Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 29, 2011, 12:02:24 PM »

Yeah Tweak, I'll be doing that as soon as I get a bit of sleep and get over being an idiot! (Again)

Muddy

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 29, 2011, 08:31:33 AM »

AAAaaarrrrggggghhhhh!
The 500 line limit appears to be the problem!!!

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 27, 2011, 07:51:06 AM »

Okie Doke.
I have just altered the setup to a random increase and there was a change in the swept area, so looks like I gotta do some real calibration tomorrow.
Looks like that takes care of the sizing problem, but the failure in the not loading all the text still is there. Although I drew a rectangle wider than the "READY" text size and that imported correctly??
Gotta do some more tomorrow.

muddy.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 27, 2011, 07:06:06 AM »

Using Cut2d
I am thinking that the setup for the steps is wrong.
Can't exactly say why I think this, but I'm going to do my own learning procedure to check the manufacturer's figures.

muddy.

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 27, 2011, 04:36:13 AM »

Hi Hood.
Code very short for then "TRY" a bit longer for "READY", haven't counted lines though. (Will count, just in case)
The other bits are set as per manufacturer's listing.

muddy0409

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 27, 2011, 03:20:24 AM »

Righto, I've done lots of playing and reading.
Scaling on all axes is 1.0
It will load any gcode files I generate.
I have generated "TRY" and "READY" as test texts to play with, both 25mm high.
However, "TRY" appears on the toolpath screen ok. "READY" only displays as "ADY"
When I run the "TRY" engraving, which should be 25mm lettering, X axis comes out ok, Y axis is only about 1/3 of what it should be.
Running the "READY" engraving, it scales it the same as above and stops part through the script.
Offsets are all set at 0

Are there any limitations on the demo software that would be doing this??

Thanks,
Muddy0409

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: First time engraving question

« on: November 24, 2011, 10:33:14 PM »

I RTFM (again) last night.
I think it's a config problem as per Fixitt's reply above.
So guess what I'm doing today?

Muddy0409

8

General Mach Discussion / First time engraving question

« on: November 24, 2011, 10:03:26 AM »

Hello all.
I have just done my first engraving test.
Everything appears fine on the CAD drawing and in the gcode that loads into mach3.
I have the word TEST in 25mm letters, centered on both X & Y
But. On the toolpath display only EST is showing. When I start the run, thats all that the machine engraves and it is certainly NOT in 25mm letters.I feel it is something to do with scaling, but cannot see anything in config that fixes the problem.
BTW when it stops engraving partly through the "E" there is still plenty of Gcode not run. This makes me think that the gcode is correct.
Any hints?

Thanks, in advance.
Muddy0409
(up the bush, in outback Australia)

9

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / PCBs and mach 3

« on: November 22, 2011, 02:42:21 AM »

G'day everyone. A strictly new member here.
I use Protel Advanced PCB 3 for my board designs.
I assume I have to produce a G-code file from the drawing to give to the mach 3.
Can anyone suggest just how to convert protel .PCB files to G-code??
I am so new that I am only in the middle of setting up the Mach 3 program and connecting to my CNC.
I have had about 30 years at drawing PCBs, so I dont think there is any need to worry about the actual board design(s).
Thanks, in advance.