Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3+2 Drilling

« on: August 01, 2009, 04:28:45 PM »

Yeah, see thats my problem, thanks for the timely response by the way .  My CAM does calculate the radials correctly and can position my spindle horizontally on the side of my block, but for some reason the offsets that it calculates for drilling are in the Z direction no matter whether the hole is verticle or horizontal.  This is a problem because I would like to drill along the y or the x.  I don't know how to get PM Post to calculate the offsets on its own and I'm not getting any help on the Delcam support forum. 

So, I was able to write a script in PM Post that forces the calculation of offsets in the x and y and calls the gcodes G19 and G18 respectively, depending on what plane I want to drill in.  I had looked into the G16, but realized it was of no use because I needed to work in the yz and xz as well as they xy.  This works perfectly fine in Mach for when I drill  in the xy plane and positively ( with the spindle horizontal and pointing towards the origin) in the xz and yz planes.  Its when it tries to drill negatively (drill away from the origin) in the yz and xz planes that I get the error that my R is less than x.

What I have done now, and it seems to be working, is that I have calculated the R value to be a 0.005 bigger than my x (or y) during my drilling cycle, which seems to satisfy that error.  Then, what I have done is that at the end of my canned cycle, but after the G80 command, it outputs a code to move it to the safe R point by giving it a G1 command. 

Sorry for the book, but I figured it needed a little closure   I'll be sure to post again if something else comes up.

Regards,

Tyler

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3+2 Drilling

« on: August 01, 2009, 11:50:33 AM »

I have a new problem now that is along the same lines so I won't bother making a new thread. 

When the machine moves to drill negatively in the YZ plane, by that I mean with the spindle pointed away from the x origin and parallel to the x axis, I get an error in Mach saying " R less than x in the yz plane".  This error pops up because my machine needs to retract negatively towards the origin which results in the R value being less than the "drill to" position, in this case X.

I would like to know if there is any way of overriding it because it's stopping me from drilling on that side of my model.  The same problem arises when attempting to drill negatively in the XZ plane.

I realize that I could just move the block itself, but would rather not because the program would then be subjected to positioning errors.

TIA,

Tyler

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3+2 Drilling

« on: August 01, 2009, 08:49:09 AM »

Hey,

I do have a 5 Axis machine, but I was able to solve my problem by writing a script file for PM Post that uses a couple simple gcode commands. 

Tyler

4

General Mach Discussion / 3+2 Drilling

« on: July 29, 2009, 05:00:54 PM »

Hey,

I am trying to generate gcode for Mach3 that can do 3+2 drilling in different workplanes using Powermill and PM Post.  Getting PM Post to actually produce code to do this was tricky enough for me but for some reason it doesn't do it properly.  I can drill in the XY plane no problem, but for some reason when it positions itself to drill in the YZ plane it actually just drills down into XY plane again. 

Does anyone know of a way to create a subroutine of gcodes that can manipulate the workplanes and allow me to drill in them?

Regards,

Tyler 

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 18, 2009, 10:43:14 AM »

Hey,

I emulated my homing for my z axis using the "Home" key, and it worked perfectly.  I will re-check the settings for my servo and see how it compares to my other axis' that are working. 

Tyler

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 13, 2009, 08:18:18 AM »

Hey,

My limit switches go to a relay board where it splits and goes to Mach and to my servo.  Yeah, I've tried referencing my z separately.  I might just have to home to  my other switch and deal with it.  Thanks.

Tyler

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 08, 2009, 11:19:30 AM »

I've attached a short clip of what it does. Strange eh? 

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 07, 2009, 05:08:23 PM »

Sorry about the long reply.
I tried using the original screenset and the same thing happened.  It only stops if Mach3 is turned off or if the power is cut.  So, everything else looked fine in the xml?

Regards,
Tyler

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 02, 2009, 09:32:08 AM »

Hey Hood,

Here is my xml file.

10

General Mach Discussion / Bouncing Z axis

« on: July 01, 2009, 08:34:03 AM »

Hey,

I am trying to home my z axis on my positive limit switch, but for some reason when it hits the switch, the instant it moves off it goes right back up again into the switch.  I left it for a minute or two and it continued to bounce on and off the limit switch with no signs of slowing down or stopping.  The thing that gets me is that when I home on the negative z lim switch, it works perfectly.  None of the other limit switches are behaving this way either, only the z+.  I would say that it is almost like it is looping the homing function for z.  Also, the Reset button on Mach doesn't stop it. I need to turn the servo off, cut the power or close Mach altogether. 

Has anyone else had this problem?

Regards,
Tyler