Messages

3981

General Mach Discussion / Re: Random Direction

« on: October 18, 2015, 10:30:15 AM »

You could check by identifying an axis direction pin, then connecting a voltmeter, jogging that axis in one direction should show (approx.) 5 Volts and jogging in the other direction should show (approx.) 0 Volts.
If the maximum voltage shown is only 3.3 Volts then you could perhaps consider fitting your PC with a PCI Parallel Port card which has 5 Volt TTL output.

Tweakie.

3982

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Scrappy does his first cut!!!!!!!

« on: October 18, 2015, 10:22:05 AM »

Thanks for the input Tweakie

The rails are 20mm dia on all axis, would just one supported rail on the Y axis suffice if it is 25mm dia? It would mean a bit of reconfiguring, but better to do it now than later in the project.

I honestly don't know for sure but I would bet money that one fully supported rail each side would perform better than 2 unsupported rails each side for the Y axis. The X axis would IMO still need two fully supported rails.

Tweakie.

3983

General Mach Discussion / Re: Random Direction

« on: October 18, 2015, 08:25:49 AM »

Just a shot in the dark...

If you are using the Parallel Port for communication then it is possible that your PC output voltage is to the 3.3Volt TTL specification and your controller requires a 5Volt TTL signal for correct operation.

Tweakie.

3984

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Scrappy does his first cut!!!!!!!

« on: October 18, 2015, 08:21:16 AM »

Hi Stew,

Just my opinion...
Looking at your .pdf you must use fully supported rails (unless they are upwards of 25mm diameter) otherwise you will regret the flex. Ballscrews are good but remember that they can backfeed particularly on the Z axis so if the motor is disabled a brake can be useful.

I look forward to seeing Scrappy MkII. 

Tweakie.

3985

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: M codes and mach4, is there still a hesitation same as m3? (Except m10/m11)

« on: October 18, 2015, 03:01:46 AM »

Hi Rob,

If it's any help, the Mach4 equivalent to the Mach3 M11Px/M10Px commands are...

M62Px turns Output# x ON
M63Px turns Output# x OFF

There are no delays associated with these commands as they take effect coincident with axis movement.

Tweakie.

3986

General Mach Discussion / Re: pocketing and profiling

« on: October 18, 2015, 02:52:21 AM »

It takes some trial and error to initially find the right settings but for inlay work I create one Gcode for the 'pocket' cut on the inside of the line and the Gcode for the 'inlay' flipped and cut on the outside of the line with the line width (being the kerf width) determined in the .dxf artwork. Difficult to explain but try it and I am sure it will make sense. This approach works equally well for laser as well as rotary cutting.

Tweakie.

3987

General Mach Discussion / Re: help with hp lap top running cnc controlor

« on: October 18, 2015, 02:42:15 AM »

Hi Alex,

Which external motion controller are you using between the laptop and Gecko ??

Tweakie.

3988

General Mach Discussion / Re: Shielded Cable

« on: October 16, 2015, 02:08:13 AM »

Hi Nick,

My recommendation is to just connect the shields to Earth (a star type earth tag) at the controller end only.

Tweakie.

3989

Tangent Corner / Re: Pyrography.

« on: October 16, 2015, 02:04:00 AM »

When I was a youngster, ( now retired ) there were " wood burning kits" for kids to use.  The hot end was VERY similar to a soldering iron. Don't know the wattage, but expect it to have been in the 60 to 75Watt range.

Those hand tools are still available and in turn led to homemade versions, the development of the software G-Ray and a great deal of experimentation before producing very acceptable results as shown in this thread. http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsofttranslator.com%2Fbv.aspx%3Ffrom%3D%26to%3Den%26a%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fhobbycncart.com%252Fforum%252F46-234-1

Tweakie.

3990

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

« on: October 16, 2015, 01:55:45 AM »

Hi Guys,

Welcome to the forum.

Any questions you may have are best posted as a New Topic in the general section. That way they will receive the maximum coverage from our hive mind. 

Tweakie.