Messages

6141

General Mach Discussion / Re: AutoZero Plate for Z Axis

« on: March 05, 2011, 10:42:23 AM »

You have incorrectly connected the two sets of limit switches in parallel.

Connect them in series.

GND-----switch----switch----switch----switch----PIN 11

Tweakie.

6142

General Mach Discussion / Re: axis problems

« on: March 05, 2011, 06:19:34 AM »

From reading all your postings on this it appears you have Mach set up in metric units not imperial.
May be a good idea to save your .xml and settings so you can always go back but start afresh re-install Mach and set it up in imperial units right from the start.

Tweakie.

6143

General Mach Discussion / Re: Steppers and mach out of sync

« on: March 05, 2011, 05:40:34 AM »

Sounds like it could be missing steps but it could be a lot of other things as well. 

When you jog your axis from one extreme to the other do the steppers make a nice smooth sound or do you sometimes get a little 'tick' or hesitation in the sound ?

Have you set your motor tuning velocity and acceleration to a comfortable figure well below the point at which the steppers stall ?

Tweakie.

6144

General Mach Discussion / Re: Video based rotation of board, based on Fiducials

« on: March 05, 2011, 03:37:30 AM »

For some reason the Set Rotation wizard did not get added in later versions but here is a link to Hoods download post http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,7779.msg49469.html#msg49469

Tweakie.

6145

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help! Vibrating motors and hotwire!!

« on: March 05, 2011, 03:10:39 AM »

Blake,

It could be a resolution issue with the software you are using (a curves created with 6 straight lines is a bit jerky compared with the same curve created with 60 straight lines) perhaps not set up correctly ?
Try another software to generate some code and see if you get the same results.

Tweakie.

6146

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Upgrade issue - for a frustrated Aussie

« on: March 05, 2011, 03:00:00 AM »

G'day Lance,

If your spindle is 3 phase then you will have 3 wires (not including any earth connection) running from your inverter to the spindle. Swap any two of these wires and the spindle will rotate in the other direction.

Tweakie.

6147

General Mach Discussion / Re: would like some advice

« on: March 05, 2011, 02:55:03 AM »

Everybody will have their own views on this one but here is my 2 cents.

This is pretty much a trial and error thing which will depend on your steppers, their driver circuits and the amount of loading each axis puts on the stepper in it's resistance to movement.
I increase the Velocity and Acceleration to the maximum figure that the motors will sustain then reduce the velocity by some 20% or so and then reduce acceleration so the machine does not jerk or rock (it is on castors). Then carry out some practical tests with GCode to make sure everything is reliable, does not stall under load or miss steps etc.
I am more concerned with accuracy and reliability than I am with speed so I always opt for the lower settings.

Tweakie.

6148

General Mach Discussion / Re: how do I get Mach 3 to simply display controls for 5 axis?

« on: March 05, 2011, 02:36:25 AM »

Not much of an answer really but you could check the existing screen sets (downloads tap at top of screen) to see if any ready made's suit your needs.
The best option is to create your own screen. There are a few different screen designers to choose from, bit of a learning experience but not too difficult really (for me it would be a day's work    for an expert an hour or two). There is lots of available documentation on VB scripts and button / led / dro codes etc.

Tweakie.

6149

General Mach Discussion / Re: AutoZero Plate for Z Axis

« on: March 05, 2011, 01:56:24 AM »

Nicolas,

For your probe to work you need a pin that is not being used for anything else.
Connect your X limit switches and Z limit switches in series to pin 11 this will leave pin 10 free.
Now connect your probe to pin 10.

Try that and check if it then works as you would expect it to (I think you will need to slow your probing feedrate as F20 seems a bit fast to me) it would also be a good idea to replace the cutting tool with a piece of metal rod (saves damaging the expensive tool if it does not work correctly).

Tweakie.

6150

General Mach Discussion / Re: AutoZero Plate for Z Axis

« on: March 04, 2011, 01:23:17 PM »

Thats your problem. (it should be off)

You have a short circuit between your pin 10 and ground.

Tweakie,