Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: Winterdragon on February 24, 2014, 03:45:52 PM
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Hello,
I bought a Chinese model 3040 cnc from Ebay. It came with a 4th axis attachment and for the life of me I can not make this work right. The Manual says to simply replace the 'X' in the gcode with "A" and save and run. this does not work. I Use Mach3 for the gcode and with the Virtual Control on the screen I can click the 'A+' Button and it will rotate Counterclockwise and when I click the 'A-' button it also rotates counterclockwise.
The purpose of using the 4th Axis is for engraving Pen Barrels for Custom Pens. I would like to be able to engrave names and logos into the upper and lower barrels of the pens.
I do not know if Mach 3 settings are incorrect or if 4th axis is wired wrong, or If im a bone head and doing something wrong. Ive been fighting with this for about a year now. Please help...
Thank you in advance,
Winterdragon
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I have a Chinese 3040 with a 4th axis and maybe I can help you. Do you have the A axis set in Gen. Config. as Linear? I use Linear when engraving on a dia. with the G51 and A axis scale number at the beginning of the file to scale the movements from an engraving code. Example, if your wood is 4" Dia. and you want the image 3/4 the way around it, then multiply 4 X 3.14 = 12.56 X .75= 9.42. Your engraving and Gcode should be generated like it's flat 9.42" the way it will be wrapped. Then you input in the beginning of the file a G51 A 28.662 (270 (3/4 of 360) degrees divided by 9.42), it will then engrave 3/4 of the way around a 4" dia.
Try using the < & > on the keyboard to manually rotate it in both directions instead. If you have the belt drive rotary, and your ratios from the stepper to the chuck are the same as mine, then the steps per. for the A axis should be 20, Velocity 7500 and accel. 250. A axis feedrates need to be set hi in your gcode program, or it will run real slow when rotating. How I keep the other axis's from running real fast also, I set the Velocity max in Motor Tuning for those axis's at the feedrate I want to engrave at. Setup another profile for Mach3, just for doing rotary engraving.
I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but I hope this helps you get started.
Jeff
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I can click the 'A+' Button and it will rotate Counterclockwise and when I click the 'A-' button it also rotates counterclockwise.
I assume that the X axis is disconnected and the A axis connected in its place. Is this correct?
If so, then pressing the X+ button should move the A in one direction, and X- button should move A in the other direction. Does this happen?
Mach3 will not know that you have replaced X with A unless you tell it so by changing settings. Are you changing "ports and pins" settings etc? Or using another profile for rotary use which may be set up differently?
Greolt
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I've seen 2 different control boxes listed for these machines.
One has connections on the back for X, Y, Z and Spindle, the other has X, Y, Z, A and Spindle.
Which do you have ?
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If it came with a 4th axis rotary, it will have X, Y, Z, A and spindle. The 3 axis machine does not come with the extra 4 pin plug for the rotary.
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If it came with a 4th axis rotary, it will have X, Y, Z, A and spindle. The 3 axis machine does not come with the extra 4 pin plug for the rotary.
Understood.
Greg's post suggests the possibility that it could be a 3 axis machine with an optional add-on 4th ... which might be a plug swap.
Just making sure.
Thanks,
Russ
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Hello and thank you all.
I have reached out to the supplier again for assistance although I fear that i will be just as beneficial the first dozen times.
The unit I have has the control Box with the round 4 pin connector and the 4th axis unit has the corresponding connector.
I also must correct an incorrect statement that I made. In Mach3 when you pres TAB, the Jog menu appears, the buttons that I thought wer A+ and A- are actually 4+ and 4-.
Im attaching photos of the control box and the 4th axis unit as well.
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I don't have any experience of the Chinese routers, but I did build my system from scratch including my 4th axis. I remember dealing with similar issues as you are when I was trying to get my 4th axis running for the first time.
Try assigning a hotkey for the rotary axis and see if that works. You find the hotkey menu in the config tab.
I assigned the rotary axis to the - & + botton on my number pad of the key board. Not sure if the the MPG buttons work as I don't use them.
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Yep, that's the same controller & rotary as mine.
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That is good news JJWMACHINECO.
Now that we figured that out. How in the H&^% did you get yours to work? Can you provide a Step by step or would you be willing to do some Phone Support??
THanks
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How about if I just attach my spindle rotary Mach Profile in a PM for you to try? If that will that work for you, then send me a PM.
Digging through menus and typing here or explaining on the phone could get very time consuming. I can only assume your screws are the same ratios and you may have to convert/set from inch units if you use metric instead. I know the Z axis steps per. will not be the same because I changed mine to a 2-1 ratio for rotating a shaft encoder also from the stepper motor to the Z axis screw for laser diode engraving. I don't use notepad as an editor so you will have to change that in Gen. Conf. also. It should get you running, but you may have to make some changes.
Jeff
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Mike,
correction in my first post. Use Angular for the rotary instead of Linear.
Jeff
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Hello, I am having the same problem with my 4-th axis rotary device , it will only turn in one direction if I press 4-th + or 4-th - , did you manage to solve this problem , could you give me some advice on this matter ?
Thank you!
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If I remember correctly, he determined his breakout board was faulty and was not sending the change direction signal to the driver. Check your wire connections first though.