The new Centroid M400 control panel sports a new style pendant, custom printed button overlays for my machine, and an industrial PC running windows 10.

Completed machine ready to make chips!

Here is a shot of the original control console, it’s about 4x as thick as the new control console!

This was the start of the electrical panel for the control cabinet. We re used the original Spindle VFD as it was upgraded a few years ago as well as the power transformer and Spider Cool programmable coolant unit. Everything else was replaced with new components. All wiring is now run in appropriate flexible conduits and some cables were rerouted to prevent damage compared to the original installation.

Here is the nearly finished installation of the new electrical panel. Great attention to detail in the execution of the retrofit is evident everywhere you look. Every wire is labeled at both ends with its connection point that corresponds with the E sized schematic drawings.

We went with Yaskawa 1.5KW 200v servo motors and drives. This increased eth performance significantly over the original ~1KW motors from Centroid. To take advantage of the added performance, we are now running the 8000 rpm spindle at 8k instead of the 6K it was set to run since new. I can now cut a bit faster and have increased surface finishes compared to previous performance.

The old electrical panel was replaced with one significantly larger to hold the new larger components and allow for proper air flow and clean wiring.

Old linux based control

Here is a shot of the original electrical cabinet. There wasn’t much forethought in component placement, wire routing, serviceability, etc. with this control.

When I visited Wills shop, this control panel was shipping out to a customer with a very large Vertical Turning Lathe. You can see the pride and craftsmanship Will puts into his retrofits. Very impressive!

I have run about 8 jobs with the machine since completion about a week ago and so far I am very happy with the increased performance, the craftsmanship that went into the retrofit and while the retrofit job was not inexpensive, I feel that I received a very good value for the money spent and I will have a very reliable, easily service retrofit that will probably outlive the hardware its attached to!

Thanks Will, Mark, and Ian for the great job!