Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Keyboard M-function?

« on: November 10, 2015, 04:17:24 PM »

Is there a way to map the spacebar (or any other key) to activate a custom M function that I use? The M function is to activate a laser for spot welding the ends of the work down before the program welds the full profile.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

2

General Mach Discussion / PMDX-126 relay trouble

« on: August 10, 2015, 10:44:59 AM »

Hello,

I posted a while back about a 4 axis mill that I have been trying to set up for laser welding some of our lower power parts. I'll link the old thread below.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,24799.0.html

I have worked through nearly all of the issues with this project. The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to get Mach3 to use the K1 and K2 relays on the PMDX to fire the laser.

I currently have the jumpers JP1 and JP2 set on pin "1" and "14" respectively, which is what OUTPUT1 and OUTPUT2 are set as on Mach3.

I've also set the spindle relays and flood mist control relays as output 1 and 2, so I could use the M-functions to control the laser output.

Whenever I run a simple program to test the functionality of the relays, I get no response from the LEDs on the PMDX.

If I move JP1 and JP2 back to the multimode setting and run the g-code, I get pin "1" and "14" on the J6 terminal to light correctly.

I don't know if there is a setting on the dip switches I am missing or something like that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

3

General Mach Discussion / Motor Issue?

« on: May 05, 2014, 08:41:33 AM »

Hello,

I've posted in the past about my sherline 4-axis set up, but I'm having some new difficulties at the moment.

Just to recap:

I have a PMDX-126 plugged in to LPT1 on this computer. It is controlling things like INPUTS to active OEMs, as well as starting/stopping a laser that is wired to it.

On LPT2 I have my sherline 4-axis control board hooked up. There is where I run into issues.

I can't get any response from the motors when they are plugged into to LPT2. I've attached the first tab of the ports and pins config page, as well as the setup for my motors page. I'm not sure if the dir port has to be the same as the step port. Even if it does, I still get no response when both step port and dir port are set at port 2.

I would just run the motors on LPT1, but mach3 won't let me change the PMDX's location to LPT2. Everytime I try, I get a "need external estop" issue.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions on how to proceed.

4

General Mach Discussion / Sherline Motor Troubles

« on: January 22, 2014, 10:24:02 AM »

Hello all,

I posted a while back in a previous thread about this machine, but this is a new problem. To summarize:

I've taken the motor driver board out of a sherline PC and attached it to a sherline XYZA set up.

I also am using a PMDX126 with a PMDX109(Output) breakout board to control a welding laser's operation, as well as a gas solenoid.

There is an iMachIII pendant being used as well to jog the table.

I'll attach my XML to this post if it helps.

At the moment I have the PMDX126/109 connected to serial port 1. Mach3 sees the Estop and all of the buttons I have attached to the board. These buttons will control things like cycle start, cycle stop, and reset. Those work just fine with OEMs and a few custom m-functions.

The sherline motors are not moving however. They will not move with a gcode or with the pendant. In the past I was able to jog the table back and forth just fine with only the sherline board plugged in to serial port 1.

When trying to jog the table the coordinates for the axis selected moves on the DRO, but the motors will not. I can hear that the motors have power, so they appear to be getting some signal from the motor controller.

I've tried switching the motor controller to port 1 and the PMDXs to port 2, but Mach3 can't see the Estop when the PMDX is in port 2.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

5

General Mach Discussion / Sherline 4 Axis Mill (For Laser Welding)

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:03:58 PM »

Hello,

I'm reasonably new to CNC, however, the codes we run for our parts are very minimal.

Currently we have 2 HAS CNC machines that we outfitted with 600W lasers for laser welding of aluminium, titanium, and stainless steel parts. The HAS machines have been connected to the laser controller that turns over controls of its relays to the program, allowing us to do things like open/close the shutters, and to turn the gas on with gcode in the programs.

Now we are looking to outfit this sherline 4 axis mill (it is actually a x-y table that we added a z post, as well as a rotary stepper motor for the r axis) with a 70W laser for welding of smaller parts that do not require a lot of weld penetration.

For the sherline I have hooked the motors up to the Sherline controller that came with the x-y table. When using it with the linux software Sherline supplies, all 4 axis work on their own with gcodes. I decided to switch over to mach3 for its customization and ability to handle more relays than the stock sherline program.

I can not seem to get the computer to communicate with the motors. I'll attach the XML file I'm using, it is the Sherline Mill (inch) XML on the mach3 website.

All I've written is a little test program to see if I could get the computer  to talk to the motors.:

G00 X2 Y2 Z2
G04 P2.
G00 X-2 Y-2 Z-2

When I run the program, I can see the tool path change as expected in the tool path window, but no response by the motors.

I've also tried to go through the tutorial for the program set up and motor tuning on the mach3 website, with no success. In the motor tuning set and setup window, the motors do not respond when the velocity/acceleration bars are moved.

Any troubleshooting help would be greatly appreciated.