Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Pausing while cutting

« on: February 26, 2009, 01:02:58 PM »

We have a 5' X 10' table CNC with a router that we are using to cut plexi.  We are using Lazycam as our conversion program to Mach3.  I ran a small cut this morning that involved 5 chains.  The first time we ran through the program it cut properly.  We made a couple of adjustments on the sizes and re-loaded it into Lazycam and Mach3 and ran it again.  This time, the tool plunged to the correct cutting depth and paused for about 5 seconds before completing the chain.  It then raised, went to the next chain and paused for about 5 seconds and then completed the chain.  It repeated this until it had completed all of the chains.  I ran three more and it did the same thing for all of them.

Has anyone experienced this before and what have you done to solve it?

Note:  We were having similar problems before and yesterday the machine supplier installed a new CPU and re-loaded the software.

Thanks
Kevin

2

LazyCam (Beta) / Quirks with Lazycam

« on: February 21, 2009, 08:04:59 PM »

I have not been able to determine if the problem we are having is in Lazycam or Mach3.  We are using a router on a 5' X 10' table to cut plexi.  All of our work is 2D and we are using ViaCAD 2D software for design. 

After opening a DXF file in Lazycam and tweeking it I send it to MACH3.  I then run the program and it cuts fine the first time I run the program.  Sometimes it runs fine 3 or 4 times.  Then it starts to PAUSE during a cut.  It almost seems as if it thinks it's moving because the y-axis is showing moving in MACH3 but the machine is not moving (router is still on). 

We have found that one way to remedy this is to completely shut down the machine and re-boot the computer.  This seems to clean things up for the first cut but then same old.

Anyone else ever heard of this and any ideas on fixing?

Thanks
Kevin

3

LazyCam (Beta) / Clean and Optimize

« on: February 10, 2009, 01:02:24 AM »

I am new to CNC and I'm looking for some answers to some questions regarding Lazy Cam.  I am using a router to mill Plexiglas on 5" X 10" table.  I have been trying to cut out a 7" X 8" rectangular pattern that is repeated to fill an entire 4' X 8' sheet of plexi.  The first time I ran the program it cut perfectly.  The second time I ran it, it got about half way though and then started leaving extra space between cuts and chose an odd random pattern.

I did try and Clean and Optimize but this did not seem to cure the problem. 

- Does it matter in which order you Clean and Optimize?
- What happens if I move chains around, do you then stay away from Clean and/or Optimize?
- Does it matter if this is done before choosing a tool and setting layers?

As you can tell I am a newbie and will be posting more questions as I go.  I have read numerous posts that have helped me out a lot so I thank you all in advance.

Kevin