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Machine Tool Links: CNC Panels and Pendants

This page is simply a roundup of CNC panels and pendants I've found on the Internet so you can see what kinds of features others have incorporated. To understand how to wire up a panel like these, consult my CNC Lathe panel page or read the Breakout Board I/O page.

Panels
Here's a real nice panel I ran across. Not sure if this fellow made this panel or bought it.

Haas CNC machining center. Functions include (roughly top to bottom left to right):

- Power on/off

- Spindle load meter

- Emergency Stop

- MPG

- Cycle Start + Feed Hold Buttons

- Setup keypad for establishing tool #'s and offsets

- Auger, coolant, and jogging keypad

- Overrides for feed rate, spindle speed, spindle direction, and rapids speed (makes you wonder if you want the MPG's to run at either the feedrate or the rapids rate?)

- Mode commands (e.g. load CNC program, edit, manual programs, zero/home, and memory contents)

- Numeric keypad (no alpha keypad!)

Very simple panel:

- Touchscreen (of course you can do a lot with one of these!)

- Cycle Start, Feed Hold, E-Stop

- Key Lock

- Alpha Keyboard (touch panel eliminates need for a mouse)

Homemade Panel for Mach:

- Non-Touch LCD (use the trackball)

- MPG

- E-Stop

- Can't read the buttons and LEDs

- Alpha Keyboard

- Trackball (LED's below are unknown

- 2 Joysticks. I assume these are for fast slewing.

Check the guy's CNC machined arm for mounting this thing!

Homemade Bridgeport CNC Retrofit:

- E-Stop

- PC Start (e.g. Power)

- Key emulator button pad is used to call special functions in Mach.

- Spindle speed pot with RPM and Load LCD's (nice!)

- For stepping the CNC program he has Cycle Start, Optional Stop, Single Block, and Feed Hold

- Coolant: Force off, flood, mist, or let Mach control it with "Auto"

- Feed override: You see this one more than spindle override on "pro" systems.

- X, Y, Z, A Joysticks

- The 3rd Joystick has two momentary positions: left raises the z for toolchange and right is all axis home.

- Limit Override Button

- Spindle CCW, Off, Auto (under Mach Control), and CW

- Start up button (for the PC)

- Alpha keyboard.

- There is also a separate IR keyboard and mouse as well as a pendant.

Centroid Lathe Panel:

- LCD screen

- MPG selector and rate controls

- For controlling the CNC program he has Cycle Cancel, Cycle Start, Feed Hold, Single Block, and Tool Check (Does Mach have a Tool Check function?)

- Feedrate Override

- Coolant and Spindle Controls

- Tailstock

- Spindle Override

- Alpha Keyboard

- E-Stop

Matsura CNC Mill:

- E-Stop

- Power

- ATC?

- Display

- Alpha Keyboard (Better layout for g-codes?)

- Manual SubPanel with MPG

- Auto Sub Panel w/ Feedrate and other overrides

- Spindle Monitoring w/ Overrides

- Coolant

- Key Lock

Nice Homebrew Panel:

- LCD Panel with "Soft Switches" to right and left that line up with buttons on the screen.

- E-Stop/Reset for Mach

- CNC Program Control including Cycle Start, Cycle Stop, Pause (Tool Check?), Single Block, Optional Stop, and Block ???

- Feedrate and Spindle Overrides (Yes!)

- Jog Subpanel with an MPG, Fast Jog push buttons, Axis Select, Jog Mode, and Jog Increment controls.

- E-Stop (electrical, not just Mach)

- Machine Coordinate Commands: Search Reference, Goto Home, Goto Tool Change Pos

- Coolant Controls: Flood, Mist, Off

- Spindle Controls: CW, CCW, Off

An Electronic Leadscrew Panel:

- Display with DRO, Spindle RPM/Load, Feed Speeds, and Thread Settings

- E-Stop

- Rapid Retract Function

- Spindle Direction

- Spindle Speed

SoftServo panel relies heavily on the soft keys along the right and bottom edges of the screen. You could certainly lay out Mach screens to make this a very workable design.

Homemade Mill Panel:

- LCD Screen

- Manual Spindle Controls

- E-Stop

- Automation Direct VFD Remote Control

- MPG

- ASCII Keyboard

- X, Y, Z, A Joysticks for Jogging

- X-Keys 20 button cluster with: Green/Red Layer, Jog Mode, Jog Inc, Start/Rewind/Stop, MPG, MPG Axis, 4 Arrow Keys

Ultimax Lathe Panel:

- LCD Touch Screen

- Power On/Off

- Start Cycle, Feed Hold

- E-Stop

- Feed & Spindle Overrides

- MPG with axis select and rates (same on pendant)

- Cycle Mode, Test Run, Coolant Controls

- Keypad and Jogging arrows

Ultimax Mill Panel:

- LCD Touch Panels, 1 for commands and DROs, one for toolpath

- Feed & Spindle Overrides

- Power On, Feed Hold, Start Cycle

- Key Lock

- Step Cycle, Coolant, Tool Select

- Pendant

- Numeric Keypad w/ Jog Arrows

- E-Stop

- Trackball

Fanuc Panel:

- LCD Display w/ Soft Buttons along right and bottom

- E-Stop

- Key Lock

- Spindle & Feed Overrides

- Power On Off

- Alpha Keyboard

- Modes

- Cycle Start/Stop

- Jog

- Rapids

- Spindle

This one is a little harder to see, but you can make out the usual basic controls plus a waterproof keyboard and monitor.

CNC Auto Panel:

- E-Stop

- Removeable Pendant with Axis, Rate, and MPG

- LCD Display

- Cycle Sart, Feed Hold, Single Block

- Feedrate Override

- Manual Spindle Direction

- Spindle Override

- Coolant

- Brake

- Alpha Keyboard

   

Router CNC Control Panel

CNC Router Panel:

Very cool panel by CNCCookbook reader Kelvin V.

Love the individual axis and spindle load meters. Sweet!

Pendants
Here is a serious pendant! Looks fatiguing to hold.
This pendant is based entirely on keyboard emulation.
Pure MPG pendant.

Great looking pendant from CNCMasters:

- E-Stop

- Feed and Spindle overrides

- Fast jog joystick

- MPG with axis selection

A nice large pendant.

 

My CNC Lathe Panel

Coming along slowly...

 

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