Topics

1

Others / Maxnc Cl15 spindle motor settings

« on: September 02, 2016, 03:00:09 PM »

I have an older Maxnc Cl15 (2003??) that hasn't been used for a while but was working. Now in firing it up, it will home, but the spindle motor can't be toggled on and off. When Mach3 initializes and has been reset
the motor comes on once on a manual toggle command but, when turned off, can not be restarted without closing Mach3 and re initializing. The dwell light blinks once on each mouse toggle click.

Maxcl mode is checked on the ports and pins screen.

I've started from scratch with a fresh reload of the Maxnc xml but it doesn't seem to help

I'm a little overwhemled by pinouts and such. Any help most appreciated in getting the controller/spindle to obey......

Thank you

2

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 non-maching

« on: March 18, 2011, 01:15:38 PM »

Hi to everyone in this community.

I'd like to hear advice about whether or not Mach3 could be used for controlling 2 steppers in the following scenario:

Stepper #1 - rotating a turntable in selectable 30-60 degree increments and pausing for a determined amount of time at each stop.
Stepper #2 - While #1 is stopped, very slowly rotating through approximately 120 degrees with the rotation speed selectable. After rotation it would reverse rapidly to a home position
The sequence would be stepper #1 rotate to position, halt, and stepper #2 to rotate slowly through it's predetermined angle. Then stepper #2 would rotate to the next increment and stepper #2
would again rotate through the same arc as previously. This sequence would repeat through 360 degrees.

This endeavor is to operate an accurate laser scanner, if anyone is interested.

I have the facility to create 3D models  and convert to NC via DeskProto if that would create the proper code or I could stagger through creating native G code
to achieve the instructions. I write stagger because it would be learning it from basically scratch.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated. I'll bet someone out there has already done this or something very similar???

Thank you for any and all replies.....

3

General Mach Discussion / Whazzzzz up??? and anyone ever dinked w/ a Roland PIX-30?

« on: October 07, 2008, 11:18:44 AM »

In response to the prompt to "post or perish" here's some info on me....

Profession - decorative metal casting via the lost wax method for 35+ years. Have dabbled in many techniques of nonferrous casting (sand, permanent mold, lost foam, die,
etc.) through the years.

Mach 3 usage - on and off for a couple of years. For those not familar with lost wax casting, an injectable/pourable mold is made of an original object to reproduce said object
very accurately in wax. The wax is then embedded in either a solid plaster-like material or coated with a ceramic shell and burned out leaving a negative cavity into which molten metal can then be poured. After solidification, the outer material is broken away, and if all the variables have been addressed and the fire gods of the volcano been
sacrificed to, a fairly detailed/accurate metal casting is the result. Mach 3 comes into play in helping to CNC an original master part into existence for mold making purposes.


Use Rhino, ZBrush, MOI, DeskProto, Mach 3 to create and cut parts in wax or butterboard on a MAXNC (ugh what an initial choice) 15 CL machine. Have ocassionaly sent out for RP resins. Mach 3 is vastly superior to the program the came with the MAXNC.

Also have a Roland PIX-30 scanner which needs some attention.

The PIX-30 hasn't been used for a couple of years and has recently been called up to active duty, but has hasn't produced the scans it used to do when new. Scans  are being done at .002" and .006" resolution and show random "bumps" in a somewhat diagonal pattern. Am using a sheet of glass for a test surface. Suspect machine needs a cleaning
and am wondering if any of you CNC gurus have ever dived into this particular machine to tinker/clean/repair and have any advice about what parts to pay attention to when deep in the inards of the beast? The Y travel is done with a 2 track lower table and the X and Z with a needle piezo probe riding a belt and motor system from above on a gantry.

If anyone out there does scans w/ .002" or .006" resolution and knows of a better tabletop machine, I'd love to hear about it. Anyone use the NextEngine machine?

Pourhot in Albuquerque, where the hotair balloons are thick this time of year.....