Messages

6791

General Mach Discussion / Re: Replacing Computer - Mach 3 Serial to USB ? Options?

« on: August 28, 2017, 02:42:25 PM »

Hi,
I''ve used a board like this with the one PP built-in and another PCI card PP for several years. More recently using the same platform to run
Mach4 and ESS. The dual core Atom has VERY modest computing power and its on-chip graphics are poor yet its done a great job for me and
reliably as you might guess from being new.
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/~D2550HN

If I were buying again I would buy something with a bit more grunt, the Atom can be slow to load and generate the toolpath for large files,(ordinary
milling files are fine and the Atom actually runs the machine fine large or small files).
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=76#JNF9F-H61
has a parallel header rather than a DB25.

Craig

6792

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 UC100 HDBB2 Spindle Speed setup (last piece to the puzzle)

« on: August 28, 2017, 04:03:19 AM »

Hi,
irrespective of whether it is easy or desirable to have a manual speed control it should be possible to get your combination going simply
and cheaply. It is well worthwhile doing so just to learn about your system.

Unfortunately I don't have a UC100, I use an ESS, but hopefully some of the same ideas will work.

On page 3 of the HDBB manual it states that Output #3 is hooked to screw terminals 36 and 37. Pin 36 is low pass filtered and is highly suitable as PWM output.
On page 4 of the same manual it says that Output #3 is pin #1 in the 36 pin centronics connector and in Appendix A pin #1 in the centronics is the same pin#1
in the DB25 or IEC26 pin connector. If pin #1 of the LPT is toggled on and off then screw terminal 36 will be the lowpass filtered result.

You now need to setup Mach4 to produce spindle PWM on pin #1 port #1.
On Configure/Mach/Output Signals scan down the list until you find Output #3. Check the enable mark, select UC100 from the drop down list in the Device column
and select Port1 Pin1 from the drop down list in the Output Name column.
On Configure/Plugins/UC100/Spindle Settings chose Pin1 from the drop down list for the Spindle PWM setting. Suggest the frequency be set to 1kHz until youre
comfortable enuf to experiment with it.

If (that's a BIG IF) I'm correct now you can control your spindle speed by toggling Output #3 on and off in Mach4. I'm going to have to take a spell while I figure
out how to get Output #3 to be PWM from the S*********x in Gcode.

Craig

6793

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 UC100 HDBB2 Spindle Speed setup (last piece to the puzzle)

« on: August 27, 2017, 08:38:14 PM »

Hi,
manual speed control can be as simple as a pot. Doesn't come much simpler than one knob and one
glance tells you where its set.

Craig

6794

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: August 27, 2017, 08:34:39 PM »

Hi,
yes you are right, excessive cutting of fibreglass dulls tools BIGTIME!. The aim is to have as little cut depth as possible
and yet not miss any copper that needs be cut. Doublesided tape can distort the board on removal, any idea to have
the adhesive release is a good idea.

One board I make has 12oz copper, yeah thats right 0.42mm! I require flood cooling to achieve useful tool life
but requires a good doublesided tape which can cause a real problems when time comes to release.

I have tried, although without great effort, to use vacuum. My preference is to drill thru holes before etching which
stuffs up the vacuum.

I think if we wish to carry on this conversation we should start a new topic rather than clutter up this one.

Craig

6795

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 UC100 HDBB2 Spindle Speed setup (last piece to the puzzle)

« on: August 27, 2017, 02:49:54 PM »

Hi,
another question to be asked is 'do you need speed control?' Most of my jobs I turn the spindle on set the speed manually, not always but
often, as fast as it goes and leave it like that all day. Easy to get hooked into the notion 'I need speed control' and spend a lot of time and
money which doesn't get used much.

Craig

6796

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: August 27, 2017, 02:38:32 PM »

Hi,
I used 1/2 inch acrylic because I already had it. While the pocket is level with respect to the z axis it can't do any thing about flex/twist/bow in
the PCB blank, and flex/twist/bow is there, seldom more than 0.2mm, but you're trying to cut a 0.035mm copper layer. I regularly set the cut
depth to 0.06mm, if there is any flex/twist/bow then it will cut too deep and wear the tool or not cut deep enuf and leave copper un etched.
Even holding down the blank with screws at the corners is likely to induce flex in the board sufficiently to wreck the result. I now use doublesided
tape to hold the board down. Its not without its drawbacks but it works OK.  Vacuum holding would probably be best but have not yet got
around to trying it seriously.

Craig

6797

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: August 27, 2017, 02:32:43 AM »

Hi,
isolation routing of PCBs was the first and principle reason for building my mill in the first place. What appeals to me is the flexibility... you can have
a circuit idea and be soldering parts on a board within hours.

One of the biggest challenges to get isolation routing to work well especially fine details of SMT is getting the blank absolutely flat and level,
within 1/4-1/2 thou is required. For this purpose a software utility called Autoleveller might as well be mandatory. Its free but an enhanced subscription
version is much preferred for 20GBP. Goggle Autoleveller.

Craig

6798

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: August 26, 2017, 10:34:28 PM »

Hi,
if you want to make PCBs check out EAGLE and a user script called PCB-to-Gcode...match that to another useful bit of software Autoleveller and
isolation routing is ready to go, have been doing a few TSSOP no trouble!

Craig

6799

General Mach Discussion / Re: C11G PWM control voltages go down when increasing speed in Mach3

« on: August 26, 2017, 05:27:39 PM »

Hi,
I don't think so, my VFD is made by Delta and so will not be identical however all VFDs have similar features. One instruction provided is that
min frequency must be numerically smaller than max frequency.

Craig

6800

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: August 26, 2017, 03:16:13 PM »

Hi,
if you are going to convert to any other system you will have to find out about the servos. Lean on them, this is your machine if they
won't provide information about its sate use take them to court. They are doing this so you spend money with them....remind them that
unless you are happy with their business practices you won't be spending a cent with them!

Craig