Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to fight noise

« on: July 24, 2015, 07:08:16 PM »

Try some of these. Put one on each cable everywhere.

http://www.bgmicro.com/ferritesplitbeadwithsnapsleeves.aspx

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: IF you had a NEW controller whta would it do/not do ?

« on: July 22, 2015, 05:12:04 PM »

For a plasma cutting machine, you need forward and reverse on contour, you need jog off contour and either relocate or return to contour, and you need a kerf compensation routine that works, mach3 doesn't.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Total Novice who stupidly bought a cnc3020T-DJ thinking she could figure it out!

« on: July 02, 2015, 10:45:45 PM »

There are two things you need to learn, the first is the mechanics and use of your machine, and the other is your programming software.
I assume your using mach3, you'll have to figure out how to jog, set axis values to zero, load and rewind g-code, and you have to learn the capabilities of the machine, what bit do you use for what material, what are the spindle and travel speeds? Hoe deep can you cut in one pass,
I also bought a cheap chinese 3040, the first thing was to replace the wimpy spindle motor. I bought artcam express, for $150 it does everything you need. Highly recommended.
With this machine I have done some nice v-bit carving in pine and maple and high density urethane, as well as some 3d reliefs.

F-engrave is freeware and is good for v-carving or engraving lettering, you can also v-carve bitmaps.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 install On windows xp embedded issue.

« on: February 27, 2015, 10:12:16 PM »

I don't know, Marcus, but what I would try is to search your pc for msvcrt.dll, see what version it is, then google msvcrt.dll and see if you can find a later (or earlier) version.

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: CNC Engraving : F-Engrave

« on: February 25, 2015, 12:19:45 AM »

the demo version of mach3 is limited to 500 lines of code, then it stops, even though your gode was longer

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: LPT cable is heating sometimes!! Please to help!

« on: February 15, 2015, 09:12:27 PM »

If your LPT cable is noticably heating you have a serious problem.
All your equipment must be grounded
The cutting table and the machine frame must be grounded. Your control electronics enclosure must be grounded. Your PC should be grounded through the power cord.
If the LPT cable is heating there must be many amps flowing through it, indicating a extremely unsafe condition at your end.
You have a short somewhere.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to swap the x and y axes

« on: January 31, 2015, 12:32:18 AM »

when your done, save this setup as a different profile, then when you start mach3, you can choose which orientation you want to load

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: How does m code control plasma?

« on: January 20, 2015, 07:15:36 PM »

Relying on a timer for plasma ignition is only ok if your plasma unit has a consistent preflow time and reliable ignition. (some plasma units have a short preflow time if the postflow is still on, this messes up timed starts at your cnc).
The best way is to hold machine motion until the plasma lights. Most plasma units have an arc on output (contacts).

In your case, I suspect they're not connected, you would have had to use an input pin and a macro
Sorry I can't help more, since I'm new to mach3, and don't have a plasma cutter, but I'm sure this has been done before. I would also like to implement a plasma interface, I see the thc controls, is there any documentation out there that descibes their use and implementation? I can't find any.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: How does m code control plasma?

« on: January 19, 2015, 10:19:03 PM »

You need to let your CAM software take care of the M3's and M5's (plasma on and plasma off).

Mach3 needs to turn the plasma on using the spindle on output, which you'll have to find on your breakout board and use the spindle relay contacts.

Your hypertherm plasma unit has a contact that closes when the arc comes on, the "arc established"  contact thatshould be connected as an input to Mach3.

To light the plasma, Mach3 should send a plasma on command to close the spindle contacts, and then the program should go into feedhold until the arc established input is true, at which point motion starts.
How do I do this in mach3?

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: basic questions by newbie

« on: October 14, 2014, 02:43:58 PM »

thanks, but I still don't know the reason for the dro problem, if I start the plasma profile of mach3 everything is fine, the mill version has this dro problem.

thanks for the explanation of G41. The kerf handling routines in mach3 would cause problems in case of overlapping kerfs at inside corners. The machines I'm familiar with all handled cutter compensation correctly at the control, I guess thats why mach3 relies on cam software. I have hundreds of cnc plasma cutting gcode artwork, but they all need the controller to add compensation without gouging the corners.
So far I've enjoyed playing with mach3, hope to have a machine soon (to add to my toy collection).