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Messages - Tweakie.CNC

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7581
Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin
« on: January 18, 2011, 06:55:18 AM »
I think you are perhaps getting too technical for this simple little plugin.
You are correct - the output is on the digital trigger, which must be enabled, but make sure you do not have this pin allocated and enabled somewhere else in your setup.
The digital trigger will control the laser power using PRF so you just need to set the maximum allowable power.

Does this help ?

Tweakie.

nb. I have no problem with you writing to this post - we are all learning here together and that's the way it should be.  ;)

7582
Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin
« on: January 18, 2011, 03:20:28 AM »
eBay is probably the best place to look.
I have in the past bought cheap, single axis boards from Virtual Village (China) and been very happy with the experience.

Tweakie.

7583
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and CorelDRAW.
« on: January 17, 2011, 06:43:28 AM »
LB,

I think that Cut3D would be great if you are going to want to produce 2.5D or 3D models.

Tweakie.


7584
Tangent Corner / Tools Explained.
« on: January 17, 2011, 04:37:33 AM »
                                                                                                                              Tools Explained

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh--!'

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

SON-OF-A-GUN TOOL: (A personal favorite!!) Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'Son of a GUN!' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.


Thought I would post this just in case any newcomers are unfamiliar with the tools we use for our delicate CNC work.

Tweakie.

7585
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 and laser?
« on: January 14, 2011, 12:38:00 PM »
Hi Dan,

There is little point in using Mach to control the PWM as this is far better achieved with a seperate, external controller.
A simple circuit is all that is necessary to actually switch the laser from the Z direction signal (Z+(up) turns it off and Z-(down)turns it on). The actual Z movement needs to be small (0.001 or less) to reduce the time delay but editing standard GCode to achieve laser control is easy once you get the hang of it.
Have a browse through my webpage here http://www.cooperman.talktalk.net/files/27.htm this may answer some of your questions.

Tweakie.

7586
kf2qd

Quote
Seems that some folks are just finding a way to say that closed loop is a waste of time.

Just to pick up on this one point - "If you have a good machine, of small size, closed loop is totally unnecessary". If you doubt that go to my website and take a look at some of the stuff I have made. OK I can improve on all of it by using higher resolution, smaller cutting tools etc etc but no improvement would be gained by me using closed loop.

The debate between servo's and steppers will go on forever and it is "horses for courses". Mach has proved to be good for driving both.

Tweakie.

7587
General Mach Discussion / Re: Rogue step pulses when system idle
« on: January 13, 2011, 11:49:37 AM »
Keith,

Electrical noise can be generated by (or from) the PC parallel port and on the ground return rather than any particular pin. This could easily be triggered by a mouse click as well as other things so noise should not be ruled out too easily. You could perhaps check for earth loops as an initial source of the problem.
Connecting a small 0.1uF capacitor from each input (limit switches, estop etc etc) to ground (at the breakout board) is well worth trying (inputs only).

Tweakie.

7588
I agree and anyways if a position error occurs and is subsequently corrected (by closed loop) there is a good chance that the job has already been spoiled (obviously this, to a certain extent, depends on the 'steps per' or resolution of the machine). The secret to success is no error in the first place.

Tweakie.

7589
FAQs / Re: RESET- E-stop & Limit switch's issue
« on: January 13, 2011, 05:26:02 AM »
Bruce,

Sounds like you know what to look for, ground loops are so easy to create and cause so many problems. Noise spikes can be extremely narrow and although of high amplitude are still sometimes quite difficult to spot.

Tweakie.

7590
Some have been able to use it successfully in production environments, but it is still a "hobby" control.

A bit more than 'hobby' today. One can do serious production with it IF you know how.

Cheers



I second this, in fact there are a great number of people using Mach3, in it's present form, for serious production.

Providing a CNC system is designed and built reasonably well there really is no need for closed loop operation - yes it would be nice but accurate, reliable and repeatable work can be achieved without closed loop.

Tweakie.

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