Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why is it running off at random?

« on: June 01, 2010, 05:51:02 PM »

If it has been up and down the table over 20 times in this run, is it likely that it would be a stalling axis?

I should really optimize the code but I just wanted to run the same job again.

Neil

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why is it running off at random?

« on: June 01, 2010, 05:37:26 PM »

I put the Xylotex in a separate case with a large fan blowing directly on to it.

I didn't pay attention to the exact line where it crashed but when I send it back to 0,0 it is several inches off

Neil

13

General Mach Discussion / Why is it running off at random?

« on: June 01, 2010, 05:25:49 PM »

I am extremely frustrated! I am running a job that I have done several times before. I upgraded the computer and replaced the Xylotex controller since running this code. I tuned the motors by measurement and it is off by a couple of thou but that is as close as I can measure.

This is what is happening:





It has happened on another job over an hour into the run. It seems to happen 7/8 ths of the way through the run. THis run has 842 lines of code but the other one has 4500. I thought it might be a memory problem but this run is small.

I am running XP Service pak 2

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Curious stalling problem

« on: July 16, 2006, 01:47:50 PM »

I have a lead screw with lovejoy couplers. The rubber inserts have been replaced by HPDE. I will try reducing the acceleration today as well as updating the Mach 3 version. The gantry uses skate bearings on a double steel pipe rail. I may need to remove the lead screw and test the friction of the gantry.

15

General Mach Discussion / Curious stalling problem

« on: July 15, 2006, 10:08:02 PM »

I was running a test piece from Vector Art 3D machining. It is the fleur d'li. The first roughing pass went fine. During the second pass, the stepper motors seemed to stall and buzz loudly for about 2 seconds and then the job continued without intervention but shifted about 2 inches right and down (Y-axis). The Z axis seemed to be fine.

I am running a Xylotex 3 axis system with 269 oz motors. The motor speed has been cut back to around 50 ipm and the acceleration is not agressive. I used less than 8 ft long shielded cables to the motors. The spindle is a Porter Cable 690 series. I have only been up and running for a few days now. I am not 100% everything is correct with this homebrew machine. From what limited cutting I have been doing, everything that has gone wrong so far has been operator error.

I am running a 750 mhz Dell Laptop under win 2k. It is a clean machine dedicated to running the Router. I am running a licensed version of Mach 3. I disconnected the wireless card and it has no other networking/firewall/ anti-virus software running. It is version 1.90.037 of Mach 3

I am thinking the laptop may be not enough horsepower to run the job.

Can anyone give any other suggestions?

16

LazyCam (Beta) / Can Lazycam be used to carve text?

« on: July 12, 2006, 04:53:35 PM »

I am a new user. I am new to Mach3 and CNC too. I was wondering if LazyCAM can be used to carve text. I have tried to import a dxf made by Corel and had no results. The first time I got a message about splines being ignored. That is when Corel exported the dxf with the test as curves box checked. The second time I tried exporting it with the text kept as text. This resulted in nothing at all. I tried exporting the Corel file as a jpg and used LazyCam's image import feature. This generated erratic results with toolpaths only vaguely resembling the text. What am I doing wrong? Can this be done? 

Is there a step by step tutorial on this subject?