Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Epilog Summit Laser Retrofit

« on: April 29, 2014, 03:08:23 PM »

Rather than get into PIC programming, could I do something with an arduinio?  Those I have and am pretty familiar with programming those.   At least something to get me started.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Epilog Summit Laser Retrofit

« on: April 28, 2014, 11:23:08 AM »

Looks like a PIC programmer is in my future.   Not that I really need an excused to purchase more tools.

Do you have the schematic/artwork for the simple tickle pulse generator?   I should start with that first and go from there.

I was hoping the "Minimum PWM" in Mach was some sort of trickle pulse and I could use that to at least test this thing.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Epilog Summit Laser Retrofit

« on: April 28, 2014, 10:25:59 AM »

Is there a low cost PIC programming package?   That is one of my issues, I don't see doing much PIC programming (I could be wrong) so I hesitate to purchase a entire setup.  I see the ones on EBay for $10, will those work?

I like the idea of a separate controller.  Gives me something to put in the slot where the existing control panel is.   Since I already have a laser engraver, could I use that to cut the board?

4

General Mach Discussion / Epilog Summit Laser Retrofit

« on: April 28, 2014, 03:08:26 AM »

I have an older Epilog Summit laser engraver that I have been converting over to something I can support, instead of the Windows 3.1 software that it comes with.   I replaced the control board with a set of Gecko G320x and the up/down with a normal servo as it didn't come with an encoder as the Summirt was manual focus.   All that works and I can zip around at astounding speed.

On to the laser.

My end goal is to cut out shapes from .125 acrylic, some with a little text identifying marks.

Is this as simple as using an output pin as Spindle Motor output and setting the minimim to 2% to get that trickle the Syrad laser needs?

Will a simple G1 move cut a line if it's prefaced by the M11P1 commands?

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motor stalling issue. (best I can describe)

« on: December 29, 2013, 12:55:56 AM »

I had a similar issue once that drove me crazy.    Machine had worked perfectly for months and suddenly with no changes it started randomly stalling.   After going though everything (as I am sure you have) I checked my bios settings,  somehow during a reboot the parallel port got switched to standard mode.   I switched it back to enhanced mode and it's been fine ever since.

Something to check.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Here's our setup - and we've got some questions

« on: November 26, 2013, 05:23:04 PM »

Odd's are you will end up making a lot of your own clamps and jigs.  One thing that has served me quite well over the years is to use nylon bolts and wooden clamps.   That way if you make a mistake somewhere, you don't ruin an expensive bit by trying to cut through steel.   If you look on ebay you can find bags of 100 for a few bucks.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor tuning - pulse setting relation to kernel speed

« on: June 26, 2013, 01:45:22 PM »

Sorry for the delay, I had some issues getting back on the forum.

My router has been running just perfectly for such a long time with the current settings I thought that even though everything moved freely, it wouldn't hurt to take it all apart and clean it.   Well, along the way I discovered that one of  the set screws that locks my X axis to the shaft was loose.    It was the one that tightens against the flats.   So, under load the pulley would slip, but under normal operation the other set screw held it tight enough that there was no slack.

Still it wouldn't hurt to have you look over my config and see if there is anything you see out of wack.

Mach 3.043.063
XBox Plugin
MSM Professional 2.0

Dell Optiplex 755 (Two Cores, 2Gb ram)
     Onboard video
     Onboard Parallel Port
     
PMDX-126 MultiMode Breakout Board

PMDX-133 Gecko Motherboard

Gecko 203V Drivers (current limited to 5amps, 117.5K resistor)

Kepco 350W power supply (48V, 7.5Amps)

Z-Axis 20000 steps per inch, 160 Velocity, 30 Acceleration
       Standard .1 pitch lead screw, direct drive
       Xylotec 2.8A, 269oz 
X-Axis 15875 steps per inch, 120 Velocity, 40 Acceleration
       Metric 10 Pitch, 2/3 belt drive,
       Xylotec 2.8A, 269oz   
Y-Axis 7620 steps per inch, 180 Velocity, 40 Acceleration
       Metric 20 Pitch, 2/3 belt drive
       425az, 4.2v, 3A Stepper from HobbyCNC

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor tuning - pulse setting relation to kernel speed

« on: June 22, 2013, 02:11:45 AM »

Setting Step Pulse to Low did seem to help some.   My motors don't stall anymore but they lose steps.   It only seems to do so under load though, I can cut in air for 30 minutes and it's dead on, but running a part where there is some load and it can suddenly be off by 1/4 inch.   Everything turns freely and I am using ball screws throughout.    Could it be my motors are underpowered, 425oz on the Y, 269oz on the X.  This only seem to start happening recently when I am cutting heavier material.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor tuning - pulse setting relation to kernel speed

« on: June 16, 2013, 03:17:05 PM »

Ugh, a  really good answer to my question and I have to go out of town for a couple days for work and will not get back to test this until late in the week.   That's not fair I want to go give this a shot right now as I am sure I do not have Step Pulse set to active low as you suggest.

Anyways, will  report back as soon as I test it.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor tuning - pulse setting relation to kernel speed

« on: June 16, 2013, 02:42:43 PM »

I don't have a scope nor am I sure I could figure out how to hook it up correctly.  I did recently upgrade to a PDMX-126 BOB, a driver motherboard and a set of gecko 203V drivers.   Their support has been great, it's why I keep purchasing their products.    Without a scope, is setting the pulse width just a matter of trial and error?   I assume that shorter step pulses are better, and that I should go as short as possible without my motors stallling.

The pulse width has nothing to do with velocity or acceleration - it's a matter of ensuring the minimum pulse width is enough for your motor drivers to reliably detect the pulse, and it can be, sometimes very significantly, affected by your BOB.  I've seen several, usually CNC4PC brand, BOBs that SERIOUSLY mangle the signal.  What you really need to do is get an oscillocscope and see what the step pulses look like AT the motor driver pins.  You'll likely find they look VERY different from what they look like at the BOB output pins.  In any case, at 25MHz kernel speed, a setting of 6 has absolutely no down-side whatsoever.

Regards,
Ray L.