Messages

6141

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 and Cutting a Circle

« on: July 27, 2011, 01:48:20 AM »

If you are cutting the circle with GCode created from a CAD program then there is a good chance that the circumference consists of many straight lines and depending on the resolution it could be quite rough and lead to the problem you describe.
Try cutting a circle using the Mach wizard which uses circular interpolation, which is as near to a curve as you are going to get, and see if that improves the situation.

Tweakie.

6142

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis help

« on: July 26, 2011, 08:18:50 AM »

Sorry Isaac and Sorry Gerry,

 I read the Manual and as I recall, it says that max Z is set to zero and everything else is a negative value but in practice this is not logical. The convention should, in my opinion, follow the way in which we use the machine with positive values as well as negative ones.

I can't help being weird - I was made that way. 

Tweakie.

6143

General Mach Discussion / Re: Gaining steps...maybe? with Servo Drive

« on: July 26, 2011, 07:58:46 AM »

Sorry to say this but if you have had a lightning strike then any of your electronic equipment could be suspect (whether it was actually switched on at the time or not). Any active components within that equipment, logic, transistors etc could have been injured and thus not performing correctly - when components are dead it is perhaps easy to identify a fault but when they are just injured well..........
Unfortunately I think you need to look toward replacing some stuff. 

Tweakie.

6144

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis help

« on: July 26, 2011, 05:40:13 AM »

Hi Isaac,

Sorry it is me that is confusing the issue.

My soft limits have Z zero at approx half travel this makes more sense to me as it agrees with work positioning where positive Z is always work clearance.

Tweakie.

6145

LazyTurn / Re: LazyTurn cuts where I don't want it to cut

« on: July 26, 2011, 04:58:28 AM »

I learn more about toolpathing and 3d every day, so perhaps someday it will all come together in a new project..

Perhaps even containing a wizard for bevel gear blanks ? 

Tweakie.

Keep up the good work Art - you are the man.

6146

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis help

« on: July 26, 2011, 04:53:35 AM »

Hi Isaac,

I am not an expert here but it seems that it is just the way it turns out.
With Z 0.000 being the top surface of the work (individually set for each job) then the Safe Z setting within Mach is a positive number as is all the Z Clearance figures calculated by the software I use. It just seems tidy that way.

Tweakie.

6147

General Mach Discussion / Re: New to CNC, seeking sources

« on: July 26, 2011, 02:47:02 AM »

Hi Isaac,

I think we all started at a similar point to where you are right now.
The best form of learning to use Mach3, in my opinion, is "hands on" - start with a simple project and work from there, that way you only learn what you need to know and don't get bogged down with stuff you will never ever use.
As you progress, you will acquire software (each better than the one before) and because each is different that is where the major effort has to be put into the learning process.

Tweakie.

6148

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

« on: July 26, 2011, 01:53:17 AM »

Hi Steve,

I think Sam and I both agree that everything aluminium should be anodized. 

(For those who have not done it before you can purchase complete kits of chemicals and dyes together with easy to follow instructions and stunning colours and effects are possible. Obviously care is needed handling and storing the chemicals so you really need a working area secure from children, pets etc).

Tweakie.

6149

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis help

« on: July 26, 2011, 01:37:31 AM »

So as I understand it - the machine coordinates can be set for 0.00 at the most top of the Z axis and the negative number will represent the full stroke of the Z axis.

Not quite.

On my system (for example only)  Z 0.0000 is at approx. mid point of the full Z Axis travel.

Tweakie.

6150

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: subroutine

« on: July 25, 2011, 06:15:44 AM »

Looks like you have got it beaten 

Tweakie.