My plan was to see if I could get it working, do some reverse engineering of the system and then swap out the original console with its Micon software for a now, modern controller eg a PC running LinuxCNC or a standalone CNC controller. I already had a whole LinuxCNC system ready to go, having previously lined it up for my Bridgeport conversion. Having said that, implementing a LinuxCNC on a full sized 4-axis machine seems to be a major rite of passage and not something I was looking forward to.
This machine was designed to be run from a 415V 3-phase supply and clearly I would struggle with that. But of course, very few of the internal components actually require 3-phase. The spindle motor is actually a 220V 3-phase machine (powered from a massive 3-phase transformer), so ideal for operation from a single phase input VFD. And the servo system power supply was actually 90Vdc, generated from another set of windings on the transformer. That just leaves the coolant pump requiring a small VFD at some point.
I managed to get it working, running a short demo program from the manual. It sort of worked OK but kept tripping out from what appeared to be overloading of the servos.
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