Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 25, 2011, 04:51:56 PM »

Do you have the disk formatted for the mem buffer if you don't the system won't work also the dip switches have to set correctly on the mother board so if any has played around with the unit it may not be set up correctly.

Sorry, but what does this mean? Is this anything to do with previous paths saved to the machine? If so I've removed them.

if you need driver's and such go the Roland web site in Japan there you can find all the firm ware up dates and drivers for the unit.

I've already installed said driver and the PC recognises it just fine.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 25, 2011, 09:11:24 AM »

Hi Jonny
I own a Roland pnc 3100 same machine and i have modela as well as all the other Roland programs and i am very familiar with the machine i have used it for years now.you can use a camm program but it has to have a post for the Roland machine the post is hpgl like a printer would use i wouldn't try and remove the mother board and convert the machine to a direct mach set up i think it would be a waist if the machine is in working order if i can be of any help let me know.

Dennis

Well on the official Roland forums the tech team said I could use it with Rhino by simply hitting print as if I was printing just a standard a4 sheet. I downloaded the driver, and Rhino recognised it, I was able to set the tools and what have you, but when I clicked print, nothing happened. They also said they can provide me with Modella and Dr.Engrave if I provide the serial number, which I can, so I'm going to try that this week.

The little Roland is what i started with learning CNC programing it tout me a lot not that i am any kind of Asspert now LOL. so your 3100 has the mem buffer do you also have the Roland scanner i have the set i have made a lot of parts with this system i always wished it had more power for metal it dose OK but i can run my big machine's so much faster.

Dennis 

No scanner sadly! Just the external hard-drive thing which has the power button/LED and spindle control.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 21, 2011, 05:40:22 AM »

Well that's the thing, the guy who used the machine left several years ago, and since then the original software, which I believe to be Dr Engraver, has been deleted.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 21, 2011, 05:17:01 AM »

Seems like no one has heard of Modela before! I doubt I have the know-how to replace the electronics sadly, plus I'd be terrified of making it not work at all! Thank you anyways!

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 20, 2011, 01:49:53 PM »

Thanks for the welcome Tweakie! You're right, it is an engraving machine, but my bosses old partner use to cut out window recesses in MDF and it has a rough Z-height of 50mm, I also haven't heard that it couldn't be used as a 3-axis CNC, unless that's a given? When I spoke to the Roland Digital group support, they mentioned that Dr. Engrave software, but also Modella, which is (taken from their website):

"MODELA Player is a CAM software application that accepts DXF and STL files exported from commercially available CAD/CAM software. It also allows for uniform 3D scaling, selection of milling direction and automatic generation and display of the tool path. Cutting depths and speeds are controlled from a predefined material library or can be set to user-defined specifications."

http://www.rolanddga.com/products/software/3dBundle/features.asp

And this is an updated manual I found online which mentions Modela too:

http://biorobots.cwru.edu/server/howto/cnc/cncmanual.pdf

It seems to be a software solely for generating tool paths to be used with Roland CNC machines.

6

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 and a Roland PNC-2700

« on: September 20, 2011, 09:41:46 AM »

I've recently starred working at an architectural modelmaking business who own a Roland PNC-2700 (which I believe dates back to 1993!). My bosses old partner was the one who used the machine, but since he left it's been laying unused. I have a basic understanding of CNC machining (familiar with Excalibur, Rhino CAM and Datron machines), but trying to get this one to work is proving a bit of a problem:

The machine itself needs Modella (3D) player to generate the tool paths.

There is a plug-in update for it to work on XP (any later versions of Windows are incapable), but this isn't much of a problem as the companies desktop has XP, but I'd like to do all my work on my own laptop which runs Windows 7.

Basically, could I use Mach 3 instead of Modella to control the machine independently, or isn't it capable? Sorry if I'm a bit vague, but if you have any questions I'm more than happy to answer, thanks in advance!