Messages

8001

Tangent Corner / Man Gifts.

« on: January 07, 2010, 04:06:55 AM »

Came across these ads and thought they might appeal. 

Tweakie.

8002

Tangent Corner / Re: Basic electrical questions

« on: January 07, 2010, 02:27:17 AM »

Very nice machine.

Tweakie.

8003

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Dixie Duke - A machine in the making.

« on: January 04, 2010, 03:03:38 AM »

You certainly have done a lot of machining on that part - it's looking good.

Tweakie.

8004

General Mach Discussion / Re: router tooling

« on: January 02, 2010, 09:34:53 AM »

Thanks Sam I didn't know that, I thought all endmills had the center hole.

Tweakie.

8005

General Mach Discussion / Re: router tooling

« on: January 02, 2010, 08:53:30 AM »

To expand slightly on Gerry's reply without causing offense I trust.

The endmill definition may vary from country to country but here in the UK an endmill does not have the cutting surfaces on the tip extending completely across the whole face unlike a slotdrill which does.
This is an important difference as the endmill does not plunge feed as is often required with woodworking.

Tweakie.

8006

General Mach Discussion / Re: router tooling

« on: January 02, 2010, 07:48:04 AM »

The secret is in getting the cuttings out of the tool when routing wood (and plastic) otherwise the work is burned and possible tool damage occurs.

The four or more flutes of conventional milling tools often clog, so wood cutting tools with one or two flutes generally perform better because they don't suffer this problem so easily. Having said that, the conventional milling tools are generally much better quality and keep their sharpness better.

I have found (from others example) that a low pressure air jet, aimed at the tool, gets the cuttings out and enables multi-fluted tools to be used successfully. So the bottom line is try it and see.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

8007

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP...One more driver installation problem

« on: December 30, 2009, 03:55:23 AM »

Mach3.sys is located in the Mach folder.

On re-installing Mach....... after you have un-installed Mach check 'control panel, add remove programs' and remove any Mach programs there, then from 'windows explorer' remove any Mach files and folders etc, then re-install Mach. This way you should get a clean install complete with the driver.

Tweakie.

8008

General Mach Discussion / Re: e-stop

« on: December 29, 2009, 03:13:29 AM »

Regarding the Z plate - As you now have pin 13 free, connect it there and configure 'probe' (config, ports & pins, input signals) to pin 13.

Tweakie.

8009

General Mach Discussion / advice please

« on: December 28, 2009, 03:21:22 AM »

It all depends on the rest of your circuit - The 2803 is just a driver and is limited to 500mA per phase which is marginal.
A better choice, from the Alegro range, would be the A3979 which can provide up to 2.5A per phase also taking care of stationary current limiting, microstepping etc. etc. and requires few additional components to make a complete driver and is, of course, fully Mach3 compatible.

Tweakie.

8010

General Mach Discussion / Re: How can a CNC machine save time?

« on: December 27, 2009, 05:58:48 AM »

Ahh - My Grandad told me about the Good Old Days when all the machines were shaft and belt operated from a central steam engine. Some poor s** had to stoke the boiler and get steam up before he started work at 6am. I think he did actually operate a CNC machine (Coal Not Coke). 

Tweakie.