Messages

21

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switches acting crazy, crashing

« on: May 02, 2020, 09:26:42 PM »

I'll give it a go. Thanks!

22

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switches acting crazy, crashing

« on: May 01, 2020, 10:42:17 AM »

Last night I removed the relay pack and wired it up as shown in the attached pic. It was a total fail. When the Hall effect sensors are triggered (or when they're not) the axes jog as if the sensors weren't even there.

23

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switches acting crazy, crashing

« on: April 30, 2020, 06:23:20 PM »

Thanks for responding. I appreciate it. Been talking with guys at CNCZone.com and we have sort of come to the conclusion that using relays to reverse the hall-effect signal may be the problem. So I'm going to try taking them out of the equation. To answer your question-- I simply jog the Y (for example) past the magnet to cause it to trip an alarm which stops the travel instantly as I was hoping. So that was my test for Y. Then, I test X. When the magnet gets close to the sensor, it lights up the relay indicator light but does not trigger a stop. It will run right past the magnet until I let off the jog key or until it crashes. Same thing happens for the Z test. Now-- if I do the exact same series of tests, but this time, after the Y hits the stop, I reset it and move it any distance at all. Having moved its position somehow allows the X to stop at the sensor just as the Y did. Not a reliable set of circumstances. It's kind of a hard thing to splain on a forum.:-)

24

General Mach Discussion / Limit switches acting crazy, crashing

« on: April 29, 2020, 02:27:44 PM »

In an attempt to dump mechanical limit switches, I installed 3 Hall effect sensors as shown below. When I magnet is passed over the individual sensors its relay indicator lights up and the normally closed relay breaks the circuit to kill the appropriate axis. This works, but...

Each limit switch works so that it stops the travel of that particular axis and requires a reset to continue with its travel.
If you fail to move that axis after resetting it, the other two axes will run passed their stops even though their individual relays are triggered.

This might make it easier to invision what happens:

Scenario 1:

Y hits a limit and stops. I reset it and move it again to make sure it was reset. Then I test X. It hits a stop, I reset it, test to make sure it travels. Ditto for Z.

Secnario 2:

Y hits a limit and stops. I reset it but I DON'T jog it to test for a reset. Then I test X. It passes its magnet, lights up its relay, but continues to travel without setting off an alarm, eventually crashes.

I've tried for a couple of days to figure it out but I'm stumped. Any ideas? I appreciate any help. Diagram attached.

25

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Machinable wax gumming up my bits.

« on: July 12, 2018, 08:58:41 PM »

Thank you!
You're exactly right. Tried slowing to lowest setting on router and got good clean cuts!

26

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Machinable wax gumming up my bits.

« on: July 12, 2018, 11:46:53 AM »

I'm sure this problem is due to my inexperience.
When I machine wax with my CNC router, the bits get caked with wax so that they can't cut. What's worse, they destroy the work piece as the bit diameter grows rapidly. Please see image.
These are my settings:
Spindle speed according to router owner's manual: about 17,000rpm
Bit: 1/4", spiral, upcut, not sure if carbide or HSS.
Feed rate and Plunge rate are 45 inch/min
I usually cut in depth increments of 0.1" and often go as deep as one inch.
Any help will be appreciated.

27

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Can't get my pecker to work in sheetCam

« on: July 12, 2018, 11:15:32 AM »

I'm obviously doing something wrong. I use the settings shown in my image but nothing happens. Any help will be appreciated.



https://www.dropbox.com/s/57f96lu3ppjpcn4/sheetcam_pecking.PNG?dl=0

28

Mach Screens / Re: Please tell me how to set TABLE SIZE in Mach3

« on: October 25, 2017, 02:14:49 PM »

That wasn't it, but I did figure it out by using work offsets. At least-- I "think" I have it figured out. I tried to delete the post but couldn't find any way to do it. Thank you though.

29

Mach Screens / Please tell me how to set TABLE SIZE in Mach3

« on: October 25, 2017, 12:57:13 PM »

I've always had trouble getting my tool path to display large enough to be very helpful. It occurred to me that Mach may think my machine is 20 feet wide and 30 feet long. And so the material being milled shows up the size of a postage stamp. In reality, my machine is about 20" x 30", and my material is about 5" x 10". Can you help? As a secondary request-- I've messed up my colors and there's not an option to reset to default. (Config > ToolPath > Colors)  If you can help with that too, it would be great. Thank you.

30

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit Switch Mystery in Mach 3

« on: September 24, 2017, 01:40:30 PM »

"...debounce"
Thank you. That worked. This is a new build, so I had no previous performance to judge it by. When I went to the debounce options, both windows were zero. I didn't know in which window to place the 3000 so I tried them both, one at a time and together. The correct choice for me was the top one, Debounce Interval. And now that I knew which one to choose, I was curious to see how it would change if I used a number larger or smaller than 3k. Didn't seem to make any difference, so I left it at 3k for Debounce Index and zero for Index Debounce. It still does one thing that I suspect is normal: after backing away from the switch, it moves at a much slower velocity. If I stop and restart the motion, it resumes its normal speed.