Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: July 01, 2011, 07:17:13 AM »

Thanks to you all. My problems seem to be fixed, but I'm not sure why. As far as the depth change of the outer circles was concerned, I realized that the Z acceleration should also be lowered as were the X and Y for the G0 repositioning mentioned by ERP. If they were being thrown off, why not the Z. Was my thinking correct? It seemed to work.

Then to the wild start. I finally noticed where the router was going on startup. Each time it headed for machine coordinates that I believe were the tool change position. I found that Auto Tool Changer was checked. Checking Ignore Tooll Change seems to have solved that problem. Again, correct? I see in the GCode an M6 at the start (I've been studying ). Why was it there in the first place? Was it there because of the Auto Tool Changer. And if M6 is now being ignored, how will I place an M6 where I want it and not have it ignored.

I hope I'm making sense.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's it for now. Again, thanks to all who helped. Your answers to these questions and any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jeff

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 29, 2011, 11:34:34 PM »

Thanks,

I did turn down the accel, but not the speed. I'm using too fine a threaded rod on Z, so it will be unbearably slow, but I do intend to change it, so I'll give it a try tomorrow at the slow speed as you suggest and change the lead screw later.

My concern for the wild start is safety. I don't have limit switches set up yet, but at least I have an EStop (I stay close to it). Of course, beyond that, I still want to fix it just because it shouldn't be doing it. It's a bit disconcerting. Where the heck is it going? It's like it's looking for a better spot, decides the one I picked is the best, so it comes back and starts where I told it to. A mind of its own.

Thanks again,

Jeff

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 29, 2011, 09:40:18 PM »

Having solved the concentric circle problem, I now have two new questions.

When the cycle starts, the router heads off to the unknown. In CamBam, I set the machining origin to the center of the circles, then in Mach3, positioned my router on the stock, zeroed out all axes, and regenerated the toolpath. The router takes off and can travel about 10" off center, then return to the original spot where I wanted the machining to start. Where am I going wrong?

Second, the router cuts the inner circle correctly, then as it proceeds outward to the larger rings, the depth of cut changes to a higher position each time it goes to the next larger ring, never reaching the -.75" I'm after. The table is pretty flat (for my first build) and the cuts are consistent around the circles, but again, consistently higher each time it moves outward. Thinking it might have something to do with the original problem, I greatly reduced the Z axis acceleration, with no luck. In fact, it seemed to decrease its ability to cut the holding tabs. The Z couldn't rise fast enough to lift over the tabs. Help!

I've attached the GCode. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks again,

Jeff

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 28, 2011, 07:00:00 PM »

Thank you. Lowering acceleration worked like a charm and so far (my testing has been brief) I'm happy with its performance. As you can imagine, I still have a lot to learn.
My next struggle seems to be understanding offsets, coordinates, etc. If there's a simple explanation, I'd appreciate it. I am trying to read the Mach3 manual, but there's a lot to take in.

Again, ERP, I thank you for your time.

 Regards, Jeff

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 28, 2011, 05:04:08 PM »

I apologize, but again, I'm new. I don't know what you mean. Can you give me simpler instructions or explanations? Thanks, Jeff

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 28, 2011, 03:21:50 PM »

Attached. Thanks, Jeff

7

General Mach Discussion / Incorrect Router Repositioning

« on: June 28, 2011, 02:44:49 PM »

I'm new at this, so I hope someone can help. I'm trying to cut the simplest of cuts and can't imagine what is going wrong. The cuts are two concentric circles. Each cuts perfectly round and to size, but off center. A 3" circle inside a 5" circle winds up with one side of the  3" 1/4" from the 5". Cutting round and to size seems to say the motor travel settings are correct. I also tried pocketing a simple circle. Finishing its first pass, the cutter repositioned off center, lowered, and began its second cut. The cutting path on screen is showing up correctly in each case. Thanks, Jeff

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing

« on: June 12, 2011, 09:55:55 PM »

Ger21,

All is well, and I thank you so much for your help. I don't understand much of it, but I'm confident I'll get there. I should say I haven't yet run the program on the router, but on the office PC, everything looks and seems to run flawlessly.

So Ger21 and Hood, again, I thank you for your interest and invaluable help.

Best regards,

Jeff

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing

« on: June 12, 2011, 04:19:29 PM »

Hood,

If you or any others have the time, I'd appreciate your looking at the attached. When I wrote the problem had been solved, it was working for a simple square. It seems as soon as circles are involved, I run into all kinds of problems

I'm trying to test the accuracy of a newly built CNC Router, cutting duplicate parts for measurement and comparison. One is a set of rings with drilled holes. The second is two squares, again with drilled holes. The outer circles were not part of the drawing. I should say, the problem of a simple circle still exists, not showing on the screen, but showing the cutting path.

If I've attached the three files incorrectly, please let me know, and if you don't mind, how to do it correctly. It must be clear, I'm new at this. I appreciate your interest and all comments are welcome.

Thanks,

Jeff

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing

« on: June 11, 2011, 05:50:10 PM »

I'm sorry to have taken your time. Now it's working. The only thing I did was reboot. Thanks for your interest. Jeff