Messages

7721

General Mach Discussion / Re: My CNC build

« on: March 09, 2009, 03:25:54 AM »

Nice build and brilliant documentation on the construction.

I think Fernando may be right in that your steppers are not providing enough torque to drive the axis's reliably.

(Just for reference my steppers are 5 Volt, 2 Amp per phase and they are driven at 25 Volts, 1.5 Amp per phase).

Tweakie.

7722

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie needs help

« on: March 08, 2009, 12:16:26 PM »

I would like to second Brian's comments above.
Mach represents such excellent value for money that if it is used for CNC then it should be purchased. (I regularly run code in excess of 250,000 lines splitting that into 500 line chunks would be mind numbing).

Tweakie.

7723

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: My first attempt at a CNC build.

« on: March 08, 2009, 04:44:05 AM »

Looking really good.

Tweakie.

7724

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie needs help

« on: March 07, 2009, 02:55:18 AM »

Very strange that the laptop will show all the code and the desktop will not. I wonder if the laptop would actually run all the code without having the licensed version installed ?.

Tweakie.

7725

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie needs help

« on: March 06, 2009, 03:57:15 AM »

Check your Cut2D GCode for G50 (reset scale factors) and G20/G21 (units Inch/mm) and correct if necessary.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

7726

General Mach Discussion / Re: Missed steps after upgrade

« on: March 06, 2009, 03:36:29 AM »

You could also try selecting 'Sherline mode' under the 'Ports and Pins' menu.

Tweakie.

7727

General Mach Discussion / Re: What is your trade?

« on: March 03, 2009, 07:29:53 AM »

Hi Rich,

You really should not have told anyone, especially Sam, about the 'Pecker' nickname - I think you know just know what's going to happen now.

Tweakie.

btw. I'm just a boring old electronics engineer - nothing special ever happens in electronics.

7728

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: My homemade cnc router

« on: March 02, 2009, 07:31:17 AM »

Brilliant work there Brian. Incidentally my friends just look at me and smile if I mention CNC - They think I am nuts, perhaps they are right.

Tweakie.

(Your workshop looks about as tidy as mine does).

7729

General Mach Discussion / Re: "Wizards--Circular Pocket" setting

« on: March 02, 2009, 03:17:52 AM »

Hi Richard,

For me the best thing about CNC is the learning experience so I recommend that you try various combinations to find what is best for your machine and material you are using.

To start, try using a piece of MDF (beaverpuke) this is soft enough to tolerate high feed rates (or mistakes) without damaging the cutting tool. As for a starting place you could try the following:-

X centre 0
Y centre 0
Pocket Dia +20
% Stepover 25
Feedrate +100
Rapid height +1
Feed Plunge +2
Depth +10
Ramp dist +2
Tool dia +4
Step depth +2
Units mm

All the best,

Tweakie.

7730

General Mach Discussion / Re: "Wizards--Circular Pocket" setting

« on: March 01, 2009, 03:53:06 AM »

Just one thing that I found with the pocket wizard - If you are milling deep pockets (say 15mm deep with 2mm pecks) it saves a considerable amount of time if you edit the wizard produced GCode to remove the unnecessary +Z moves in between each of the step depth increments. This is not difficult to do and as I said it does save a considerable amount of machine time.

Tweakie.