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Messages - Steve_Withnell

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1
General Mach Discussion / Re: MACH3 - 4th Axis Readout
« on: July 18, 2019, 06:23:20 AM »
Grand Rich,  thank you.

Steve

2
General Mach Discussion / Re: MACH3 - 4th Axis Readout
« on: July 15, 2019, 08:55:57 AM »
Well I solved a) !    It's just a case of calibrating the axis in the Mach3 config screen.   What's really cool is that my manual mill is next to my CNC,  so I can mount the rotary table on the manual mill and use Mach 3 to drive it!

So all I need now is to find a s/w package that can recognise/utilise the axis for G-code output. 

Regards

Steve


3
Hi folks.   I am new to CNC, well almost.   Back in the early '80s I worked on a project to network a load of Mitsui-Seiki machining centres which had Fanuc controls.   Plan was to plug the Fanuc controllers into an ethernet network and then wide area network back to the design teams,  eliminating any need for tapes etc.   We called it DNC then.  (Direct Numerical Control).  This really was a first for the use of Ethernet on a production shop floor.

Fastforward to May 2019 and I've bought a Sieg KX1 with a rotary table to hang off the 4th axis.  I bought a couple of re-furbished Dell desktops which have clean installs of XPSP3.   I've disable networking on both and installed Mach3 and Cut2d one for the workshop to drive the KX1 and one in office to do the designs and simulations on.   A USB stick moves data between the two.

This all works perfectly and my regret is that I didn't buy one of these machines before!

I use the machine for making radio components - typically UHF bandpass filters  (1GHz to 3.4GHz) which you can make on a manual machine but it's tedious and errors creep in.   I've also cut some circuit board tracks and a copper heat sink.

Very pleased with Mach3 and Cut2D all very easy to use and highly reliable.




4
General Mach Discussion / MACH3 - 4th Axis Readout
« on: July 06, 2019, 07:13:48 AM »
I'm running a Sieg KX1 with the 4th axis enabled.   Mach 3 recognises the 4th axis stepper (drives a rotary table) two Newbie questions;

a) How do I get the Mach 3 main screen to show the axis position in degrees and;
b) What's the best hobby level CAM software to drive the 4th axis?

My setup is a dedicated Dell Optiplex desktop running XPSP3 with networking disabled (i3 processor 4GB RAM 250GB HDD).    The apps are Mach 3 (As locked down by Arceurotrade) and CUT2D.

All works really well - should have go into this years ago!

Just want to progress with getting to grips with the 4th axis.

Best regards

Steve

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