Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Metric lead screw, but work in inches

« on: January 05, 2016, 12:24:11 AM »

My mill has metric lead screws, but everything I do is in US units (inches).   Any worry with me setting native units to inches, then entering a converted decimal amount under motor tuning "steps per".  Or should I be setting it to metric and just use US units G-code?

thanks

2

General Mach Discussion / Limit Switch and EPO

« on: December 29, 2015, 06:20:33 PM »

Howdy all, I am just doing a new build and I have been thinking through my EPO circuit and limit switches. 

Should my limit switches (these are *not* home switches) cause an EPO condition (which means spindle shutdown, stepper power supply shutdown, etc.) or should it just be hooked to mach and have mach do a software stop.

3

General Mach Discussion / EPO on pendant shutdown power to spindle/steppers

« on: December 29, 2015, 12:57:22 AM »

I have Mach3 parallel to a Bob Campbell BOB. I am using a Vista CNC pendant Parallel port to Mach.

The pendant connects directly to Mach through a second parallel port.  The pendant has an EPO button that puts Mach into reset mode.  I would like when I hit the pendant EPO that it puts mach into reset, but also will send a signal to the BOB to flip a relay and shutdown the power to the CNC spindle and steppers.  BUT I dont want a press of the Mach reset button to trigger a full shutdown.  I want Mach to treat the reset button and the EPO button on the pendant differently.

I am OK with with wiring and parallel port stuff,  I just cannot figure out how to config Mach so that when the eStop pin from the pendant goes high, to also send a signal to the BOB - but not to send a signal when I press reset on the Mach screen.

Suggestions?

4

Mach3 under Vista / Mach3 second parallel port under Win7 32bit

« on: December 10, 2015, 10:39:41 AM »

I replaced my pentium XP machine (it was being a flakey pain in the butt) and  I bought a refurb ThinkCentre and installed Win7 32bit.

On my old machine I had a VistaCNC second parallel port based on the MosChipMCS9805CV.  This was used for the Vista CNC iMach III Pro pendant.  It was working just fine on the old XP machine without any issues.

One the new machine, the port addresses for the 2nd card start with 2030 and 2028.

On the new machine, each time I boot up Mach3 diagnostics shows the second port as all LEDs on.  If I set the address to 2028, save it, then set the address back to the proper 2030, it will sometimes make it work.  Or it might just be the first 4 LEDs stuck on.  Once it decides to work, then it will be fine until power off.

So here is what I have done:

- latest version of Mach3
- Mach Vista registry update
- checked BIOS - no switch for a second parallel port, only for the primary built in one
- device manager - legacy is checked off
- installed the latest 32 bit MosChip drivers
- reseated the card and the pendant plug
- the second port addresses do *not* change each time  on boot up

I have read though a number of parallel port threads and found similar problems to mine, but no solution.  Any suggestions

I know I can get a USB pendant, but I have spent way too much on this new CNC, so really want to re-use what I have and not buy a new pendant.

Suggestions?

5

Mach Screens / Any way to hide the Mach3 title bar and menu?

« on: December 06, 2015, 10:44:35 AM »

Any way to hide the Mach3 title bar and menu? for a bit more screen real estate?

thanks

6

Machscreen Screen Designer / Cannot select a couple of items

« on: December 05, 2015, 01:13:47 PM »

First of all - thanks for developing MachScreen and supporting it - for free!  I know what it takes to write and support software so I appreciate your work.

I am writing a simple screen for my touch screen monitor.  All is going quite well.  But I have one nagging problem.

I have a couple of labels and a button that I cannot select individually. When I try to select one nothing happens, it is as if the button/label are not there.  However they all work fine in Mach3.   I can select them with "Select All". Clicking unlock for mouse move does not have an effect.  The controls are listed on the overview page and do not appear to be different than other controls of the same type.  

Suggestions?

I have attached the screenset and images.  The errant controls are ResetFRO button, FRO% label and FRO (IPM) label

7

General Mach Discussion / Touchscreen Advice

« on: November 27, 2015, 02:59:12 PM »

Just looking for some recommendations on getting an external touch  screen for Mach3.  Any recommendations?  Are all the technologies OK?  Anything to stay away from?

I have searched the forum, but other than little bits here and there, nothing definitive.

thanks!

8

General Mach Discussion / false limit switch trigger when cut chatters

« on: December 05, 2010, 03:45:49 PM »

I am cutting a 3D surface, about 20" x 20", max Z of 0.7" in soft pine with 3/8" ball nose bit at 6000RPM 100 IPM feed.  Every time it shifts Y axis it is at full depth and cause the wood/bit to chatter - this then triggers a limit switch.  I have been using the machine for a couple of years now, and this problem has not really been an issue, I just slow the feed down a bit and everything is OK.  However with a 3D surface - its going to take 4 hours at 100IPM, I would not like to slow it down any more (besides 70IPM does not fix the problem).

I have tried securing the board more, with no luck.


Any suggestions?

9

General Mach Discussion / Protect my machine

« on: July 23, 2010, 07:32:31 PM »

So far this year I have buried the spindle once (loose wire),  drove the X axis into a clamp extended too far, and twisted the Z axis multiple times from drilling operations where the bit was clogged.  In all cases the CNC gives 'er all she can, causing it to twist and turn until something lets go.

Obviously I have corrected a few things, inclusing how I operate the machine.  But I wtill want some more protection.

I use stepper motors with Gecko G203V drives.  Is there some way I can wire up magnetic encoders to these motors and have it feed back to mach, so that if mach DRO disagrees with the encoder it will estop?  (within a tolerance).

thanks

10

General Mach Discussion / Did I fry my Z axis?

« on: July 20, 2010, 03:36:41 PM »

So I am doing one of my typical production runs, cutting .080 sheet aluminum.  All is going well.  About 2hrs in, the machine runs the Z axis deep into the work, and I think tried to run it through the table before it physically stopped and Mach said an E stop was pressed.  I was in the next room do other work.  Nothing sounded bad, so it must have been a quiet death.

I tried to jog the Z axis out, but no matter which way I jog it, it wants to go further into the table. Sounds pretty nasty too.  The DRO shows the Z axis moving correct according to the jog wheel.

With the machine off and I manually move the Z axis, all feels normal.

X and Y jogging work fine.


So did I fry my Z stepper?  Any idea what would cause this?  The GCode is fine, I have used it a number of times on production runs.