Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Relative motion of cutter to table

« on: November 02, 2011, 10:29:19 PM »

Thank you very much for the confirmation of motor directions. It turns out that they are as you said they should be so I just have to work out the homing. Presently I do not have any homing switches. Most people say they are the way to go. My x and y axis go home when I hit go to zero in machine co-ordinates but my Z axis doesn't stop where I expect it to.

I'll add a homing switch on the Z axis on the weekend and see how it works.

Thanks again for all your help.

2

General Mach Discussion / Relative motion of cutter to table

« on: November 01, 2011, 11:16:37 PM »

I am a newbie but have managed to put together my first CNC mill. It is running on Mach 3 which I am very impressed with. I have managed to sort out most of the issues thanks to these forums.

I have everything technical working but not having any prior CNC experience I am somewhat confused on the relative motion of my table/ work.

I have viewed all the training videos (more than once) and if my spindle moved instead of my table I am sure that I wouldn't have any problem. In my case, the spindle is fixed and the cutter direction relative to the work is opposite that of the table direction.

Viewed from the front of the mill, when I issue a G0X1 command should the table or the cutting direction of the tool move to the right. same queston for the Y axis.

When I tried to cut the roadrunner sample which is inverted, the only way I could get it to cut was to reference my cutter at the top right. The image appeared upright viewed from the front of the mill.

I understand that the home should be at the bottom left but it this correct for a fixed spindle? I think the home position should be at the top right but this is the opposite of what I understood from the training video.

The key question is are my motors reversed when the table moves to the right for G0X1 and up for G0Y1?

I'm don't think that I have the direction of the motor drives reversed but the real problem is I am not sure where I should establish home position on the mill.

Your help would be appreciated.