Messages

31

General Mach Discussion / Re: Is this prgram ( Mach ) suitable for my milling M/C ??

« on: September 19, 2006, 06:12:44 PM »

I would also suggest you download Mach3 (it is free) and go through
the set up along with the documentation and video's. You do not need
to have a machine hooked up to play with the software.
You will get a much better understanding of Mach's capabilities.

Al

32

General Mach Discussion / Re: A Axis Questions

« on: September 18, 2006, 11:35:20 PM »

A little more thought :
None of the CAM programs I ever used, MasterCam, SmartCam, GibsCam etc
have all of the answers for all of the real life situations that come up in machining.
That is why they all have built in editors. If you rely solely on a cam program you
will become very frustrated, believe me. As a person gains experiece with cnc machining,
cam programs, cad programs and even tooling you will ask yourself "Why didn't I do it like that?"
Learn the editor and use the search and (destroy) I mean replace option. It will become your
friend.

33

General Mach Discussion / Re: A Axis Questions

« on: September 18, 2006, 11:19:34 PM »

I have programmed a lot of rotary axii in my time and unfortunatly that is the
way it works. We have to stop and think about this for a minute. The program is
just outputting a value/unit. exm. F10 is 10 inches per minute if inches is set as the units.
This could be 10mm per minute if mm is set as the units.
On a rotary at F10 it is again 10 units per minute but the units are degrees. Do you see
what I am getting at ?
If you are programming the rotary axis with BobCad can you change BobCads output when
it sees the A axis so as to increase the feed. Or if you want to another way is to program the
A axis in G93 mode. (inverse time) The default in BobCad I'm sure is G94. I personally dod not
like BobCad although it's been a few years since I used it. Actually I write all of my own code.

34

General Mach Discussion / Re: A Axis Questions

« on: September 18, 2006, 11:02:55 PM »

What happens if you just edit the code to a higher feed rate ?
Is it crawling only when moving the A axis only or what happens when moving
it with another axis ? You can change the steps in Mach3 easily. Possibly
you need to have it at some value higher.

35

General Mach Discussion / Re: Is this prgram ( Mach ) suitable for my milling M/C ??

« on: September 18, 2006, 10:53:21 PM »

Mach3 should work just fine for you. When you tune the motors
all screw pitch calculations and resulting steps will be taken into account by Mach.
Your question of the part ending up the same as your .DXF file is determined
by how you create the program. The cutter tool path must end up offset
by the tool radius value to cut the correct size. In other words it's more of a
programming issue than it is Mach.

36

General Mach Discussion / Re: A Axis Questions

« on: September 18, 2006, 10:39:15 PM »

You should be able to set the steps under config motor tuning A axis.
Is this a rotary axis ? If yes it should be programmed in degrees per minute.
Does it crawl only when programmed with another axis move ? If yes
you should be using G93 mode at the time you move it with another axis.
Hope this helps some.

37

General Mach Discussion / Re: New user has question about Mach3 setup

« on: September 17, 2006, 04:53:29 PM »

You will be very pleased with the Xylotex driver. They are so smooth when set up
using Mach3 it is amazing. Just be sure they can handle the voltage and amperage
that your stepper motors require. I say this as they are not concidered high voltage
units. Also be sure your power supply is within the specs. for the Xylotx drives. Look
over there web site information very throughly.
Stepper motors do run hot, but I disagree that they are so hot you can't
touch them. Maybe not hold them for long but they sure as hell should not burn you.

Al

38

General Mach Discussion / Re: Wrong working order when offsets used

« on: September 17, 2006, 12:16:08 PM »

Carel,

Take a look at the safe_z postion option under the config. logic menu.
See using Mach3mill documentation for it's use.
What are the first few lines of your program?

Al

39

General Mach Discussion / Re: Jog continuous/incremental button

« on: September 16, 2006, 07:14:48 PM »

Thanks Hood,

That gives me a good starting direction.

Al

40

General Mach Discussion / Re: Jog continuous/incremental button

« on: September 15, 2006, 09:35:46 PM »

Hood,

What are you using for a keyboard emulator ?
Was it difficult to set up ?
Where did you get the panel buttons ?
Any information on setting up a keyboard emulator would be
very helpful. In the documentation for, I think Mach2, it is mentioned
but sharing your practical experience would be great.

Thanks
Al