Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

I would have stuck with the KBSI240D because we know it works.....LMS isn't giving you a clear answer.
If they can not guarantee isolation on the 0-10VDC Analog input, you are risking damage to the Acorn board.

Hi Marty,

looks like I will not get a answer I need from LMS.

"Dave

Well, we don’t know to the level you ask. We know that it works, and how to connect it.

It’s amazing that none of the other purchasers needed that information, right? They just hooked it up and used it".



so yeah I just don't want to hook it up for it to burn up my acorn board. so now my thoughts are to use this board along with the KBSI-240D card .... Thoughts anyone?

~Dave

LMSCNC wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 3:32 pm Hi Marty,

looks like I will not get a answer I need from LMS.

"Dave

Well, we don’t know to the level you ask. We know that it works, and how to connect it.

It’s amazing that none of the other purchasers needed that information, right? They just hooked it up and used it".



so yeah I just don't want to hook it up for it to burn up my acorn board. so now my thoughts are to use this board along with the KBSI-240D card .... Thoughts anyone?

~Dave

Probably fine.
Watch Franco's videos for some ideas. He has a series on spindle control

I first learned about the Acorn board when I saw some videos that Gary Campbell posted that were centered around his "Acorn Project". Until then, my experience with CNC controllers had been a Shopbot PRT-Alpha that I owned for a few years and a Mach 3 test bench that I used to test stepper motors and stepper drives. After seeing Gary's YouTube videos, I looked around and found lots of other videos, including Marty's videos, Franco's videos and CNC Keith's videos. Marty's videos showed very practical methods to test and implement the Acorn. Franco compared a lot of components that are often used with the Acorn. Keith showed the Acorn, Allin1, and Oak units, and their differences. His tutorial videos on general CNC machine setup and operation were just what I needed to jump in. There are a lot of others. YouTube is full of good information on Teknic ClearPath and DMM servos. Titan CNC, NYCCNC, and John Grimsmo show how CNC machining is done and (for me) how CAD/CAM software makes it possible to get extraordinary results from mills and lathes , even those using inexpensive controllers.

One thing that I learned is to always start with products that others have tried first. I didn't try ClearPath motors until I watched many videos showing how others had used them successfully. The same for DMM/DYN4 drivers/servos. AFTER buying parts that were tried and true, I experimented with some new technology, like PLCs to extend the Acorn before Centroid's 1616 expansion board was released.

When Marty recommends the KBSI240D, then that is what I would use. When he recommends watching Franco's video, then that's what I would do. (I watched that video awhile back. It's excellent.) I also looked at the Little Machine Shop's web site and looked at the board that they offer. Page 6 of the product manual shows a connection for 0-10V analog input, but there is no schematic. I like the Little Machine Shop. I've driven down to their business in L.A. from Salt Lake City to buy a lot of cutters and basic tooling after I purchased an Industrial Hobby vertical mill back when I had the Shopbot router. The people at the Little Machine Shop are friendly and helpful, but I WOULD NOT buy their controller until someone else that I trusted proved that it works with the Acorn. The parts for one of my basic Acorn builds starts at about $1,500 (Acorn, enclosure, DIN rails, terminal blocks, circuit breakers, power supplies, stepper drivers and stepper motors). My servo based systems components cost more than $2,500, depending on the servos used. I WOULD NOT risk frying all of that equipment by using an unknown product.

Over the years, while running a business that designed, built and installed process control computers, I've watched a lot of prototypes go up in smoke. Those mistakes cost me thousands of dollars. Some were caused by carelessness on my part (i.e., frying an Acorn when a strand of bare wire wedged under the board), and some were caused by incorporating equipment that I had not completely vetted for my own use. Now, I take the simple approach. If Marty or Gary or Keith or Franco show a video that shows that a product works, I feel safe in trying that product.