Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: uc300 analog input outputs

« on: February 09, 2018, 01:19:15 AM »

Thats not what ive found, besides which there should be easily available documentation for a product, you should not have to rely on a forum to get setup information.
I like cncdrive products they are excellent,ive used them for 10 years now but there customer service is dreadfull.

OK, no one can force you to ask the question on the Cncdrive forum, so I guess you'll just have to hope the Mach3 forum can be relied on to a greater extent.

I have had times in the past when it took 3 times to get an answer to my question, and there have been times when my question did not get answered at all. But overall, for the price I can't really complain, and if you are to look at the history of Balazs answering questions the last few months, you'll see he's quite active. And many of his replies are quite detailed. Many products have a much higher price and the main thing you are paying for is support.

I'd state your suggestions for improved documentation, on the Cncdrive forum too. If some other members chip in and agree with your suggestions, maybe Balazs will give it some priority over all the other things that are going on. I believe they are quite busy behind the scenes working on future features.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: uc300 analog input outputs

« on: February 08, 2018, 01:31:00 PM »

Go to the Cncdrive forum for help with this.

Balazs is very active there.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to slow down on rounded corners?

« on: December 25, 2017, 03:05:29 PM »

Not saying you need to do this for your problem (i.e. if your problem is due to lack of machine rigidity), but if you have Sheetcam you can use Path Rules to change feedrate on the fly. You can set exactly where on the cut path feedrate changes happen.

Acceleration / deceleration settings can only get you so far, especially as the linear distance around a corner increases. E.g. for a larger radius you can't just go decreasing accel/decel. That would mean it would be applied to any change of direction.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: UC400ETH

« on: December 25, 2017, 02:56:10 PM »

The screw terminal connector should have been in the box, seems like a mistake. I'd ask Cncdrive if they can send it out if you can't get one locally.

There's a lot more electronic suppliers than Radio Shack. If you want the connector quick, ask on an electronics forum (and on the Cncdrive forum) if they recognise the connector and google for any electronics suppliers near you.

Documentation is in the UCCNC folder after you do the installation. The user manual is also available for download from their website.

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: How I hope to learn CNC

« on: November 17, 2017, 03:25:11 AM »

Hi guys,

I bought the 40 pound book as recommended here, the one by Peter Smid. By the way, it is a easy to read book and well written. That is my first impression.

The other good news is the local machine shop has agreed to teach me some stuff. I agreed to work for them for free to pay for the schooling.

As I am retired I don't need or want a "job" this looks like a good opportunity to learn and see the industrial world of CNC. I am not sure why any shop would agree to let me hand around or why someone my age would even want to learn to be a machinist to begin with...lol 

Well...at least I have a few pairs of overalls left and steel toe boots from a past life...lol The machinist likes to fish and I have a really nice boat so I think it will be a good trade.   

Cheers,

Billy

Hey Billy,

you are not alone LOL.

I did my apprenticeship as an industrial electrician, then got on oil rigs doing that.

When I came to Australia I got into excavation and did that for 17+ years.

Now I've just done 2 or 3 weeks in an engineering job shop (paid). The guy knows me from social circles (he knows I built my own plasma table and have a lathe & milling machine) and offered me a job about 3 years ago but it didn't pay enough to cover my expenses back then. The pay is pretty basic but now I can JUST afford to get by on this wage. Hopefully I can make some on the side income to make up for the shortfall.

I've also just bought that same book and another CNC book, but it doesn't look like I'll be getting involved much with the CNC machining centres and CNC lathe, apart from loading material and pressing the go button. Still the Peter Smid book is good for learning gcode better. I spend more time on the manual lathe and Bridgeport mill, and also plenty of dogsbody part cleanup work, which is what I consider the price I pay for being lucky enough to get a job in an engineering shop and learn some skills I can use on my own lathe and Bridgeport style mill at home.

I'm 51 by the way with a wife and 2 kids. I always got crapped on in the excavation game, was always in the rain or hot sun, cold, etc, always taking on liability for little reward, etc.

Good luck with everything.

Keith.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: torch is not coming on/off automatically

« on: November 15, 2017, 01:08:22 AM »

Fantastic, happy you're up and running.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: torch is not coming on/off automatically

« on: November 14, 2017, 01:38:05 PM »

WELL, After messing with the all the programs that are related to MACH3, I found that SHEETCAM is not saving the G-codes (now) properly or MACH3 is not reading it correctly. I have some older G-codes that run just fine and the new G-codes are not running properly (not running the torch on/off automatically)
If there are someone out there that has any Ideas how to fix this
Thanks
Kevin

That implies it's the code generated by Sheetcam.

This normally falls on deaf ears, but I advise learning some gcode (it's not that hard, especially for plasma). Then you'd be able to quickly read through the ".tap" file (the gcode file) and see if you are getting the necessary code generated.

I'd pop over to the Sheetcam forum and ask for some help there. My guess is that's where the problem lies. Have you got the correct post processor selected for your table ??

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: This is just plain... WRONG

« on: November 12, 2017, 01:48:35 PM »

There's 2 forums I used to frequent.

One is great and the guys there can't stand this type of BS. When someone asks for "help" (can you just do all this for me so I can jack off), they politely tell them to show what they have tried so far, and then they'll give hints and tips, etc to assist them. They say they will not just do the work for them.

The other forum is the complete opposite. They have a help section, but almost every time that "help" is basically getting the knowledgeable members to just give them the finished product. And many members do just that. What has always astounded me is how few members would ask HOW to do the task. I used to get attacked when I suggested the culture should be changed to one like the forum mentioned above. And of course those attacks were often from members that wanted the "help". Over the years I've noticed many of the real knowledgeable members have disappeared, and now it seems to be full of more beginners than anyone else.

Yep, I'm noticing this entitlement crap gaining foothold.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need Help With Floating Head in SheetCAM

« on: October 17, 2017, 03:45:54 PM »

Dale,

I'd ask this question on the Sheetcam forum itself. Les (author of Sheetcam) should fix you up pretty quick there.

Keith.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Reduce plasma machine speed at corners.

« on: September 01, 2017, 06:50:02 PM »

The problem is in Mach3 itself. Any time Mach3 runs a macro while running gcode, it causes a pause in motion.

This problem was one of the reasons I moved to UCcnc.