Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Any mach 3 experts in NJ?

« on: December 22, 2013, 10:00:54 AM »

I am located in Berkeley Heights Nj

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General Mach Discussion / Any mach 3 experts in NJ?

« on: December 21, 2013, 01:40:31 AM »

Hello All,
             I have recently purchased a single spindle 4x8 router.  I have no documentation for the machine.  I am slowly muddling my way through the configuration but would love to pay someone to help expedite the process.  I am able to jog all the axis's.  I do think I have the correct tuning for the stepper motors.  I am a little unsure how to assign the proper communications to the limit switches.  If I jog the x axis till it touches the limit, is this the x-- absolute 0 or x home?.  I also need some understanding on how the spindle is setup to be controlled by the mach.   I would be grateful if someone who has configured a 3 axis machine from start to finish could. walk me through a sequence.  I have been searching and reading this forum and watching the tutorials and have made progress.  I could cut the configuration time down considerably with some knowledgeable guidance.  In the event that there is not a local expert.  Could someone please offer me how they went through their initial setup?  Hood has been very insightful, However I don't think he wants to come to New Jersey to aid in my setup.  Any insight is greatly appreciated-Thanks-Joe   

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General Mach Discussion / Re: My x axis does not jog both directions.

« on: December 02, 2013, 08:05:20 PM »

Hood,
          just wanted to share that the machine is working.  I still do not have the correct motor tuning for the y axis.  Am I calculating something wrong?   200(steps per) x 16(microstep driver) =3200.  The 1" 20 tooth gear drives a 4" 80 tooth gear that then drives the 1" 20 tooth paired to the rack.   I assume this gives further reduction? what does this do to the 3200 figure?-Joe

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General Mach Discussion / Re: My x axis does not jog both directions.

« on: December 01, 2013, 07:33:06 PM »

I,
    looked at the Leadshine drives,  x and z are both set to 8 microsteps and the y is set to 16.  On the left and right y steppers they have a 1 inch 20 tooth pinion spinning a 4 inch 80 tooth reduction gear.  I am not sure how to calculate that?   I am thinking it is 200 x 16 x 4= 12800.   I got the 4 from dividing the 20 tooth into the 80 tooth.  is this correct?  I am also calculating  200x8x5tpi =8000 for y and Z.  at those setting with acceleration and velocity low. Z was perfect when I ran a steps per unit and measured the distance.   The y was way off and running super slow.  Also what determine the step and pulse direction numbers. should they be 1-1?  Do I need to enable an a axis with the same port and pin for the second stepper motor on the y gantry.  I really want to cut something, I been configuring for days.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: My x axis does not jog both directions.

« on: December 01, 2013, 09:04:25 AM »

Hood,
          sometimes you just need a reminder that you are being a lazy whiner.  I traced the wires to the drives and I had them configured all wrong.  Thanks for keeping me focused.  I don't think the hard limit switches are wired properly, they may have been disabled from the previous owner . I can jog right up to them and nothing happens and they do not light up.  I will trace them later.  I jogged all axis so they were just touching the hard limits and zeroed them.  That zero is outside of the soft limits I set and I was getting a error.  I will watch the tutorial again on homing and limits to set that up correctly.  I was able to load the roadrunner but the motors are not tuned correctly. The y was moving really slow.   If you look at the picture I posted can you determine a calculation for the motors as a starting point? I'm not so firm on how to calculate this.  Do the microstep drivers change the amount of steps or do I start with 200 in the steps per?  The y has an additional gear I don't know what reduction it is.  The x is a 20 mm screw with 6tpi and the z is a 16 mm with 5 tpi.  What determines the proper step and direction pulse #. Is that a spec from the motor?    I know this is a lot of questions.  It is very frustrating doing the blind research.  A few right answers from an expert save hours of frustration.   

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General Mach Discussion / Re: My x axis does not jog both directions.

« on: December 01, 2013, 07:46:21 AM »

Hood,
           I am going to trace the wires now.  If I only have x home,Y home, and Z home enabled in input signals could this be the reason?  Should x++ and x-- be enabled with the same port and pins as x home.   As well as for y and Z.   I know I have been posting redundant posts-sorry I'm a little frustrated.  Here is a picture of what I am working with.-Joe

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General Mach Discussion / My x axis does not jog both directions.

« on: November 30, 2013, 09:41:19 PM »

I,
   have my motor outputs set  x 3 4  unchecked dir low, unchecked step low, step port 1 dir port 1
                           same for    y 5 6
                                            z 7 8 
x will only jog to the minus
y will go + but will only go - if press x in +   
z does the same as y What should steps per be on nema 34 steppers.  and what step puls  and direct puls for each axis     

8

General Mach Discussion / Setting up homing and limits

« on: November 30, 2013, 10:30:46 AM »

Hood,
           I tried the auto setup but It is not communicating with any of the limit switches.  There is one swith on the left of the x,  one is at the top of z and, there are two at the front and back of gantry on y carriage.  If they are wired to the drivers would they all be output to mach on the same pin say 15?   or should they all be set to a separate pin 10 11 12 13?  Then, would I set the soft limits using 14 15 16 17 output to match 10 11 12 13 input?    How is it commonly done I guess is my real question.  do I first get the hard limits communicating to mach, then set all the soft limits and home positions in mach and output them to the machine?   

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General Mach Discussion / Re: configuring lpt1 and port and pin configuration

« on: November 29, 2013, 05:12:45 PM »

Hood,
          I posted a message before that one but it didn't register.  I wrote two detailed messages this morning just to keep current on my progress. In both instances the forum timed out and logged me out erasing my detailed messages.  I also cant get a picture to post here.  I will try and rename it and repost later.  I thought you might say I have to trace which pin is wired to each output.  Is there any system for this?  I guess first I need to figure out what the limit switches are wired to then correspond the input to that pin in the Mach right??  I am starting to wrap my head around how  Mach communicates to the drives.   How would you approach tracing all the pins?

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: configuring lpt1 and port and pin configuration

« on: November 29, 2013, 03:01:54 PM »

I,
  recently purchased a used chinese 4x8 cnc with regenerative blower.  There is a 6.6 hp water cooled spindle.
I could not locate the mach 3 dat file or xml.  I purchased a new mach 3 license and have been manually trying to configure the machine.
The machine has Leadshine m860s stepper drives. I am not sure what kind of power supply and dont think there is a breakout board,
I think the drive wires directly to the parralel port. The Y has two nema 43 stepper motors which  drive the rack and pinion with a 1" pinion gear and a 4" plastic reduction gear.
the gantry runs on a linear bearing rail.  The x has a single stepper with a 20 mm 6tpi ball screw. The Z has a 16mm 5tpi ball screw with about 7 inches of gantry clearance. Through trial and error,
I found the axis would jog in mach if I enabled xyz and then set step and direction to x-3-4, y 5-6, z 7-8. I also am able to jog all the way into the limit switches. They then get stuck and the machine
has to be powered off and then manually turn the screw to get it to move away from the switch.  I beleive i have the soft limits set correctly in the motor home config.
however the DRO have numbers that are way out of the limits.  I dont see a table layout on the screen in mach 3.  I am starting to understand the way mach communicates to
the machine via the ports and pins but am wondering what the proper configuration sequence is?  I dont know what the proper settings are and how to determine whether they are active low or high.
I dont think i have the motors tuned correctly but they are working and moving fairly smooth.  i dont think i have the right home inputs to outputs.  is there any documentation on setting up a router,
for the first time which will aid in configuring all the proper setting or is it a case of trial and error to get it all working smooth.  Please offer some guidance and sequence.'[