Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: Tornado220 on September 07, 2021, 03:54:19 AM
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Hello, just getting in to this as I have the above machine, can Mach 4 have 2 Z axes ? ie for those that don't know the machine it is a simple twin horizontally opposed milling spindles with single axis on each and a centrally mounted single height adjustable (for different diameters) clamping device, what I would like ot do is :-
a) control the spindle speed
b) control the vertical position of the central clamping device
c) control the "Z" position and feed rate of each milling head
I think that's all. Could anyone offer any advice for this please ?
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Its hard to say without knowing a bit more. But
Mach3 and Mach4 are 6 axis controllers but all axis are blended together so both ends would start and finish at the same time.
Maybe one end could use X axis and the other Y axis and centre height could use Z axis.
but if it faces and centres with more than one tool then its not going to be easy. If you use a spot drill with a facing and chamfering cutter in one then I can see it working.
The other option is you use Mach4 Industrial and 2 Galils and use the multi planner option where each end runs a separate g-code file with wait codes to sync them. Its a wild ride at first but well worth the flexibility you get.
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That sounds ok, I was thinking maybe different axes for the left & right, its got 2 different spindles which must move independent to each other as one shaft has a 90mm oil bore and the other end is 45mm deep, as long as I use carbide drills I shouldn't need to centre drill it first, so the MACH4 Industrial sounds like its the correct unit to use, where do I purchase such a unit ? also how would it drive the various motors, would I need to fit ball screw and rotary encoders ?