Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Vortech Router jerky movement.

« on: September 16, 2008, 08:35:37 PM »

Hi Hood, Erik here.
Sorry, I meant to say "plasma" mode in my previous post. Do you want to see the whole toolpath perhaps just a chunk out of the middle somewhere? I checked the settings in Mach today and I do not have the backlash compensation on. Could it be that part of the problem occurrs because the Z axis command is a 90 deg fise that happens with each complete X/Y execution? Thanks again.

Erik

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Vortech Router jerky movement.

« on: September 16, 2008, 01:29:04 AM »

Hello Hood, Erik here.
I managed to get a continuous path (circular & straight) by turning on the "laser" mode, but when it is not in "laser" mode the path reverts to a stop/start with each line of code. Also it seems to have "stuttering" in the Z axis movements and still has a noticeable series of marks in the machined material at every new line of code and a noticeable hesitation at the line where the X/Y motion meets a Z axis movement. Even though the X/Y motion appears and sounds to be continuous the machine still leaves a noticeable mark in the material (Z axis or vertical) that appears to be coincident with the progression of code line to line. Most of the code (85%) is made up of an XYZ command in each line. Do you think this is motor tuning (accel/deccel) or could it be a backlash compensation issue? I tried various feed speeds, but the frequency of the surface inconsistencies remained the same, so I don't think it is mechanical harmonic vibration. I set the look ahead to 500 lines and it did help some. Should not CV mode work even when not set to "laser"? Thanks for your help.

Erik

PS: the the angular stop in CV mode is set to 90 Deg.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Vortech Router jerky movement.

« on: September 13, 2008, 09:56:37 AM »

I will try to do so. I have to break the code  out of the job file as all I have with me are ArtCam files which are composite files. I will do that today & send it to you tomorrow or Monday.
Thanks for your help.
Erik

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Vortech Router jerky movement.

« on: September 12, 2008, 04:49:56 PM »

Tried CV mode, no joy. Could it be the accel & deccel rates for the steppers? Somehow I don't think this is the whole problem.

Erik

5

General Mach Discussion / New Vortech Router jerky movement.

« on: September 11, 2008, 05:48:06 PM »

Hello all,
I am Erik in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have just set up a new Vortech 5' X 10' stepper controlled router using machIII controller and the latest version of ArtCam. We are able to 2.5D straight lines & circle/arc toolpaths perfectly using the ArtCam post {machIII arc (inch)} however when attempting to do 3D toolpaths, the movement in X & Y is jerky and leaves tool marks in the material. It appears that the machine is pausing between each line of code. I have tried changing the ramping speeds for the steppers, but when it is slow enough to have some effect on the problem, my machine times (time to do the job) get way out there. (loosing money). Is there any way to string the code together so the tool runs smoothly? Is this a switch in Mach? Config is set to absolute for lines & incremental for arcs. Also where do I set the rapid (out of material) speeds? Any help will be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

Erik