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General Mach Discussion / Motor Tuning Issue

« on: March 16, 2009, 07:23:04 PM »

I am new to CNC milling. I haven't even cut anything with my machine yet. So far, I have just done simulated cuts. By "simulated" I mean that I load simple G-code and run the program without the router attached to the machine. The machine seems to go through all the right motions. The problem is, the X-axis and the Y-axis are extremely jerky while jogging or while running a program. However, and this is the strange part, both axis move fine while in the motor tuning menu (when I press the up/down arrows on the keyboard to preview the settings). The stepper motors sound good and their movement is smooth. When I exit the motor tuning menu and jog the X/Y or run a program, the movement is back to being jerky. I don't have any trouble with the Z-axis though. What could the problem be?

I'm not sure what information would be relevant here. I am using Mach 3 version R 3.042.020. My machine is a 3-axis, stepper motor with rack and pinion setup.