Messages

5211

Tangent Corner / Re: Boo Boo !

« on: October 09, 2012, 06:31:48 AM »

Hi Ostie,

I used to love cars when I drove my Father’s estate but once I got my own and had to start paying for the fuel and tyres my interest soon faded. 

Tweakie.

5212

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z Axis height limit.

« on: October 09, 2012, 03:48:19 AM »

Hi Paul,

In Vectric, select 'material setup' from the toolpath window then set clearance (Z1) to the 10mm you require.

Tweakie.

5213

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Some Lithophanes...

« on: October 09, 2012, 01:35:27 AM »

As always, excellent work Arbo.

Tweakie.

5214

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Problem

« on: October 08, 2012, 10:10:18 AM »

Download and run Parmon http://www.geekhideout.com/parmon.shtml

This will test if your parallel port is operating correctly.

Tweakie.

5215

Tangent Corner / Boo Boo !

« on: October 08, 2012, 07:37:42 AM »

I read this the other day and I still can't stop chuckling.

Mazak Renishaw.
Been working a lot on a Okuma mx45, where you have to turn a key on the handwheel to go from the handwheel to rapid motion, then had a job over on a Mazak vtc..... That key on the handwheel did not have anything to to with rapid motion, it realeased the tool... It dropped the renishaw! Lucky for me it was only the probe that broke!

Tweakie.

5216

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Problem

« on: October 08, 2012, 07:28:16 AM »

That whittles it down a bit then - some possibilities are…

A bad installation of Mach3
A damaged parallel port or LPT cable.
Incorrect configuration of the Ports and Pins within Mach3.

Are you using Win XP ??

Tweakie.

5217

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Problem

« on: October 08, 2012, 05:18:03 AM »

If your meter is connected between the correct X Axis 'direction' pin (whatever it is) and computer GND then the voltage should change between your 4.3V and 0V (approx.) when you move the X Axis in opposite directions. This should occur irrespective of anything else connected.

So try closing Mach3, disconnecting the CNC machine from the PC then restart Mach3, check your ports & pins configuration again and measure the voltage on your X Axis direction pin at your LPT cable. Does it now change voltage level when you jog the X Axis ??

Tweakie.

5218

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

« on: October 08, 2012, 04:58:03 AM »

Hi Pasquale,

I don’t know if this will be of any help to you but I recently made a small change to the Engraving.dll to add an option (primarily for my laser use) to alter the formulae by which the pixel dot density is calculated. This may be of benefit with your slower axis speed.

Details of this change and the latest .dll are here. http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,12444.msg157668.html#msg157668

Tweakie.

5219

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Problem

« on: October 08, 2012, 03:52:19 AM »

Hi Khinhaw,

Sorry if I did not explain properly. If you are not using a Maxnc controller then DO NOT use Maxnc mode. You will just be wasting your time and achieve no useful results.

Measure the voltage on your X Axis 'direction' pin at the LPT output. Moving the X Axis in one direction should produce 5 Volts then moving the same axis in the other direction should produce 0 Volts. If you only get 3.3 Volts here then it may not be sufficient to drive your BOB so fitting a 5 Volt output Parallel Port card may be the way forward.

Have you tried changing the Active Low / Active High settings for your 'Step' pins ??

Tweakie.

5220

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Problem

« on: October 08, 2012, 03:01:07 AM »

Hi Khinhaw,

It is my understanding that unless you are using a Maxnc machine controller then you should forget about checking this mode in the setup (it allocates its own pin configuration irrespective of what you have set in ports & pins).

Try using Sherline 1/2 pulse mode and see if that helps.

Also check the output voltage on one of your LPT 'direction' pins to see if it is approx. 0 / 5 Volts as opposed to 0 / 3.3 Volts.

Tweakie.