Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 18, 2020, 03:37:10 PM »

Nice!

Thanks!

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 18, 2020, 11:25:57 AM »

You'll note from my screen shots that I did not reverse the orientation of my z-axis.  As mentioned in my prior email, I just changed it to home "up" (at the of of the stroke as you suggest).  Changing the  "Home Neg" on the Z-Axis (on the "homing/limits config screen) is what now makes it home "at the top of the stroke" (vs at the bottom of the stroke as was the default).  It does not reverse the orientation of the z-axis.  I am not running it backwards...

...but thanks Buddy!  ;-)

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 18, 2020, 10:54:39 AM »

"Sport"?  Really?  Nice welcome to this forum...

Anyway here are the files renamed to something "unique"...

...and, yes, my controller appears to be working with Mach3.  I expect this is more of a "personal issue"...

There are videos out there specifically showing how to manually zero the machine coordinates.  (I linked to one in the OP).  Apparently, its the video that's lying to me and not my controller...

As previously suggested, I put manual zero'ing aside (as I'm being told its not possible) and focused on the "Ref All" function.  As machine coords seem mostly irrelevant for work, I wanted like my z-axis to zero "up" and not "down" so I can be sure to stay away from the spoilboard and any fasteners used to hold it to the work table.  Setting the "Home Neg" on the Z-Axis seemed to resolve that.  My spindle is no longer trying to dive into my spoilboard.

For anyone who is interested, I would like to say that it DOES appear that the little MX3 controller on the SainSmart/Genmitsu 3018-MX3 is working pretty well with Mach3.  Now I need to get working pretty well with Mach3...

Thanks!

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 18, 2020, 08:40:17 AM »

Yes, I already tried renaming the files as part of my initial posting (* -> *-Copy.xml/jpg).  That didn't help...

I don't already have "files of the same name" in my posting...  Is it possible that if ANYONE, ANYWHERE on this forum has EVER uploaded a file of the same name, this causes an issue?  Could that actually be the issue?  Am I just supposed to keep trying random file names until I find an unused one?  If so, this seems pretty stupid...

I will try again (with some really obscure filenames) once I get out to my shop in a few minutes...

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 17, 2020, 03:39:03 PM »

My motion controller is the one embedded in the Genmitsu 3018-MX3.  It is built specifically for Mach3 compatibility.  It is USB based.

Not sure why any of that would prevent the Mach3 software from allowing me to manually zero the machine coords.

Again, my end stops are all functioning exactly as expected.   ...and the diagnostics page reflect that as well...

...and now as I try to upload the attachments you requested, I'm getting the error "Sorry! There is already an attachment with the same filename as the one you tried to upload. Please rename the file and try again."  I have two files "e-stop.jpg" and "Mach3Mill.xml" and it won't let me attache either of them - together or alone.

So now I guess I have THREE Problems to diagnose  :-(

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 17, 2020, 11:00:54 AM »

Actually, I was trying to get to the root of the problem...  ;-)

So, it sounds like I have TWO problems.  ...and it sounds like manually zeroing the machine coords should be the easiest thing to diagnose since I don't expect it involves my machine or config in any way.  That should simply be a Mach3 software function, right?

Any idea why that would not be working in my environment?  I've run the process a million times as shown in the referenced video (inc many variations and departures), but the DRO simply does not update as expected...

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 17, 2020, 10:20:15 AM »

Yup, I get it.  (Trust Me!)  Your question is spot on...  So, here goes... But only cause you asked!  ;-)

As I dig deeper and deeper into understanding how to get my machine (and my process) working, I seem to encounter more fundamental issues...

When trying to "Ref Home" all the axis, the X and Y worked OK (hit the stops and then zero'ed) but the Z-Axis did not.  I've had it hit the upper stop (and then emergency stop) or had it drive into the table (and manually emergency stop) depending on whether the machine coords for its current position were negative or positive when the "RefHome" operation began.

So, "digging deeper", I thought maybe I should just try and manually zero the machine coords.  Its not a final solution to my issue (RefHome), but I figured it should be pretty straight forward, right?  Nope...

I'm trying to get to the simplest possible operation which I can successfully perform (to ensure my config is good) and then work my way back out to a more automatic operation (RefHome).

1.  I should be able to manually zero the machine coords, right?

2.  Otherwise, should I start trying to figure out why my RefHome on the z-axis is not working?  Its home movement seems to be determined whether the current machine coords are negative or positive.  Obviously, I want it to go up, hit the stop, back out a little and then zero the coord...  But even when it does move in the right direction, it recognizes the stop, but "emergency stops" the operation.  (My homing/endstop config appears to be correct...)

What do you think?  Thanks!

8

General Mach Discussion / Machine Coords not zeroing...

« on: December 16, 2020, 04:39:38 PM »

New user here...  Just getting started with Mach3 but I've been running a bunch of CNC equipment and software for years in my hobby shop inc Laser (FSLaser), Waterjet (Wazer), Router/Plasma (Torchmate), and a handful of 3D printers.  I've hardly used the 2x4 Torchmate router at all over the years.  Largely due to its size and the work required to get it set up.  So I picked up a 3018-MX3 so I had something more manageable to get comfortable with.

Anywho...

I've got to get my head around several issues but the lowest level issue I seem to be having is that I can not get the Machine Coordinates to zero out at all.  I've researched the crap out of this, found a nice YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npd4Tmik4Is), but it simply doesn't work!  I'm running the latest version of the software, and it appears to be talking OK with my little 3018 (including the e-stops and zeroing the tool on the z-axis).  Everything I see tells me I should be able to reset the Machine Coord's but I can't get it to work.  Basically, as I understand it:

1. Zero the user coords
2. Switch to machine coords
3. Go to settings
4. "Reset Interp"
5. "Zero" X, Y, & Z under "Encoder Position"
6. Send the new X, Y, Z values (+0.0000) "To DRO"
7. Switching back to "Run Program" and nothing has changed.  The Machine Coords are still as they were...

I've even tried changing the "Persistent DRO" settings in the config with no effect.

Am I missing something here?