Messages

31

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Works in Mach 3 but no go in Mach 4

« on: April 17, 2023, 07:33:12 PM »

If the VFD is only wired to the PMDX-107, then the 100% PWM problem could exist if the SmoothStepper allows a full 100%. Even 99.99% avoids the problem.

32

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Works in Mach 3 but no go in Mach 4

« on: April 17, 2023, 06:59:31 PM »

Have you set up your spindle pulley info in Mach4? Mach4 figures out the %PWM by looking at the S word as a % of the maximum spindle speed.

Are you using the relay on the PMDX-126 to command Run or Forward to the VFD or are you using the Run or Forward directly from the PMDX-107? The PMDX-107 derives the run status by looking at the PWM. If the PWM ever becomes absolutely 100% (never pulses) the PMDX-107 will turn off. We often recommend that users set up the maximum pulley speed to just over the maximum S word that you plan to use. For example if you have a 24000 RPM spindle, set the maximum pulley speed to 24005 so that the PWM never saturates to 100%.

33

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can Master - Slave have different Axis screw pitch Settings?

« on: March 26, 2023, 01:38:19 AM »

Counts Per Unit is a property per Motor not per Axis, so it may indeed be possible for different pitch screws to be used for the Master and Slaves on a given Axis. Like you, I would prefer for Smurph to speak to this question.

34

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: MACH 3 to MACH 4 and USS TO ESS

« on: March 23, 2023, 09:12:50 AM »

Any servo drive that accepts incremental quadrature input from rotary encoders can be run from an incremental quadrature linear scale, however the scales have lower effective resolution and are not coupled as tightly mechanically to the motor. Mechanical backlash will cause problems. Typically you will have to tune them to operate more slowly with lower P gain, more I gain, and if available a dead band in order to be stable. Anilam did this on some of their older controls.

35

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: I don't see the "SIMULATOR" tab

« on: March 14, 2023, 08:04:13 AM »

Craig:

ModuleWorks.com does offer 4 and 5 axis simulators for other partners. They have done simulators for dozens of companies and you may have seen their software being used by dental labs that make prosthetics. Perhaps you could investigate the possibility but it will likely be much more expensive.

36

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: I don't see the "SIMULATOR" tab

« on: March 14, 2023, 07:51:35 AM »

Craig:

The ModuleWorks simulator is available for purchase on the Machsupport.com web site.

It supports 3 axis milling and would not help with 4 or 5 axis systems.

It installs as a separate Mach4 profile as if it was another machine.

https://www.machsupport.com/shop/3d-cutting-simulator-mach4-hobby-plugin/

37

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: laser engraving on the fly

« on: March 10, 2023, 09:23:17 PM »

Yes, it is supported on some motion controllers like the Ethernet SmoothStepper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79g7WSAuJUk

38

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Rotary Axes in Radians vs Degrees?

« on: February 19, 2023, 06:08:41 PM »

You can specify the "counts per unit" for your rotary axis to the appropriate value for one radian of movement. That should work reasonably well in the real world but with these considerations:

1)This will inherently be an approximation because for any reasonable gearing setup the value will include pi as a part of the computation and pi is an irrational number.

2)The concept of "rollover" in the Mach4 configuration probably assumes that the value to be declared to be the rollover point is 360, as in degrees.

One alternative approach would be to make your unit of measure be one full circle so as to avoid the irrational number issue.

39

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Keyboard short cuts & editing current Gcode

« on: February 19, 2023, 03:37:30 PM »

Did you look at the screen shot that Craig provided?

It shows the desired button in the standard screen sets. If you have a customized screen set it may not be there, but it works fine in the standard ones.

40

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: PMDX-416 USB Can't Connect

« on: January 08, 2023, 10:28:15 AM »

You are still welcome to send it to us for warranty repair/evaluation.

Steve Stallings
PMDX