loses too many counts), it has a ground voltage of 0. If you pass +5v, it will reset the fault and enable the drive.

So I had to re-use the red cycle stop button to pul it to +5V when the machine is started. To sense the drive fault and stop the machine I used pin 12 (pull-down) on the C11G BOB. So when any of the drives pull ERR/RES to ground, the C11G board and mach4 react to it like an E-STOP.

The motors mounted back, and the encoder wires soldered directly to the data cable wires of the same colors. For that, I cut off the bulky DB-25 connectors.

Pay attention to the property belt tensioning. According to the manufacturer, the belt should sag a maximum of 1mm under the pressure of about 3 pounds applied at its middle point.

With everything connected, it is time to test the machine. See how it homes and runs!

Laying out holes on the heatsink 20200906_122155.jpg Everything mounted and connected. What a mess! 20200910_020820.jpg Wiring Schematics WiringSheme.png

proLIGHT 2000 Retrofit. Wiring new components.

September 5, 2020, 7:19 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

Finally got all the parts a coulple of days ago and by now have connected everything on the table.

By accident ordered a wrong mounting plate for the encoders and decided to design and 3d print themon my own. In the morning I had 3 brand new encoder mountings!  

By trial and error figured that it is best to leave the default encoder count to 2048 PPR. With that set, the servos are very stiff yet quiet. Almost no dithering.

Managed to connect the spindle control and have it turning CW at programmed speed. Yet can't figure out how to run it backwards:(

3D-Printed Encoder Mounting 20200905_000349.jpg Encoder Top 20200905_000422.jpg Encoder Bottom 20200905_000505.jpg Electrical Cabinet 20200905_194733.jpg All connected on the table 20200905_195359.jpg

ProLIGHT 2000 retrofit!

August 20, 2020, 7:20 am by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)

I have been hunting for a very rigid but small machine for the last year or so.

And when I finally found one for sale on an auction in Minnesota, I could not pass.

Now the machine is in my garage.

It is a surprisingly heavy machine with a solid epoxy granite frame.

The features are as follows:

  • 1.5HP 5000 RPM spindle
  • Closed loop servos on all axes
  • Power draw bar and a rack tool changer assembly

I built a table with casters for it and upon plugging it to a computer it turned out that.... It's dead!

The proprietary Animatics control in the back is not working, which means 95% of all electronics in the back must be replaced.

I was actually almost hoping for that because the original software is DOS-only. It is hardly convenient to work with it.

I want it to work under mach or LinuxCNC

So I ordered the required parts online and when all of them are here, I will start the retrofit process.

I will be documenting my process in comments.

Wish me luck!

20200815_172749.jpg 20200815_172749.jpg 20200815_172817.jpg 20200815_172817.jpg 20200815_173030.jpg 20200815_173030.jpg 20200815_172804.jpg 20200815_172804.jpg
Pages:(1) [1]
Sing In

© 2009-2022 Eldar Gerfanov. All Rights Reserved.
© 2009 Eldar Gerfanov. Materials on this site are presented as is and are mostly for educational use.

You may freely reproduce information presented herein without any consent from me, provided you include link to this site.
In case when i am not the copyright holder, you may want to contact proper owner of material. Anyway, they are freely available on the Internet.
If you hold the copyright right for any of the materials on this site and want them removed, please contact me here