Messages

6181

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

« on: January 23, 2012, 08:43:28 AM »

It seems that the posting relating to exactly how it has been done has been deleted

Tweakie.

6182

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: January 23, 2012, 03:20:28 AM »

The reason I asked about the material is that on the photo above it looks like there is some transparent layer between the numbers and the background.

I think it's the lighting Dan. All the tests were done on the same piece of scrap but if the earlier pic was taken inside the workshop it may have been with flash.

Just for ref.    Top right is original M10/M11 : Top centre is B0/B1 : Top left is first revision of M10/M11 : Bottom left is final revision of M10/M11.

Tweakie.

6183

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Hot Foiling/Embossing blocks

« on: January 23, 2012, 02:58:01 AM »

Great work Pinky.

Tweakie.

6184

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

« on: January 23, 2012, 02:55:00 AM »

OK Sam spill the beans - How did you get that much swarf from one little engraving ?? 

Very nice though.

Tweakie.

6185

General Mach Discussion / Re: Keling Breakout board

« on: January 23, 2012, 02:38:16 AM »

A lot of people are using the C10 - What is the problem you are having ??

Tweakie.

6186

General Mach Discussion / Re: Trouble getting started again

« on: January 23, 2012, 02:35:05 AM »

Hi Gordy,

I think you need to look at your GCode syntax and check that it is all Mach compatible (GOTO is not good).

(If your machine stops at the line GOTOZ2.0000 now it would have stopped at that same line last summer).

Tweakie.

6187

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: January 20, 2012, 12:00:55 PM »

Hi Dan,

That is just a piece of scrap MDF I used for testing.

There are quite a few problems associated with using an axis direction pin which crop up from time to time and eventually become a real pain.
As mentioned earlier the software polled EStop does not change the state of a direction pin but it can turn off an output thus using an output gives an added safety feature.
Feed hold, if it ever has to be used, creates another issue when motion stops with the laser still on - easier to handle an output than a direction pin here.
My B axis DRO can, in error, somehow get to a -1 step position then the B0 command that is supposed to turn the laser off actually turns it on - another B0 command does nothing to turn the laser off - only the separate commands B1 and B0 will turn the laser off.
At initial power up the state of an axis direction pin is not always guaranteed.
There are a few other issues as well so overall using an output for switching is far far preferable.

Tweakie.

6188

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: January 20, 2012, 05:43:54 AM »

Good news for laser users - Artsoft, Brian and the Team have now restored the operation of the undocumented M10P1 / M11P1 commands to their former glory. These commands switch an Output pin (determined by the P#) coincident or blended with an axis movement starting and stopping. This now means there is no noticeable delay between the laser being switched on and off and an axis movement so there will no longer be any missing starts to lines or dots appended to lines. Perhaps the most important change here relates to safety in so far as that in returning to an Output (from an axis pin) the software polled EStop can, in an emergency, be used to switch the laser off.

This scale was used as a test piece and was engraved using the M10P1/M11P1 commands and Output #1 to switch the laser and, as far as I can tell, is equal in quality to a similar scale engraved using the B0/B1 commands and the B axis direction pin (as I have previously been using).

A big thanks to Brian and the Team.

Tweakie.

6189

General Mach Discussion / Re: Getting Disillusioned with Mach3.

« on: January 20, 2012, 04:49:44 AM »

Hi Guys,

Well, as Art has said, this topic certainly stirred up some discussion.
Brian has been just brilliant and has now restored these, undocumented, commands M10P1/M11P1 and E1P0/E1P1 and in the latest version he sent me to test they work just perfectly. There is now no noticeable delay with these commands as can be seen from the picture of the test sample I used.
A big thanks to Artsoft, Brian and the Team who responded so rapidly to restoring these commands which (as others have said) only benefit a very small proportion of the total, worldwide, Mach users. These changes will be incorporated into version R3.043.056 as and when.
Obviously I will no longer be looking at alternatives for my machine control but this has perhaps demonstrated, at least to me, just how fickle we (I) can be.   

Tweakie.

6190

Share Your GCode / Re: anyone have code for a mini cooper logo?

« on: January 20, 2012, 02:17:16 AM »

Wow Jim - they look really nice - good job.

Tweakie.