Correcting Step error

[autonow]

I am a newbie to this stuff and have a Made in chin-o laser engraver (jinjan?). Most of the posts I see have to do with loosing steps. Yes I had this problem too as a result of the machine unable to reach top speed.

However the problem I have is GAINING steps or length. I cut a line 10" long and it come out 10.075 are there any adjustments I can do? I use newlydraw.
the machine is much better in one direction than the other If you consider the "scan direction" head moves back and forth as the x axis and the other the Y axis the error in the x direction is +.030 in 10" and + .075 in the y direction. it appears the gear/step ratio is off.

Suggestions? Some on also mentioned a different board that could be dropped in so I could use mach 3. What boards will work.

[RICH]

problem I have is GAINING steps or length

In MAch3 you can do an axis calibration which you will find in the settings tab ( lower left hand corner of the screen)

 

Some one also mentioned a different board that could be dropped in so I could use mach 3

Mach3  provides step and direction signals via a PP or an external device like the SmoothStepper to your drives.

What controlling software are you using now? Are you using Mach?

RICH

[Tweakie.CNC]

Autonow,

The machine you have was made for engraving rather than accurate machine work so it would not surprise me that you have some errors in dimension using Newlydraw.

There are a number of different options for using Mach3, calibrating your machine and then achieving accuracy but it does not come cheap.
I don't wish to recommend any particular solution because I have not tried any of them but 'slot in boards' may be machine specific ie. if your particular machine controller does not step at exactly 1000 steps per inch they will not work accurately.
Replacing the existing controller with a new 3 axis board that is Mach3 compatible is perhaps cheap but is a radical solution and you must consider that your existing setup lets you 'print' a design from Corel etc. changing to Mach3 would mean converting that design to GCode before you could produce it.

Please remember that although Mach3 can handle some basic raster operation it's main strength is in vector work.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.