Messages

6431

General Mach Discussion / Re: Code will not run

« on: July 21, 2011, 12:11:27 PM »

Ernie,

Just tried it again and it is OK.
Perhaps reloading Mach may cure the problem you have with your spindle speed DRO.

Tweakie.

6432

General Mach Discussion / Re: Blank screen

« on: July 21, 2011, 11:40:26 AM »

Sounds like a handy forum Ernie. 

Tweakie.

6433

General Mach Discussion / Re: Code will not run

« on: July 21, 2011, 11:32:34 AM »

Seems to run OK here Ernie.

What doesn't happen with your setup.

Tweakie.

6434

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: gcode for hood emblems

« on: July 21, 2011, 04:37:13 AM »

Vectric Cut2D and Vectric Cut3D are both good programs. I purchased VCarvePro earlier this year and that is just brilliant but it all depends on how much cash you want to spend on your software. There are trial versions of all these programs which you can download together with examples of things to make for testing your machine 

There are also lots of free or trial programs which perform this function quite well BMP2CNC is not bad - do a Google search and see what you can find.

Tweakie.

6435

General Mach Discussion / Re: Lost Steps

« on: July 21, 2011, 04:21:12 AM »

Hi Stefan,

A wild guess - your little Z Axis gearbox is jumping a tooth.

Tweakie.

6436

General Mach Discussion / Re: G540 and CNC4PC c19 speed controller trouble

« on: July 21, 2011, 03:26:21 AM »

There is a lot of info in Chris's PDF which you can download from here http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15457.0;attach=21882

Tweakie.

6437

General Mach Discussion / Re: Blank screen

« on: July 21, 2011, 03:20:25 AM »

Hi Ernie,

Are you saying that Mach did not load on your garage PC or that the program from the memory stick did not load ?

Tweakie.

6438

General Mach Discussion / Re: Unprogrammed Z axis down feed

« on: July 21, 2011, 03:16:09 AM »

I'm thinking it's a noise problem on the step input to the driver.  Probably related to power line conditions as it's very intermittent.  Since the last direction for the Z axis when cutting is down, any noise on the step input big enough to trigger movement is going to result in down motion.  I'll search the forum for advice on power line noise suppression.

Hi Peter,

What you say here makes sense but, depending on your steps per unit and microsteps, you would need hundreds of individual noise pulses on the step pin just to move the Z Axis 1mm. That being the case, that amount of noise would be extremely unlikely to affect just the Z Axis.

My suggestion would be that you check all your wiring thoroughly and if possible try another LPT parallel port cable and if everything checks out OK then suspect the Z Axis driver.

Tweakie.

6439

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: LC never produces valid GCode

« on: July 21, 2011, 02:58:39 AM »

Hi Hoagie,

I don't understand either as I am not doing anything different to you.
Just a thought - are you setting the depth of cut for your selected tool#  correctly ? because this is what determines how many passes the tool path makes.

Tweakie.

nb. (Your code contains a G43 not the tool radius offset G42) 

6440

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: CNC Pipe Bender

« on: July 20, 2011, 10:53:10 AM »

Excellent !

Tweakie.