Messages

4401

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin

« on: September 02, 2014, 02:17:34 AM »

Hi Jan,

Your trigger circuit looks fine and that is a very nice screen set you have produced 
Unfortunately, the plugin will only support parallel port operation at this time 

Tweakie.

4402

General Mach Discussion / Re: PWM Spindle Control using Mach3 - How I did it

« on: September 01, 2014, 07:46:43 AM »

Well spotted Krypton - you are quite correct - only the unused inputs should be tied to GND.

Tweakie.

4403

General Mach Discussion / Re: I had something for a minute...

« on: September 01, 2014, 01:58:05 AM »

Just a suggestion and perhaps the first thing to check - go into Win. Device manager and check the address of your LPT port then check you have entered this address into Mach3 / Config / Ports and pins for Port #1 and that the port is enabled.

Tweakie.

4404

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin

« on: August 30, 2014, 12:13:02 PM »

Running the Impact / Laser engraver takes much of the system resource so displaying the picture during operation would perhaps not be practical.
There are a number of different programs that will produce similar results. DotG comes to mind and this can be found here http://dotg.weebly.com/download.html
The start-up menu for the Impact / Laser plugin is written within the source code so you will not be able to make a translation of that part easily.
The electro-magnet Andrea and I have been using can, I think, still be obtained from him - check out his website or possibly drop him a line http://www.robotfactory.it/
I have never really thought about THC and engraving non-flat surfaces but that sounds like an excellent idea to me.

Tweakie.

4405

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin

« on: August 30, 2014, 08:42:11 AM »

I have a crazy Idea on etching tombstones on it's site,I would go with a generator and a small machine that could be placed directly on the granite or mable.

Brilliant - there are a number of professionally made machines that do this task but they are not at all complicated so I think you could easily better their performance and design. 

The problem with SSR's is that they only switch at the 'zero crossing point' of the a.c. waveform so switching speed is limited to the frequency of the a.c. (here in the UK it is 50Hz and that is not really fast enough to be of any use).

Tweakie.

4406

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin

« on: August 30, 2014, 01:41:45 AM »

Hi Jan,

I think that is one of those things you will just have to ‘try it and see’.

Basically, physics limits the speed in relation to the mass of the moving parts but I am certain we have not yet come up with the best possible design so I would be most interested in hearing the results of your experimentation.

Tweakie.

4407

General Mach Discussion / Re: Input, is not output!

« on: August 29, 2014, 11:36:54 AM »

Hi GC,

In Config. / Gereral Config. change your IJ Mode.

Ideally you generated Gcode should include (at the beginning of the file) the G90.1 if your circles have been drawn in Absolute Mode or G91.1 if they have been drawn in Incremental Mode. 

Tweakie.

4408

General Mach Discussion / Re: Computer running Mach3 turns itself off

« on: August 29, 2014, 07:09:05 AM »

A shot in the dark but it may be an over-temperature issue with your PC. Perhaps blow it all out with an air-line - paying particular attention to the PSU and the processor heat-sink cooling fins etc.

Tweakie.

4409

Tangent Corner / Re: Changing stepping driver / controller

« on: August 28, 2014, 11:19:05 AM »

I think you would be wise to start at say 1.2Amps then see if they get hot after 1/2 hour's running. If they are still cool to the touch then move up to the next setting etc. - at least that's what I would do. 

Tweakie.

4410

Tangent Corner / Re: Changing stepping driver / controller

« on: August 28, 2014, 08:56:35 AM »

Hi Scott,

Try it by all means but I think you will find that you need 2 power supplies to ensure reliable operation of your machine. If the hole spacings of your steppers are 47mm x 47mm then you have NEMA 23's.

Just one point - you really need to find out the maximum current rating of your unknown steppers in order that this can be set (dip switches 4,5,6) within your controller. One guy (on another forum) has just found out the hard way http://openbuilds.com/threads/electronic-nightmares.630/#post-6597

Tweakie.