First time engraving question

[muddy0409]

Hello all.
I have just done my first engraving test.
Everything appears fine on the CAD drawing and in the gcode that loads into mach3.
I have the word TEST in 25mm letters, centered on both X & Y
But. On the toolpath display only EST is showing. When I start the run, thats all that the machine engraves and it is certainly NOT in 25mm letters.I feel it is something to do with scaling, but cannot see anything in config that fixes the problem.
BTW when it stops engraving partly through the "E" there is still plenty of Gcode not run. This makes me think that the gcode is correct.
Any hints?

Thanks, in advance.
Muddy0409
(up the bush, in outback Australia)

[Hal]

Post the Gcode so we can take a peek.

[fixittt]

scaling is next to the dros at the top  If it says scale 1 then your ok.

have you checked to make sure that your machine runs the correct distance?  calibrated the steps per?
Is the native units in inches or mm`s?

When it stops running, is there an estop or any other message in the status line at the bottom?

[Hood]

Unlikely this is the issue but if you are in Demo mode you can only run 500 lines of code.
Hood

[muddy0409]

I RTFM (again) last night.
I think it's a config problem as per Fixitt's reply above.
So guess what I'm doing today?

Muddy0409

[muddy0409]

Righto, I've done lots of playing and reading.
Scaling on all axes is 1.0
It will load any gcode files I generate.
I have generated "TRY" and "READY" as test texts to play with, both 25mm high.
However, "TRY" appears on the toolpath screen ok. "READY" only displays as "ADY"
When I run the "TRY" engraving, which should be 25mm lettering, X axis comes out ok, Y axis is only about 1/3 of what it should be.
Running the "READY" engraving, it scales it the same as above and stops part through the script.
Offsets are all set at 0

Are there any limitations on the demo software that would be doing this??

Thanks,
Muddy0409

[Hood]

as said above 500 line limit to code in demo.
For the "scaling" issue that is likely your steps per unit not set correctly.
Hood

[muddy0409]

Hi Hood.
Code very short for then "TRY" a bit longer for "READY", haven't counted lines though. (Will count, just in case)
The other bits are set as per manufacturer's listing.

muddy0409

[Hood]

Well you are either losing steps or manufacturers settings are wrong or you have  different microsteps set on that axis.
Hood

[Tweakie.CNC]

muddy,

What software are you using to generate the code for your text ??

Could you post your GCode file ??

Tweakie.