Messages

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 ruining parts

« on: February 08, 2017, 04:17:55 AM »

Brilliant!, Teach mode is what I wanted to try out! I've got a 3d printer and some nema 17s, Will be a great project for education and fun.
I guess that if Mach 4 is to replace Mach3 it will probably address some of the shortfalls of its predecessor. Look forward to trying it out!
Til then, Mach3 it is, thanks for the info!

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 ruining parts

« on: February 08, 2017, 04:11:40 AM »

Oh btw, my THC is the PromaTHC250 from Sweden I think. It is cheep and simple and I really like the thing, it fits on a DIN rail and has only six wires to connect. Getting it to run required only minor modification of one of sheetCAMs generic post processors. 200USD Good buy! other than that, I'm using Gecko drives G203s on X and Y, a TB6560 for my Z axis, Nema 23 on Z and Nema34 on X and Y.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 ruining parts

« on: February 08, 2017, 03:21:00 AM »

Hi all
It most certainly is not my torch causing the problem in the code, of that I'm certain. My torch works fine but occasionally the nozzle blows during a cut or it passes over rust and doesn't arc. These I fix by either replacing the nozzle or adjusting the pierce height.
I'm currently running Version R3.043.066
Thanks for the advice regarding the STOP and FEED HOLD options, wasn't even aware of that.
The big problem I'm having (and the one causing grey hairs) is the freezing on line 13.

Joeaverage
I believe you may have hit the nail on the head there. I checked some of my codes and sure enough, before every line 13 is a line 12 with a G31 (The first cut probe function)
I will take your advice of trying to edit the code so it ignores them and get back to the forum here.
I will say this though, if the problem is that mach3 cannot interpret G31s during RFH then that is exactly a software issue. I hope later versions have a bugfix for this as it can be devastating for newbies on large jobs! I remember there being an option in config that relates to either G31 or G28, I'll check that out too.

Thanks for the feedback, this forum is very much alive, unlike so many others. Amazing to see people using Mach 3 for PCB milling, pick n place, punch presses and 3d printing! I wonder if it would work with robot arms?

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 07, 2017, 10:08:01 AM »

Thanks Tweakie.CNC

I am Oliver Matthews from Cape Town South Africa, I run a small metal company manufacturing mainly Kitchen Ventilation Systems for the catering industry.
We use a CNC Plasma cutter for most of our sheet metal work and are currently restoring an AMADA PEGA357 for lighter, more accurate parts.
Since we use the plasma cutter so often, I am looking to upgrade and improve it constantly, Hopefully I can shed some info on construction and configuration of the machines since we built ours ourselves, although, it seems there are proper experts already spreading the know-how around. I still have some problems with my machine and tend to find troubleshooting Mach3 incredibly obtuse. I hope this forum will help me through some of the more ridiculous problems I have been having.
Cheers

5

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 ruining parts

« on: February 07, 2017, 09:18:48 AM »

Hi anyone
I am having a serious problem with Mach3
I'm running a plasma cutter and plasma cutters being plasma cutters, sometimes an arc may fail to start, or the torch may cut out halfway through a cut.
Of course, you should be able to STOP, SELECT NEXT LINE, RUN FROM HERE. But this is not possible for me, the result being that a single mistake from either operator or machine results in complete loss of the work piece. This has cost me thousands by now and I am more than upset with the software.
Every time I select RUN FROM HERE, regardless of what line I start from, it jumps to line 13 and does nothing.
So essentially once I have stopped the machine for whatever reason, I must kiss my part goodbye, because the machine will not start from anywhere unless I restart the whole damn part programme! Obviously you can't do that with plasma as it will dive the torch, burn out the nozzle and try to cut existing cuts.
Please, can someone help me with this problem before it causes even more financial and business reputation damage to our small, struggling third world company.
Just lost 20USD this afternoon, last week it was another job and I am basically forced to accept only basic shape jobs out of fear of our machine ruining everything because of this one tiny ridiculous problem.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 07, 2017, 08:40:10 AM »

Hi, new here, urgently need to post a thread topic, but there doesn't appear to be any way of doing so? I was expecting there to be a "post new thread" button, bigger than all the others, but instead, there isn't one???
So how do I actually post a question? This is the second time I'm asking in several hours.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 07, 2017, 07:57:03 AM »

Ok, I'm new here, Have a problem with my program that has cost me a fortune in sanity and money. Spent the last half hour trying to figure out how to start a thread on here, but apparently no such option is available??? Or am I missing something?