Messages

6151

General Mach Discussion / Re: pass 1 of however many....

« on: December 22, 2010, 09:12:54 PM »

I just normally look at the Z axis dro to see where it is at(;-) I came from an era that did not even have a display just 3 neon displays XYZ. and before that 3 mechanical dials 1 per axis.

Just a thought, (;-) TP

6152

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma tube cutting

« on: December 21, 2010, 07:15:33 PM »

The thing you need to determene is how will you drive the A axis.

From the centerline via a chuck     

OR

From a set of drive rollers


IF you set up with drive rollers THEN you can set it up as a linear drive and set you steps per inch directly.

Just a thought, (;-) TP

6153

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma tube cutting

« on: December 21, 2010, 06:48:48 PM »

You can use swappaxis() in a macro to do the physical swap. BUT you will need to scale A axis to get the hole size corrected. you will always have to do some correction depending on the tube size and the motor settings. Best to set the motor settings correctly then adjust through scale.

We have the tubing coping workin fine with mach. It is avaliable from the  Mach Toolbox in the download section.

I will look to see IF we can create a version for basic holes as well.

(;-) TP

6154

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma tube cutting

« on: December 21, 2010, 12:48:49 PM »

HIYA guys what I worked on was a way to COPE fit pipe joints on the plasma.

Cutting holes in a pipe is fairly simple with a 4th axis.  BUT you will have to convert the code to use it . The 4th is normally set up as degs/min and to cut it needs to be converted to compensate for the pipe diameter

 One way is to create a drawing then let the CAM do the conversion to the 4th axis. SHEET CAM can do this.

Another way is to use a utility like WRAPPER to convert your Gcode.

It also may be possible to set up a WIZARD to do the Gcode based on parameters

Make sure your 4th is set up accuately as to steps/deg.

(;-) TP

6155

General Mach Discussion / Re: formula not following in G02

« on: December 21, 2010, 12:20:57 PM »

Yes on the Gcodes on the list.  Lcam while free is an unsupported orphan. IF you are building a 0ne arm bandit plasma table please note it is an old idea(;-).

One problem you face is MACH doe not do kenimatics of a joint so it is not easy to predict the end point in 2d space. I know formulas have been tried in the past.  Don't remember if any of the projects are still around.

For a CAM for plasma I would recommend Sheet Cam .

Hope that helps, (;-) TP

6156

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toolpath display.... Rotary

« on: December 20, 2010, 10:12:24 PM »

Toolpath origin is X0Y0Z0 and A0 IF rotary toolspaths are turned on

(;-) TP

6157

General Mach Discussion / Re: Y Axis racking when sent to "Home"

« on: December 20, 2010, 09:44:58 PM »

In config check the Home speed % for each motor sounds like one is differrent.

(;-) TP

6158

General Mach Discussion / Re: formula not following in G02

« on: December 20, 2010, 12:52:25 PM »

I don't think FORMULAS were ever fully developed. You may want to consider doing all the conversion inside the CAM post.

Just a thought, (;-) TP

6159

General Mach Discussion / Re: machine running irregular on button script

« on: December 19, 2010, 08:09:47 PM »

Make sure you send us a picture. Yours is a project that MANY people in the past asked for(;-)

A way to correct for surface irregularities when engraving.

(;-) TP

6160

General Mach Discussion / Re: machine running irregular on button script

« on: December 19, 2010, 05:45:30 PM »

Here is another thought (;-)  Make the program USE the same exact name up front each time for example lets use  PntFile.txt

When you open the M40 dialog use that name. Then YOUR script will know what name to use to apply the corrections. When your script is done THEN let it save out the file as another name. LOAD that file name to be engraved

Then delete out the original file name Pntfile.txt so it will be available next time.

You can also use a OEM DRO to store the last used filename(number) then increment the NEXT new name(number) +1 to use for the next file name.

That wil semi-automate the process

Just a thought, (;-) TP