Messages

321

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Chiron FZ12 on its way sometime soon(ish)

« on: December 13, 2012, 07:48:21 AM »

Even with only 10 tools, it's far quicker than anything I'll get.
I've got the majestic one arm bandit to look forward to, but that's firmly on next years todo list along with the rest of the mill.

322

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Lathe setting up tools and offsets. hair already gone...teeth next...

« on: December 13, 2012, 04:19:34 AM »

I am wondering how you are doing things when you say you think its the macro. If using offsets are they all in your code? If they are then I would imagine you have Mach set to Ignore Tool Changes. Is that the case? If it is then the M6start macro will not be used at all. Maybe you have the offsets in your macro instead and have it set to Auto Toolchange?
Hood

I still use manual tool changes with a QCTP, as it's only the drills that are ganged.
One of the reasons I use G52 is to avoid having to click start between drills.
I'm sure there is a better way to do things.

323

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Chiron FZ12 on its way sometime soon(ish)

« on: December 12, 2012, 07:33:14 PM »

Looking good.
At the moment I'm thinking, 35 seconds to go through all the tools. I'll be lucky if my new toy can manage one change in that time!

324

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Lathe setting up tools and offsets. hair already gone...teeth next...

« on: December 12, 2012, 07:14:50 PM »

I never could figure out why my G52 offsets ended up being ~1.9 inches away from each other per tool, when the tool block is on 1" centers. Never made any sense....

I use G52s with my gang tool holder, but then mine is set up for drills only, so the X offset never changes, and I just manually edit the G-code if the drill lengths change (I have a whiteboard with a corner dedicated to the drill offsets).

As to your offset being off, now you mention it, I think there is actually a bug in the tool change macro.
I noticed that if after doing a tool change where the X offset changed alot with minimal Z movement, the X axis would loose lots of steps/stall. It's like Mach was ignoring the X axis maximum speed, and setting speeds via the Z axis settings.
For example, if the X-axis had to move 80mm and the Y only 10mm, it would move the Y at rapid speed, and X would stall as it was expected to move at speeds far higher than it should.
I worked around it by adding extra lines to the G-code that move the carriage into the approximate place that is needed after the tool change.

I suspect the issue is something in the tool change macro, however I've never had a chance to look into it in any more detail, and given how cold it is outside, I'm taking the "if it's working, it doesn't need fixed" approach!

325

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Need help wiring my cnc lathe please

« on: December 09, 2012, 07:02:01 PM »

In that case you'll need to add in the additional DPDT relay and switch so you can switch between Manual/Computer, however my concern is the spindle board being continually powered on.

By the looks of the FET board layout, it doesn't have anyway of directly outputting step/dir for the y axis, as it's a combined BOB/stepper driver board. A workaround/bodge would be tracing what pins are driving the PIC chip from the computer input, and if the PIC is in a removable socket, remove the PIC and using a bit suitable wire, wedge it into the socket and use that to connect to the C6. It does mean you'll be relying on the optoisolators built into the C6 to protect the computer.

326

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Chiron FZ12 on its way sometime soon(ish)

« on: December 09, 2012, 12:02:39 PM »

Surely it's the job of the person doing the retrofit to check wiring?

And one mans scrap is another mans gold

327

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Need help wiring my cnc lathe please

« on: December 07, 2012, 06:55:11 PM »

That C6 manual is scarce on the bits of info that are really needed, like what pin works what relay.

The FC250 wiring diagram you've linked to shows the use of an additional DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) relay to change direction, along with a DPDT switch to select manual or CNC speed control, but will still rely on you having the main switch set to forward for the spindle to actually power up. One thing I notice with that set-up, is the spindle power board would be on while changing direction, which has me wondering if that would be healthy for the power board.

Do you still want to keep manual control?
If not, I'd be inclined to bypass the direction switch, add a DPDT relay to control direction via one of the relays on the C6, and use the other C6 relay to enable the spindle power board.

328

SmoothStepper USB / Re: USB Smooth Stepper with C25 Card problems.

« on: December 02, 2012, 02:44:08 PM »

I've got the misfortune of owning a C23, and I've got no plans to buy anything ever again from CNC4PC, after the troubles I had with it, which was eventually traced to a missing socket in one of the opto sockets.

If you want to use a SS, I'd personally buy something from PMDX, as I've yet to see anybody who's had any non self inflicted problems with them, and having spoke to people who've had both, they all say PMDX are better quality.

329

General Mach Discussion / Re: When an input is activated Unwanted output changes

« on: November 29, 2012, 02:35:54 PM »

I'll answer the electronics bit.

What voltage does yoru BOB accept, and do the inputs pull any current?
Limiting the voltage to 5V is easily acheived using a resistor and zener diode, however you need to know how much current the input on the BOB requires to function. It could range from neglible to needing included in the resistor/zener size calculations.

330

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why am I getting this message??

« on: November 28, 2012, 04:35:34 PM »

You've hit the button to notify you of any new topics in the general (1) board.

Just click the link and select yes when it asks you if you want to stop notifications. That will stop you getting an email everytime somebody starts a new topic on the general board.