Messages

6791

General Mach Discussion / Re: halfmoon instead of circle

« on: April 26, 2011, 08:37:21 AM »

I presume the toolpath looks OK on your Mach screen ?

Tweakie.

6792

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

« on: April 26, 2011, 05:24:40 AM »

Just something I tried during the holiday - as opposed to 'inlay' this is 'onlay' or laser marquetry.

This example is rubbish really because it was produced by cutting two identical images from different veneers and then transposing the parts. It has no allowance for tool radius offset so I have filled the kerf just to see the end result.
By thickening the outline of the original .dxf I should be able to produce two toolpaths (one for cutting on the outside of the line and one for cutting on the inside of the line) then, if I get it right, the parts should fit exactly with no visible kerf. 
A lot more experimenting before I get it right but it is an interesting technique and eminently suited to lasers.

Tweakie.

6793

General Mach Discussion / Re: circular interpolation not showing on arc cutting surface

« on: April 26, 2011, 04:23:13 AM »

As far as I am aware Mach will only produce the GCode it is given.
Autocad or other CAD/CAM is the place to improve your resolution as LazyCam has extremely limited capabilities.
If you draw your work and export as, for example, .jpg format then using other programs such as Vector Magic which are capable of generating extremely high quality .dxf files may be an option but there are many many alternatives to this and everyone has their own preferences.

Tweakie.

6794

General Mach Discussion / Re: halfmoon instead of circle

« on: April 26, 2011, 02:23:32 AM »

Your GCode works absolutely fine here so the problem seems to be with your machine. Could it be an electrical noise issue ?

Tweakie.

6795

General Mach Discussion / Re: M11/10 and E1p1/0 problems pls help

« on: April 26, 2011, 01:51:22 AM »

Hi Chris,

Yes, all the direction signals hold their state until told to change.
Regarding the M5 addition, although this worked there was an increase in the turn off delay compared with using the E1P0 on it's own.
I already have SS but I can see no advantage here as the control is still derived from the GCode.

As Terry was saying Mach has developed, over the years and revisions, into a lot more than it was originally designed for and we must bear in mind that it was never really designed to control a laser in the first place. This means that, like everything else in life, compromises have to be made and although Mach is not perfect I think I have demonstrated that it can be used to make some reasonable quality stuff.

I think that all others, before me, have now moved on to DSP or similar but I wonder if it is all plain sailing.   

Tweakie.

6796

General Mach Discussion / Re: spindle control

« on: April 26, 2011, 01:29:55 AM »

Great news that you got it fixed. You are now good for making chips 

Tweakie.

6797

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 slowing down

« on: April 25, 2011, 11:24:24 AM »

Hi Kevin,

I was referring to the software printer driver not an actual printer.   (Start, Control panel, Add/remove programs, ? printer)

It would be wise to have power cables routed separate to stepper drive cables but this is more likely to cause electrical noise problems and erratic behaviour rather than just slow the whole system down.

Tweakie.

6798

General Mach Discussion / Re: circular interpolation not showing on arc cutting surface

« on: April 25, 2011, 08:17:00 AM »

Not sure I fully understand but most CAD software draws circles as a number of straight lines, the lower the resolution the less the number of lines and worse the appearance. On the other hand, CAD/CAM that uses circular interpolation produces smooth contours without any of these visible straight lines.

Which CAD/CAM are you using to create your toolpaths and does it allow circular interpolation ?

Tweakie.

6799

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 slowing down

« on: April 25, 2011, 08:03:34 AM »

Seem to remember reading something similar to this when there were documents waiting in the print que and it slowed everything when Windows discovered something connected to the printer port.
It's a long shot but if you are not using it then uninstall the printer and see if this makes any difference.

Tweakie.

6800

FAQs / Re: Behavioural Changes in Mill

« on: April 25, 2011, 07:44:41 AM »

Really glad you have found the problem. 

Tweakie.