Messages

1

Mach3 under Vista / Re: uc100 in windows 7 having brain farts

« on: June 24, 2014, 08:54:43 PM »

stepper motor connector.

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Mach3 under Vista / Re: uc100 in windows 7 having brain farts

« on: June 24, 2014, 12:59:55 PM »

More brain farts. This time its traced down to db9 connector. Theres got to be a better way to do this. The db9 have been problematic sinse day 1. They loosen up, not enough room for a solid long term connection in each slot.  I think to figure out the resistor value, they are o/k, but once the trial and error stage is passed, then a good solder type connector is a better idea.

3

Mach3 under Vista / Re: uc100 in windows 7 having brain farts

« on: June 22, 2014, 03:37:50 PM »

Your right, I had installed using copy/paste, and it worked well enough. Now, Its installed correctly. All buttons work.

4

Mach3 under Vista / Re: uc100 in windows 7 having brain farts

« on: June 22, 2014, 01:26:23 PM »

I recently downloaded a fresh copy of mach 3 onto my win 7 tower. It works a little b etter now. What really prompted me to do this is that I began having problems with circles being more like foot balls. I tried adding backlash comp, got worse. Then I decided to try and slow the steppers in motor tuning,, and my motor tuning button didnt work! I clicked it, and no pop up window for motor tuning. All other pop up windows for set up worked fine.

So, I got a fresh copy of mach3, replicaed my settings from my win8 laptop, and now mach is working better. I still have gotten 1 brain fart from the uc100 though. Im  pretty sure its an interference problem, cheap cables, wiring to close to each other.

To solve the circle problem, I just reduced feed to something like f4. on the circles. Nice and round.

5

Mach3 under Vista / uc100 in windows 7 having brain farts

« on: April 29, 2014, 11:30:46 AM »

Hi guys. I had been running my uc100 from a windows 8 laptop, with no problems. Then, I got a windows 7 tower, did a clean sweep, updated all the drivers, set it all back to factory conditions,, and began running my g540, with uc100 through the win7 tower. Its been problematic! Several times the system has freaked out, where I am using he keyboard to manually move the steppers, and the motors start making that rough, jumpy noise, and going the wrong direction.  The only way to fix it has been to shut everything down, unplug the uc100, arrange the cable slightly different, plug it back in, and then fire everything up again. Im pretty sure its an issue of interference from the stepper cables, or the power cords. Strange that it was never an issue with the win 8 laptop. Im using the high quality shielded cables and db9 connectors that commonly are sold with g540 controllers.

Is there a better, more secure cable for the uc100? Any tricks to shield it? Would a clean download of mach3 possibly help? The way it is now, Im running my original copy of mach3 from the win8 machine, in the win 7 machine.

Thanks!

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, servos and no motion controller

« on: March 29, 2014, 07:32:06 PM »

Well, Im trying to match servo motors output shaft size to the readily available ball screw size. This is determined by what is included in the cnc retrofit kit(s). Some are 8mm, and some are 1/4"  Of course, a nema23 size frame in the mid range power and wattage wize is about right for a small mill(bf20). So, making everything match up physically, and electronically is actually a bit complicated. My router works great on stepper motors, but it seems like servos are the way to go when making heavy hogging cuts. The router loses steps if pushed too hard. When I mention heavy hogging,, I mean in terms of a 300 pound bench mill,, so I know, not real heavy,, but presumably much deeper than the aluminum framed router can handle.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, servos and no motion controller

« on: March 29, 2014, 05:39:09 PM »

Those leadshine items look like a fairly reasonably priced solution. So, the combos that come with the motors, and drives would be a good match for mach3 control? With separate outboard servo drives, is here still need for a control box with break out board,, or just a hub for power supply?

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, servos and no motion controller

« on: March 29, 2014, 01:07:09 PM »

Has anybody got more info on this? Im looking to build a mill with servos rather than non encoded steppers, and want to make sure its worth the effort.

9

Tangent Corner / Re: Is this possible on a 3 axis machine

« on: March 21, 2014, 01:05:45 AM »

Form tool, like garyhlucas described. A special tool, that is shaped to make a specific feature. Also,, yes, easier to turn it, then mill to finish. However,,, in aerospace, we mill perfectly round enough features like that,, with a 16 finish all day long,, on a regular old 3 axis industrial type machine. Im sure a bench top, or hobby machine can too, but accuracy and finish will not be aerospace standard!

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Yet again, UC100 issues

« on: February 02, 2014, 11:24:06 PM »

Sometimes if you get a buffer error, then it helps to shut of the internet connection. Also, its best to set your screen and sleep timers to never goto sleep, and never shut down the screen. Its quite un nerving to be busy working while the machine cuts, then your monitor goes black, and the machine is still making chips! Let it go much longer and the comp goes to sleep, the uc100 loses connection, machine stops and then its time to start over.  Best to make your computer never goto sleep.