Messages

1381

General Mach Discussion / Re: Laser 15W setup with 4axis USB board

« on: February 21, 2019, 05:01:18 AM »

Mach3 has a dedicated command set (M11P#/M10P# ) intended for laser switching and I have described its use here; http://hobbycncart.com/publ/cikkek/mach3_temaju_cikkek/switching_a_laser_under_mach_control/8-1-0-29

If you want to control laser output power then this post may be of interest; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg265104#msg265104

Hope this helps.

1382

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 on Win7 32 bit BUT 64 bit processor

« on: February 19, 2019, 01:37:38 AM »

You will not be able to use the Parallel Port with a x64 processor even if the OS is 32 bit. I tried it with Win10 and caused a devastating crash. 

1383

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hi, circles to big

« on: February 19, 2019, 01:34:08 AM »

Not sure this will cure the problem but...

With Mach3 you must not have the G90 and the G91.1 on the same line of code - they must be on separate lines.

1384

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: February 19, 2019, 01:29:26 AM »

Thanks for the info. 
I have now corrected the NAND outline in both schematics as your suggestion - thanks again.

1385

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: February 18, 2019, 02:43:21 AM »

Way back in 2014 I posted the simple solution I use for controlling my laser output power using the Mach3 generated PWM signal. https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg194200#msg194200
That method, although just fine for me, is not suitable for lasers which use an Active High TTL input so an alternative was investigated.
Although it is a little more complicated because a 5 Volt power source is required, using a basic logic IC the Mach3 generated PWM can easily be gated ON / OFF using the M11 / M10 command set thus controlling laser output power.
I have attached schematics for both TTL(High) and TTL(Low) versions of the same concept.
By referring to the truth table you can see that condition C would be used for laser OFF with condition D used for laser ON (at the designated PWM) and condition F would be used with 100% PWM for full power laser output.

Food for thought perhaps ?

1386

Downloads / MOVED: MACH 3

« on: February 17, 2019, 01:36:30 AM »

This topic has been moved to General Mach Discussion.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=39485.0

1387

Mach4 Plugins / MOVED: hybrid servo motor, Pockeys57cnc and mach4

« on: February 15, 2019, 08:08:19 AM »

This topic has been moved to Mach4 General Discussion.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=39468.0

1388

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 15, 2019, 05:52:44 AM »

My name is Jonathan, from South Africa.

I am completely novice in the CNC hobby. In actual fact I switch on my first CNC motion controller last night. Trying to jog (move) my hybrid motor and must be honest I am finding it so hard to setup my pokeys57cnc board so that I just can move the motor?

Any help on this?

Kind Regards
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Welcome.

I may be wrong but it is my understanding that NFS have a dedicated support team at their help desk. Try using the free email support ticket system and see if they can help you set up your 57CNC.  https://www.machsupport.com/support/

1389

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Using a PWM controlled laser, Mach 4 vs Mach3

« on: February 15, 2019, 01:46:04 AM »

Hi Guys,

The pictures posted were all produced using a CO2 laser and the Impact/Laser Engraving plugin for Mach3 using just the LPT Parallel Port. This plugin and my introduction to it can be downloaded from here; http://tweakie.byethost10.com/Engraving.zip
The plugin is not particularly easy to use as getting all the settings just right can be a little tricky but it can be done. The original images that I used for testing were not modified but they were chosen for good contrast and no background.

As mentioned, Mach4 requires a motion controller and I use the ESS. Warp9 have now included Vector and Raster engraving routines within their plugin and further details are available here;
https://www.warp9td.com/index.php/faq/faq-mach4#LaserSetup

Another Mach4 motion controller is the 57CNC from Polabs and they have included some special routines to allow laser images to be reproduced with the free software Auggie. Further details can be found here; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg248511#msg248511

Hope this helps.

1390

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Using a PWM controlled laser, Mach 4 vs Mach3

« on: February 14, 2019, 10:45:59 AM »

I think that I have had reasonable success at engraving grayscale images with Mach3 over the years and a couple of pictures are attached.

With Mach4 it is still early days with raster engraving (mainly because it is the job of the motion controller to set the variable PWM signal required) but it is progressing.

Tweakie.