Messages

6891

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 brains

« on: July 02, 2017, 06:19:07 PM »

Hi,
latest builds of Mach4 have PLC funtionality. Check recent threads...there is at least one of interest.

Craig

6892

General Mach Discussion / Re: Editing Gcode question

« on: July 01, 2017, 11:59:22 PM »

Hi,
can you identify that block of Gcode that corresponds to the letter that you wish to cut a little deeper? Often Cam programs number, or
at least give you the opportunity to number Gcode lines.

My thought is to write a macro which takes your Gcode file and modifies it from line N1510 to line N1980 for instance where that chunk
of code is the letter you are interested in.

As a rough sketch, your macro called M150 for instance:
1)Open your Gcode file as input
2)Open another similarly named file as output
3)Input your beginning and ending line numbers
4)Read line by line input file
5)If the line number is in range
      6)If the line contains a Z reference then Z=Z-.01   ie increase the depth
                7)Form the modified line and output it to file
       8)Else copy the line unmodified to the output file.
9)Until end of file.

Craig

6893

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Mach3 under win10

« on: June 30, 2017, 10:41:04 PM »

Hi Caytonium,
CNCdrive UC100 and PMDX 411 are USB connected motion controllers with a standard DB25 socket. They are around $100 and both companies
have very good reputations for support. Note that both of these have a Mach4 plugin if you wish to step up at some time in the future. Note also that
they are equivalent to ONE parallel port, if you want more IO or think that you might in the future then consider Warp9 USS or ESS , Pokeys 57U or 57E
series or PMDX 424. They all have more IO, the 424 the equivalent of 'two ports worth', the USS or ESS 'three ports worth' and the PoKeys devices even more.
Excepting the USS they are Mach4 capable, good support policies and cost effective, between about $100-$225.

Vital Systems Hicon board or DSPMC unit are very good but $600 and more depending on features and Mach4 capable.

CSlabs make a very nice 4 axis unit for around $250 and a 6 axis for $600. Neither are Mach4 capable at the moment.

There are plenty of Chinese offerings as well. It has escaped my attention that any of them are very good and seemingly China might as well be on
another planet when it comes to support but they are extremely well priced.

http://www.cncdrive.com/
https://www.pmdx.com/
https://warp9td.com/
https://www.poscope.com/products/pokeys-devices/
http://www.vitalsystem.com/portal/index.php
http://en.cs-lab.eu/

Craig

6894

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Lathe with ESS Smoothstepper

« on: June 28, 2017, 12:44:30 AM »

Hi,
I think threading and backlash compensation are features which are at least partially enacted by the
motion controller. At the current time the Mach4 ESS plugin is somewhat underdone on those two
features, but progress is being made right now.

Vital Systems Hicon board and plugin seem somewhat more developed than any of the others, not cheap
bu very good.

Craig

6895

General Mach Discussion / Re: steppers nocking

« on: June 27, 2017, 08:34:34 PM »

Hi,
how about some info? Parallel port or external controller? If parallel what kernel speed? If parallel what does
DriverTest.exe reveal? What 'steps per'? How many microsteps per step? What velocity and accel in motor tuning?
Can you post a Gcode sequence of moves that shows the fault?

Craig

6896

General Mach Discussion / Re: 4th Axis Calibration in Mach3

« on: June 26, 2017, 04:28:21 AM »

Hi,
calculating the  'steps per' confuses a lot of people but really isn't that difficult if you break it down to simple ideas.

For a linear axis 'steps per' means steps per unit, whatever you think your standard unit should be... for most its inches or mm,
however if you were making semiconductors um or u inch might be more useful.

Lets say your 'natural' units are inches. The question is 'how many step pulses does the controller have to produce to make my axis go 1 inch?'
If we had some sort of pulse counter we could jog our axis 1 inch and write the counted  number of pulses as 'steps per', easy.

Another idea is to have the controller produce a certain number of pulses, 10,000 say, and then measure how far the axis moved. If for instance
the axis moved 0.871 inch then the 'steps per' is 10,000/0.871=11481 steps per inch, easy. You might ask 'so how do I get Mach to produce exactly
10,000 pulses?' As it turns out that's easy. On the Config/Motor Tuning page for the axis your trying to calibrate, say X to start with, set the 'steps
per' at 10,000 and save. We are almost bound to be wrong with our guess but we can now make Mach issue 10,000 pulses.
On the MDI screen issue:
G0 X1  <enter>
Mach will issue 10,000 pulses to the X axis driver, measure how far the axis moved with a dial gauge or similar, do the calculation and 'Bobs your Auntie'.

If you have accurate information about your machine you could calculate the answer without the experimentation above. You will need to know the
pitch of you lead screw/ballscrew, any gear/pulley reduction between your stepper and the screw and finally the number of microsteps per full step
your driver is set to. If you don't know these numbers EXACTLY then find out or devise an accurate way to measure them.
Lets take an example.... your leadscrew is 1/4 inch per rev, 2:1 pulley reduction, 8 microsteps per fullstep.
200 fullsteps is one revolution of the stepper, or 200x8=1600 microsteps per revolution. With 2:1 reduction your lead screw rotated 1/2 a rev ie 1/8 inch.
Therefore 1600/ (1/8) =12,800 microsteps per inch. Write this into the 'steps per' on your motor tuning page and your done. Clearly the numbers you
use must be spot on otherwise it will be inaccurate.

Your post is about your A axis. The question to be answered is 'how many pulses is required for my A axis to rotate 1 degree?' Is your A axis 'geared'
to your stepper and if so what gear ratio?. How many microsteps per fullstep is your drive set to?. Answer these and the calculation is easy.

Craig

6897

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go to a coordinate

« on: June 23, 2017, 06:57:30 PM »

Hi,
on the NFS website find
Mach3Mill_1.84.pdf

Chapters 6 and 10 probably most immediately useful to you.

Craig

6898

General Mach Discussion / Re: PCID

« on: June 22, 2017, 03:35:53 AM »

Hi,
PCID applies to Mach4 only, Help/About

Craig

6899

General Mach Discussion / Re: add relays to Break out board schematics

« on: June 22, 2017, 02:58:19 AM »

Hi,
do you mean you got a PCB manufacturer to make your board? If so then could probably guess that the vias are intact.

You need to recognise that you have two different earths. To measure a signal you must reference to its correct earth.

Yes, pin 7 of the 6n137's is non connected.

Craig

6900

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis motor going crazy (need help)

« on: June 21, 2017, 03:45:03 AM »

Hi,
if your running them for a business and you are of the opinion they're running to hot then replace them with bigger and more capable
units. Or just leave them until they blow up and see how fast you could jack up some alternatives then!

Craig