Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Visual mill vs Sprutcam

« on: September 18, 2009, 10:46:48 AM »

hi all

I'm in the process of shopping for a 3 axis cam software. I did a good evaluation of visual mill and am pleased with it, but then I found sprutcam wich is similarly priced and appear to have the same level of fonctionality.

If someone is using these softwares, I would appreciate your comments, especialy where you found limitations in things that you wanted to do but where limited by the software capacity.


thanks

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machturn

« on: August 08, 2009, 10:04:48 AM »

i know it is not solving your problem, but for such a simple operation, nothing can beat the wizzards built into mach3. i did a test with visual turn and had the same issue with the software always revert to metric when i want inch. if you click on the "units" menu you can see in the status bar the units you in. but has hood mentions,g code is done in the post processor. visual turn has a post processor editor where you can change the settings to metric.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3D g-code need

« on: August 05, 2009, 02:14:28 PM »

post the pic and the drwing file i might be able to help it it is not too time consuming

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hi All, I need help Desperately (Building controller)

« on: August 05, 2009, 10:16:34 AM »

this is the link to contour design shuttle pro, i don't know if the shuttle express still exist. this is a usb device, so you don't need any adapter or card in your pc. there is a plug-in in mach3 that takes two minutes to configure and you get 15 buttons you can use to do wathever you want like start/stop spindle, vacuum, select axis... the usb cable is very weak, if i could find a better one, i would change it.

http://ergo.contourdesign.com/products/product-detail.aspx?id=39

simon

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hi All, I need help Desperately (Building controller)

« on: August 04, 2009, 09:57:54 PM »

hi,

i am using cnc4pc's c23 dual port board combined with a smooth stepper with good result. the two boards snap together without the need of a cable. you also don't need a parallel port since it is usb, so if you are using a newer computer or will in the futur, this is a good thing. you get analog output for your vfd, plus a lot of i/o for your limit switches. there is two relay for your vacuum and hold down pins. i would use these small relay to drive larger one tough if you have a lot of amps going thru. before i had another breakout board using the parallel port and was never able to get stable spindle speed with the analog out.

you might consider installing the vfd in its own box and use reactor and emf filter, these vfd make a lot of electrical noise and was a good source of frustration for me before i did.

for a pendant, i use a shuttle pro and a shuttle express, these work very very well, it made all the difference in the way i use my lathe. i used two different mpg type pendants before and its like night and day. the only drwback is that they are not buit for the shop and are fragile. i am considering building an aluminum envelop to protect it.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: dolphin partmaster

« on: July 30, 2009, 11:45:31 AM »

even tough you are offered the possibility of importing dxf in the cam module, i had the same error message. you have to import dxf in the cad module, then select the profile that you want to machine, then open turn module.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: apparent loss steps?

« on: July 29, 2009, 03:56:04 PM »

put a dial indicator on your z axis and do some g1 moves up and down to compare the reading on your screen and the indicator. start at a very slow feed, then increase the fedd to find the point where the motor starts loosingsteps. if you where loosing steps, you would probably end up not deep enough instead of too deep.  unless your column is too heavy and the motor can lower it but can'raise it.

simon

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: apparent loss steps?

« on: July 29, 2009, 02:41:27 PM »

do you mean that your z axis is moving while doing a cut in the x-y plane? or is it a 3d cut?

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Computer Load Vs Hardware.. Smooth stepper etc.

« on: July 29, 2009, 02:30:23 PM »

you can have a decent used computer for 100$, you better buy another computer to run your other stuff. it will still be cheaper then investing in some other hardware.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: dolphin partmaster

« on: July 29, 2009, 02:26:27 PM »

it is not realy a mach deal. the turn module is a stand alone product to generate the g code, you then have to open the file in mach like any other cam software. you have to download the trial version, then a day later you will receive a email asking if you tried it. you then reply you like it but its too expensive for a hobby use, they will then offer you a much better price.

btw, i did a lot of test with it and it seems very solid and easy to learn. the cad part is the weekest part of it, but if you already use a cad software you can transfer dxf file in the cam and start your program. it is good only for two axis and no live tooling tough.

simon