Messages

1

Mach3 under Vista / Pause for tool change and Z reset

« on: November 06, 2018, 09:15:24 AM »

Iapologize if this has been answered before but I've only found info that partially answers my query:

I'd like to do the following: create 2 or more toolpaths, join them manually and insert between each toolpath code that would allow me to:
1-pause the machine and stop the spindle
2-Change tool
3-press button assigned to Autotool
4-Continue program clicking Cycle Start restarting spindle

Any ideas how to do that?

Thanks a lot!
Cheers
Sono

2

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 07, 2018, 08:21:33 AM »

Thanks Tweakie! Still in the long learning process but quite pleased so far

3

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 06, 2018, 06:24:35 PM »

Thanks for the link Craig, I'll check it out

Cheers
Sono

4

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 06, 2018, 12:29:25 PM »

https://youtu.be/AeoWV69hve0

https://youtu.be/CSAAzrCLL70



Not too shabby for a first one
Very pleased with the machine so far.

Thanks a lot for your help again.
Cheers
Sono

5

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 06, 2018, 04:39:57 AM »

Ok, thanks guys.
I will begin some testing today to check repeatability. I hope it doesn't miss any steps.
I'll keep you guys posted.
Thanks again for your time and help
Cheers
Sono

6

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 05, 2018, 04:03:50 PM »

Explain your "verify" commands, please.

I just move the machine around using the 3 axis. Then I click on "Verify" in Mach3. Mach3 homes the machine and returns to the position it was and shows those numbers. Hope that explains

7

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 05, 2018, 02:15:40 PM »

If it's of any use I tried a few "Verify" commands after several movements on all axis and it always comes up with results in this range:
X= -0.0900
Y= -0.0025
Z= -0.0281

Cheers
Sono

8

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 05, 2018, 01:45:23 PM »

Ok, so I've

-set the stepper drives' to 1600
-in Mach3 "Motor Tuning" menu, in "Steps per" I put "8" as value
Result: the machines moves to wrong distances.

So I went to "Settings" and let Mach3 calculate "Steps per" and the number it came up with was 400. With this value the machine would measure spot on.

I tried changing the stepper microswitch to 3200 and Mach3 came up with 800 (oh surprise!).
I put the microswitches back to 1600 and 400 in Mach3 and tweaked Velocity and Acceleration a bit.
Final settings in Mach3 are:
"steps per": 400
Velocity: 1500
Acceleration: 200

Now the machine moves like this when activated through the keyboard and after a Feed Rate command of F900:
https://youtu.be/EmLgoyCIOMs

Does that look/sound ok? Any suggestions for improvement?
Thanks
Sono

9

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 05, 2018, 11:38:15 AM »

One last thing please:
My PSU is 36V/10A. My motors are rated 3A/425oz and the steppers drivers' are set to 2.84A. One of the microswitches can be set to "Maintain full current in the stop state" or "Automatically reduce current in the stop state". Which position is more adequate to help preventing missing steps, or it just doesn't matter?

Thanks
Cheers
Sono

10

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR

« on: October 05, 2018, 10:23:34 AM »

No probs Tweakie!!
Thanks for your help, I'll try it this afternoon