Topics

1

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Toolchange not supported by post processor

« on: August 15, 2014, 10:30:25 AM »

Hello,

I am using Artcam pro to generated G-code with arcs, whenever I try and generate the code with more than one tool I get a warning to say that my post processor does not support toolchanges. Is there something I can add to the post processor file to sort this? It is not a huge issue but it does mean I am not using the machine and it's facilities to it's full potential. It would also save me having to generate several files for one job.

Many thanks,

Stu

2

General Mach Discussion / Delta VFD-B Motor Drive Spindle speed control

« on: August 15, 2014, 10:26:16 AM »

As the title suggest I have a Delta VFD-B motor drive and was wondering if anyone can tell me if I can control the spindle speed directly through Mach? At the moment regardless of the spindle speed in the G-code it always goes to max speed. I am trying to drill holes and continuously burning drill bits because the spindle is going too fast.

Thanks

Stu

3

SmoothStepper USB / Do I need a smoothstepper?

« on: May 09, 2014, 04:11:52 PM »

I have an issue with juddering and shaking on my CNC router when cutting curves. I have fiddled about with acceleration and feed speeds but it persists. As a newcomer to CNC is a smoothstepper something that may help this? My CNC uses stepper motors and I am running XP with a 2GHz processor.


 

4

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Best DXF version?

« on: May 09, 2014, 03:49:43 PM »

I have an issue with juddering and shaking on my CNC router when cutting curves. I have been informed that it may be a DXF issue when the CAM software converts to G code. The majority of my drawings are done on 3D cad which are saved as drawings which are then converted to DXF. I was saving as R12 format which may or may not be the problem. Has anyone else encountered this and been successful in smoothing things out by changing to a different file version of DXF?

Thanks

5

General Mach Discussion / When is a circle not a circle? When it's 4 arcs!

« on: April 14, 2014, 06:59:22 PM »

Hi there,

I am new to CNC and mach3 and am in the process of setting up a machine that I bought for woodwork. I previously had a problem with getting accurate 90 deg corners (without rounding) with CV on but that was resolved by changing to a post processor using arcs. The problem I now have is that when cutting circles using the arc method (I am using artcam which turns circles into 4 adjoined arcs) at each point where one arc ends and another begins I get a flat spot. Previously using the post processor that I think converted it to absolute coordinates the circles were spot on. Equally when I tried the Mach3 circle wizard again it was accurate even although it also uses arcs, the crucial difference being that it creates one 360 deg arc.

The work around I have at the moment involves using two different post processors if cutting circles or if I am cutting square shapes with artcam. I would be very grateful if someone who has experienced this before could point me in the right direction. In an ideal world I would only have to use one post processor to cut out the job in one go. Or is there a setting in Mach that allows for the fact that circles have been split into 4 arcs and compensates when it cuts them out.

Any help would be appreciated.

Stu