Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Homing?Limits

« on: May 12, 2020, 02:17:22 AM »

Hi guys, looking for a little advice regarding a Mach3 problem.

Today I was machining a part that was very close to being max size for my work envelope, the fact that I had clamped the workpiece slightly in the wrong place, meant that I had reached the limit of travel in the Y direction, and subsequently crashed the machine into my limit switch. Odd thing is that the machine didn't stop, it just kept going susequently ruining the part. After stopping the machine, I checked the switch by manually pressing the switch down, and --- nothing ! I then tried all the rest of the switches and found that none of them were working.

Now before I started this job, I did as I usually do, and hit "ref all home" which resulted in the machine going to the home positions, activating the switches and stopping. To me, this proves that all switches are working as home switches, but none are working as limit switches ?
As a rule, I never tend to hit limit switches so I have no idea how long the machine has been like this. I have never changed any settings in over a year, and everything else is running great.

Also, after this happened I tried the machine running UCCNC, and for some bizarre reason everything works perfect there, machine stops as soon as any limit switch is actvated, and this was set up using the Mach3 xml file. Am I missing a setting in Mach3, or have I unknowingly changed something that I am unaware of ?

Any help greatly appreciated.

2

General Mach Discussion / VB Script

« on: October 03, 2018, 05:00:54 AM »

Hi guys, another newbie request again.

Can anyone give me a script that will probe, and find the centre in the X  axis only ? Similarly I would like to be able to do the same in the Y axis.

I am using Hoss's probing screenset at the moment and although I can probe to find the centre of a circle, I can't probe to find the centre of a single axis.

Any help would be gratefully received

Thanks in advance guys.

3

General Mach Discussion / VB Script

« on: November 17, 2015, 03:08:15 PM »

Ok guys, still just finding my way around mach3 and am once again struggling with what I am trying to do.

When I first start up in mach3 I tend to follow a routine, first of all, I always click on "Ref All Home" then I manually move the spindle so as it`s sitting just above the rear left jaw of the vice. I know there will be a script that I could use to do this at the press of a button, but I`m afraid that writing the said script is way beyond my limited knowledge.

Would anyone be able to point me to a script, where I could then just fill in the blanks for X move --------,  Y move ---------,  Z move --------- , that in turn, would then place my spindle exactly over the rear left corner of my vice (which is nearly always my zero zero)

Once again, any help gratefully appreciated guys

4

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 & Fusion 360

« on: June 22, 2015, 11:35:35 AM »

Hi guys, I have recently been trying fusion 360, and am having problems with my first piece of code that fusion has written.
I drew a simple box with an odd shaped pocket inside it, made the pocket 20mm deep and asked fusion to cut down in 1mm increments using adaptive clearing. When I run the program it does everything as it should for the first 1mm, but then when it goes back to start the second cut, it just keeps spiraling down to 7mm !  Strange thing is, Mach 3 still reads the spindle as being at -2mm.
I`m not an expert with code, far from it, but I just can`t see why it should suddenly lose 5mm somewhere! Does anyone else have any experience in using fusion 360 with the generic mach3 mill pp ?

5

FAQs / Threading Problems

« on: June 04, 2014, 08:11:13 AM »

Hey guys, another newbie question that has me stumped.
When using the threading wizard, no matter what length, size or pitch of thread , every 6th or 7th pass, it seems to take a real heavy cut !!!
For example, on a 20mm dia rod, cutting a 1mm pitch thread, and setting it to do 100 passes, every now and again the cut is so heavy that it will break the tip from the threading tool ( in stainless anyway)
Any help greatly appreciated. ;-)

6

FAQs / Mach3 Going Crazy On Small Part

« on: February 17, 2014, 03:42:40 PM »

Hi guys, although not a total newbie with mach3, my knowledge is quite limited, and I have a problem I just can`t figure out.
I am trying to machine out a small (keyring size) set of knuckle dusters for a friend (he`s a streetfighter motorbike rider) and every time I load in the .nc file from cambam, all I get is lots of circles, with the actual toolpaths just visible in all the lines.
I am drawing the part in solidworks, then using cambam to generate the g code, and then importing to mach3.
I have in the past made lots of basic shaped parts, which all came out fine, but this is the smallest part I have done with so many cut-outs, and irregular shapes, can anyone suggest anything, it`s driving me crazy!
I might also just add that the cutter actually follows all the paths of the circles.

In these photos, you can just make out the parts that are "meant" to be cut out. I am using a 3mm cutter for these, so as to avoid overlapping paths.