Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Verify (MDI menu) Crashing Z Axis Limit....

« on: September 30, 2010, 09:53:36 PM »

Thanks again Hood, no other msgs or postings, but i havent been having the limit out problem, perhaps i have gotten my z error under control which keeps it from blowing thru the limit?  just a thought.   i had some x stalling the other day, which i fixed by re~aligning the screw/bearings and slightly backing off on the acceleration, which i change the same on all 3 axes.....    that might have inadvertantly helped the z issue.   my screw is 1" per rev, so its pretty sensitive driving it with 185 in~oz steppers....   shoulda got 400+ motors!!!     live n learn lol   have a great night, Bill

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Verify (MDI menu) Crashing Z Axis Limit....

« on: September 27, 2010, 10:50:33 AM »

thanks Hood, i have the Z set same as X & Y for homing speed, 22% ~ it doesnt crash if i manually slow the feed override down prior to verifying, but kinda a pain, ya know?   and yes all 3 axes are fine while homing, moving nice and slow....    thanks, bill

3

General Mach Discussion / Verify (MDI menu) Crashing Z Axis Limit....

« on: September 26, 2010, 12:37:24 PM »

Greetings all.   i hope this will be a easy fix for someone....      i am still in the learning / practicing phase of Mach3 and lately i have been "dry" running a drill program that i wrote;  then checking for errors using the "verify" button on the MDI page.   most of the time it takes out the Z axis limit switch before registering the referencing function so i have to re~home and start over with my tests.   i have tried taking down the feedrates prior to hitting verify,, thinking its a speed issue, but it still continues.   what i dont think i have set right is the safe Z & homing slow zone settings.   tried searching on here and google for help with these but nothing found.   also when i verify, the x & y axes feed about 31% of rapid while the z feeds at 100%....   kinda frustrating, thanks in advance!!

Bill

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toshiba TB6560 Updated Settings :-) just wanna share!

« on: September 11, 2010, 08:22:05 AM »

Thanks Dave!  Actually that is my ultimate goal ~ to make a (close) replica of the J. Frog on my cnc....   at last check, the program was over 140000 lines long!!!   lol 

5

General Mach Discussion / Toshiba TB6560 Updated Settings :-) just wanna share!

« on: September 10, 2010, 11:48:20 AM »

Hello all, after tons of research here, cnczone, and elsewhere (thanks everyone!) i seem to have stumbled on a very good set of settings for the mach3 / tb6560 combo....   

while not confirmed yet (repeatability using verify after test programs) i have reached speeds last night in excess of 1200 rpm!!!!

mainly through the use of 1/2 step mode on my board combined with checking "enhanced pulsing", and sherline 1/2 step mode; and using settings of 25khz kernal, step and dir's of 2 ea. nano sec's, running a 28 volt psu, and 185 oz~in keline steppers, oh and 25% decay rate, with 100% current (wired bipolar parallel)

using my 1/2 - 13 leadscrew ~ i know i know, too cheap for acme or ballscrews lol, i was able to get my axes over 100 ipm at times and settled on 86ipm as a stable maximum for the time being.....    more verifications to follow asap!

anyway, just wanted to share with y'all cuz i know we are struggling with these boards and performance, please comment back, thanks, Bill

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z Axis Drifting or Loosing Steps?

« on: September 09, 2010, 01:42:55 PM »

my first thought is with the z, as i am finding out, correct counterbalancing is pretty important...   have you experimented with different weights or even have it counterbalanced???   bill

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and Toshiba TB6560 Breakthrough!!!!

« on: August 31, 2010, 10:30:51 AM »

Thanks for commenting, I have gotten to the point where i know products like the geckos, etc...  are far superior, but way out of my budget, so this is the best practical alternative that i can figure.   So, we combine our efforts and make the chinese junk work for us!   hahahaa

8

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 and Toshiba TB6560 Breakthrough!!!!

« on: August 29, 2010, 08:04:47 PM »

Hello and a big thanks for all the help and ideas ive gotten from this forum the last few weeks.  This is my first post so bear with me.  I would like to share what i consider a major breakthrough in motor tuning within Mach 3 for my system (homemade 3 axis router) controlled by the growing in sales and maybe popularity, Toshiba TB6560 chip board sold on ebay....   
I was having a horrible time with the motor tuning issues, tried everything, blah blah....    then i came across an excerpt from the Mach 3 manual saying something like ~ "the steps per unit control is NOT intended to be a tuning mechanism, if your calculated values do not work, youve done something wrong."  Now i had been trying to tune in 1/8 microstepping mode on my board (or so i thought) but the steps per unit was needing to be set atleast TWICE AS HIGH as my calculated values ~ very frustraing!!!   As a last shot i tried switching to 1/16 microstepping mode just for kicks and much to my surprise, the steps per unit value came in EXACTLY as i had calculated for 1/8 step micro!!!!   
Therefore, i am trying to say, i think the chinese boards have the DIP switch positions for 1/8 & 1/16 micro BACKWARDS!!!!!
Anyone else having the same troubles i had, please take a few minutes and give it a try & please post back as i would like to pass this on to the ebay seller i got the board from because, unlike some on ebay, this seller is very good and seems to care deeply about his customers....     
Thanks much to all, Bill