Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 25, 2021, 07:37:35 AM »

Hi Allan,

You don't need to do anything, I have already asked the question over at the CNC Drive forum.

I just wanted to know if you had already established if these commands were supported. (If, for example, they are not supported then it's back to the drawing board).

Tweakie.

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 25, 2021, 06:09:21 AM »

Hi Allan,

I am sure you are not an idiot but if you need to make one of these boards I can provide you with a circuit diagram although I should perhaps read through your laser manual to determine if such a board is really necessary or not.

I have been using a UC400ETH controller for over a year now but not with Mach3.
Stupid question but have you established that the Mach3 plugin for the UC400ETH does in fact support the M11Px / M10Px command set ?

Tweakie.

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 10:14:30 AM »

Hi Allan,

This is really not going to work for you with two people making conflicting suggestions.

As I said earlier I leave it all to TPS.

Tweakie.

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 08:13:03 AM »

So would I now set in output signals Output#2 - Port#2 & Pin#8

What do I set Output#1 to?

Output#1 Port 1 Pin 8 (which you now have to connect to your laser TTL input)
Output#2 Port 1 Pin 17 (this will connect to your spindle VFD but you can leave unconnected at the moment).

In Mach3 Motor Outputs disable the A axis to free-up pins 8 & 9

Tweakie.

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 07:14:11 AM »

Hi Tweakie

Just so you know what I've done,

I have wired the both my Y axis motors to the Y axis outputs on the CP0-10V, Swapped the A+ & A- on the slave stepper motor, this has given me pin 8 & 9 free.

Is that wrong?

Allan

I am not sure if it is wrong and I appreciate that CNC4YOU show that configuration but it is not something I would ever consider doing. Reason being that Mach3 ‘Gantry Squaring’ may not be possible and it would be necessary if the two motors ever get 'out of step'.

Bottom line.. If you are happy then give it a try and see how it goes.

Tweakie.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 06:46:26 AM »

I don't quite understand what you are doing to gain the output pins however...

Within Mach3 set your Spindle Setup to Output#2 for M3 & M4.
Enable and specify a Port# and Pin# for Output#2 in Output Signals
(At this stage you don't need to connect anything to the Output#2 Pin).

This should enable the M11/M10 to control the laser switching using your previous posted test Gcode example.

I believe in resolving one issue at a time so once we have your laser turning ON and OFF from the Gcode M11/M10 commands then we can look at the broader picture of Laser Output Power control, etc.

Tweakie.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 05:56:25 AM »

Hi Allan,

As TPS seems determined to take control of this thread there is a danger of my providing conflicting information so I will back-off and leave it to him to resolve the issue.

Tweakie.

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 05:05:56 AM »

Hi Allan,

Do not wire two steppers to the same axis.

As you are using the UC400ETH controller you could set an Output Pin from Port#2 for your spindle. I am assuming that you will be using a different profile for your spindle working to your laser working.

At the moment the conflict that I mentioned earlier is switching your laser (Port#1 Pin 17) from the M3/M5 commands and not the M11/M10 commands.

Tweakie.

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 04:42:15 AM »

Perhaps if you have some time to spare take a tour of my Laser Project thread. It spans may years but coveres most aspects of Mach3 laser control, although orientated towards CO2 lasers the control principles also apply to diode lasers.
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.0

Tweakie.

20

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Opt Laser 5W and Aspire

« on: February 23, 2021, 04:38:51 AM »

The guy from Opt Lasers just emailed me to say the gcode should be M3 and M5 commands not M11 and M10?

Total Rubbish !!

The problem with that is that there is a delay between the M3/M5 commands being read and the Output# being switched. This results in excessive burn at the start and end of each engraved line. To resolve this issue Artsoft introduced the M10/M11 commands which are linked to axis movement so the laser is only turned ON when the axis starts moving and OFF when the axis stops moving.

Tweakie.