Messages

4421

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Coil winding machine ( Wizard needed)

« on: May 31, 2018, 02:38:59 PM »

aHi,
try using just one of the standard screens to start with.

Once you get Mach running THEN experiment with other screens.

Craig

4422

General Mach Discussion / Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!

« on: May 31, 2018, 02:29:57 PM »

Hi,
what sort of controller are you using?

That PC will run Mach3 fine but you will need an external controller.....hooking your control box up with a parallel cable is not an option for you.
The controller you were supplied should have a software plugin that needs to be installed in Machs plugin folder. Was it supplied and have you
installed it?

Craig

4423

General Mach Discussion / Re: ABC's of YOOCNC 6040Z Setup

« on: May 31, 2018, 02:22:53 PM »

Hi,
so is the machine working or not?

Is Mach3 lincenced or not? In demo it will run for 500 lines before stopping.
Along the very top of the screen it should say 'Mach3 CNC ******************x'  where ****************** is the name of th licence.

Craig

4424

General Mach Discussion / Re: ABC's of YOOCNC 6040Z Setup

« on: May 31, 2018, 03:07:31 AM »

Hi,
if you are using a Gecko 540 then you are using a parallel port...is this correct? What PC and OS are you using? Are you sure that the OS is 32 bit?

If so please run DriverTest,exe and post a screen shot of the result screen.

Craig

4425

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need help on homing machine

« on: May 31, 2018, 03:03:48 AM »

cHi,
a pull-off distance is where at the conclusion of step 4 above the axis will then drive some nominated distance from the switch and zero it machine co-ordinate
for that axis.

Note that this is not standard Mach behavior but is offered as a functional feature of some motion controllers. To my knowledge PoKeys 57CNC certainly offers
this feature and believe that Warp9's ESS has recently had this feature added. There may well be other controllers which have it but I'm not familiar with them.
It is not a feature I've ever used or required. Even if I did a simple motion script could enact it even if your controller can't.

Mach's  parallel port controller does not have this feature.

In absence of manufacturers support you are going to have to inspect even disassemble your machine to find out the wiring details and disposition of the switches.
You will also need to know the capabilities and connection details of your controller or breakout board.

I've been trying to contact the manufacturer  but to no avail.

This is normal for Chinese manufacturers. If you spend a couple of hours reading posts on this forum you'll find hundreds of similar complaints. It is pretty clear you didn't do
any reading prior to your purchase and now the consequences of buying cheap will come home to roost.

Find out how the switches are wired, how the switches are arranged and the IO connections of your controller. Without that basic information I can't help much.

Craig

4426

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: "Screenset 2010"-like tool and zero macros?

« on: May 30, 2018, 06:57:19 PM »

Hi,
whats wrong with the probing module?

Craig

4427

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Using a button script to set jog increments etc

« on: May 30, 2018, 05:59:10 AM »

Hi striplar,

Users won't even know what's possible unless they're told what all of the components and services Mach4 offer do

The scripting manual does a fair job introducing the basics, but just the basics. Were it complete there would be so much information that the
vast majority of users would be lost.

Years ago when at University we had a VAX11-70 in the Department. The reference manuals were a rack of ring binders that covered half a wall.
As a newbie it was daunting. What various undergrads had done was condense the manuals down to a single ring binder, the basics. From there you could
get a feel for what it was you needed to know and then search the manufacturers reference as required. By the end of my four years I'd added a page or two
to the basics.

Mach4 documentation is at best the basics only, the detailed reference is some way off. Steve is our reference at this point in time....he has the time and energy to
develop new stuff but obviously loathes documenting things which are already done. That's just who he is....but I think you are coming to see the true genius
of what he is building and its truly awesome. If his inclination is to develop new stuff then I reckon 'go get'em Steve'.

It feels like it's all a big secret and that you have to be an insider to get access to this stuff when it ought to be out there for everyone to see

I agree, although its not a deliberate strategy, its just the way things have worked out. Whether you know it or not you are becoming one of the insiders!

I suspect that most users just give up on anything but the most basic customisation unless they're very determined, because it takes too much time to find the information they need.

Yes, you have to be determined. Even were there much better documentation it still requires imagination and determination to master it all.

Craig

4428

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need help on homing machine

« on: May 30, 2018, 05:17:28 AM »

Hi.
the usual sequence of events when referencing (also called homing) an axis is:

1) The axis is driven in the nominated direction at the nominated percentage of traverse speed
2) The axis stops when home switch is activated.
3) The axis backs off the switch until it de-activates
4) The machine co-ordinate for that axis is zeroed (referenced) or set to the axis offset if so programmed.

It rather sounds like your switches are activating at step 2 but not de-activating as in step3.
Can you tell us more about the switches and how you have them wired? Do you try to make them double as limit switches as well? It is a common,
but in my opinion misguided, practice. Are your switches active low or active high? Do you have pull-up resistors (or pull-downs) to ensure reliable
switch de-activation?

Craig

4429

General Mach Discussion / Re: Optimizing Isolation Routing and Motor Tuning questions

« on: May 30, 2018, 05:04:31 AM »

Hi,
I am not a fan of encoder feedback stepper servos. The motors are still steppers and suffer the same reduction in torque with speed as open loop steppers.
The manufacturers play the marketing game very well and work with the buyers fear of 'losing steps'. As it turns out an open loop stepper is no more prone to losing steps
than a feedback stepper and the notion that feedback is going to be able to correct stepper lag under overload condition (where they are likely to lag) is fallacious.

What the manufacturers can claim is an marked improvement I resolution. Because of the low differential torque between adjacent microsteps on non-feedback steppers, motion from one
microstep position to the next can't be assured and therefore cannot really be counted as resolvable steps. The encoders used on Leadshine stepper servos are 1000 ppr or
4000 count. Because the encoder can measure between full steps and the stepper driver can adjust its output so that the rotor lands on exactly the right location between steps, ie microsteps
ARE resolvable. This means Leadshine stepper servos go close to a resolution of 4000 steps per revolution whereas a open loop stepper can achieve 400 steps per revolution at half step mode.
While this represents a considerable improvement over open loop steppers I still regard the premium paid for feedback steppers to be unjustifiable when for a small extra sum you could be into
genuine AC servos which kick stepper anus all day long!

Craig

4430

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Using a button script to set jog increments etc

« on: May 30, 2018, 04:27:33 AM »

Hi striplar,
I suspect the reason that has not been documented is that maybe as few as half a dozen people on the planet have ever thought about it let alone done
something with the idea.

Much of what is in Mach4 is there because that's what the developers wanted for their machines and by and large that is entirely adequate. If you want some
other behavior that is indeed possible but it does take some thinking about to implement it. For every CNC enthusiast there is a different conception of what is required
and desirable.

The next few years promise to be very interesting as all those enthusiasts implement all their ideas, all in all I think its exciting.

Craig