Messages

3301

General Mach Discussion / Re: Winding springs using Mach control

« on: June 30, 2016, 12:16:22 PM »

Just a thought…

Hard to explain but initially the part which snags the end of the piano wire is free to rotate on the arbour. When the spindle is up to speed, a clutch is tripped which locks the part which snags the wire and the arbour together. Spring winding then progresses in line with the feeder toolpost movement until the spring has been wound. Not sure how you cater for the spring-back but that's another problem.

In the days way back when, IBM patented a flat spring clutch which provided the high-torque drive for their Selectric typewriters (The motor shaft rotated continuously but the main shaft only rotated in 180 deg. increments controlled by this spring clutch). The actual IBM clutch would not be man enough to handle the torque required for 2mm piano wire but the principle of design would be sound.

Just as a distraction, I had lots of fun last year constructing a guitar string winder… http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,28721.0.html


Tweakie.

3302

General Mach Discussion / Re: Much need help with trying to move the x & y & z on my eBay 3040 cnc machine

« on: June 30, 2016, 08:29:20 AM »

I am pleased you have got it sorted.

Tweakie.

3303

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tool radius error when loading code

« on: June 30, 2016, 01:52:39 AM »

Excellent result   

Tweakie.

3304

General Mach Discussion / Re: Much need help with trying to move the x & y & z on my eBay 3040 cnc machine

« on: June 29, 2016, 12:23:53 PM »

Not sure why you need a second parallel port, but that’s another story.

When everything is connected and powered-up does the red button (the stop switch, on the black box) work ?

(When the red button is twisted (released) Mach3 Reset can be clicked and has green surround. When the red button, on the black box is pressed Mach3 goes into Estop and Mach3 Reset has flashing red/green surround).

Tweakie.

3305

General Mach Discussion / Re: Chinese 3040T problem - no motor movement

« on: June 29, 2016, 11:38:59 AM »

Well.....

Don't keep us all in suspense!  What was it?

Definately being kept a secret Dave 

Tweakie.

3306

General Mach Discussion / Re: Much need help with trying to move the x & y & z on my eBay 3040 cnc machine

« on: June 29, 2016, 08:31:31 AM »

Hi Kev. welcome to the forum.

Have you set-up the correct Port Address, Motor Outputs, etc. within Mach3  ?
We really need more information to be able to identify your machine controller - a picture, link to the item, manufacturer and model, etc.

Tweakie.

3307

General Mach Discussion / Re: Something bad changed

« on: June 29, 2016, 05:03:14 AM »

Assuming your machine was working correctly then it could be that, somehow, you now have a corrupt .xml file or have changed some settings somewhere.
To cater for such an event Mach3 saves the last 21 of it’s previous configurations (settings) in the xmlbackups folder.
Click Operator / Restore Settings and follow the onscreen instructions to load a previous (hopefully before the problem occurred) set-up and see how it goes.

Tweakie.

3308

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tool radius error when loading code

« on: June 29, 2016, 02:28:48 AM »

Whatever is the latest release of Mach 3 is what I'm running.  It is what was recommended on MSM's website.

I respect the MSM recommendation, however, issues have been reported with v.066 which is probably why Warp9 recommend v.062 for use with the ESS.
It may be worth you contacting Calypso directly to ask their recommendations for a resolution to this loading problem.

( Perhaps also check that you are using v.062 and the latest ESS plugin http://www.warp9td.com/index.php/sw ).

Tweakie.

3309

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PWM output

« on: June 29, 2016, 02:14:08 AM »

Hi Martin,

Unlike Mach3 - Mach4 does not actually output a PWM signal, that function is provided by the motion controller that you are using. You can make certain settings within Mach4 which are designed to affect the scale / range of the PWM but you should refer to your motion controller's documentation for the full details.

Tweakie.

3310

General Mach Discussion / Re: VFD problem

« on: June 29, 2016, 01:58:28 AM »

Hi
Just so I understand, The one lead from the capacitor will share the input place on the board with the input wire say for a limit switch. The other wire from the capacitor will go to were I have the shielding grounded. Is this correct, sorry I have no experience with this.
Thanks again for your interest.
Bill

Hi Bill,

You are quite correct sir.

Tweakie.