Topics

11

General Mach Discussion / MACH3 for Plasma Machine

« on: July 09, 2016, 05:17:51 PM »

HOw do I get a Mach 3 program for plasma cutting only tilldirt@itstriangle.com
( Posted by Vernella June 24, 2016 )

Which Mach 3 program do I buy that will run my plasma cutter tilldirt@itstriangle.com
( Posted by Vernella June 28, 2016 )

Hi My plasma quit moving and I am trying to buy a new program to fix this tilldirt@itstriangle..com
( Posted by Vernella July 03, 2016 )

This the third time I have ask does standard Mach 3 run a plasma cutting table I have not been able to
find the answer Dick tillldirt@itstriangle.com
( Posted by Vernella July 09, 2016 )

( This topic created for Vernella by RICH )

12

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / TOOL SHARPENING

« on: May 12, 2016, 08:54:55 AM »

TOOL SHARPENER
Not much CNC work as this was a build as you go kind of project.

I have a Darex end mill sharpener and it works great and also use A Foley saw sharpenener as a bench grinder, but,
never used the Foley much because the grinding dust went everywhere.
Shop space is rather limited.

As the used / chipped / broken carbide end mills and lathe tools start to pile up wanted something to prep them for finish grinding.

So started looking at all that "stuff" one collects over time to see what could be used to  make some general use carbide grinding fixtures.

Some thoughts on the matter included:
1. Cheap / "this is not going to cost much" ( hobbiest creed!)
2. Use the "stuff" you have
3. Must be easy to setup, rather accurate to minimise use of expensive diamond
   wheels for rough sharpening.
4. Be able to sharpen carbide lathe tools including inserts and end preparation  
   of broken / chipped / end mills.
5. Keep it small, is movable, and can be easily stored away.
 
So the attached file shows some of the things made.

Note: When you make a fixture the mounting needs to be accurately done as that provides for easy and accurate setup. Keep things symetrical about drilling, based plates
square etc.

SAFETY NOTE:
Pay attention to recomended and max rpm of wheels. Don't believe the cheap stuffs claim that it's good to 30K RPM. Test anything you make for runout and vibration. I put a rated 35K small wheel in a bench mounted die grinder and it went into vibration at about 15K bending the tool steel arbor ...almost jumped off the bench ( it was rigidly clamped down). Be carefull!  

RICH

13

Tangent Corner / TIRED OF LOOKING FOR TOOLING

« on: May 11, 2016, 09:48:05 AM »

Got tired of looking for the right size and type end mill. Too many end mills of various sizes and condition.
So, gathered "some" of them, sorted to size and stuck them in homemade drawers.
The shell holders from handgun ammo, 9mm are just right, with 9 glued together provide for storing 450
3/8" end mills in a drawer in a small space.

Now continuing on ...... you may find that the shielding screens from computers or whatever can provide for organization
of the small 1/8"  & 3/6" shanked diameter end mills. Beats drilling 100's of holes! Old ammo cases can provide for storage also.

Adding an insert to drawer with say 3/4 or 1" holes provides a lot of storage for larger shanked end mills.

Then one day I got tired of looking for the tools to countersink machine screws.
Would spend more time getting the right few tools than doing the work.
Sorted and put in holders.
A set of bottoming drills are nice to have for the mill and lathe and were easy to make.

Of course you always have the odd balls that just wants it owne space. IE; 4" diameter  60 degree cutter and some others just want
can't seem to find a home.

What can one say......build a bigger drawers!

Some pic's in attached file.

RICH

14

Members Docs / Arc Command - MILL

« on: February 25, 2016, 05:00:23 AM »

ARC COMMAND - MILL

This article from thread:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,32004.msg222697.html#msg222697
attempts to explain the arc command.

Thanks to rgsparber for posting.

RICH

15

Tangent Corner / It's That Time Of year Again

« on: December 23, 2015, 06:26:32 AM »

To All,

Merry Christmas.
May 2016 bring health and happiness to you and yours.

RICH

16

Tangent Corner / TURKEYS TAKING UP RESIDENCE

« on: March 31, 2015, 10:48:07 AM »

I live in a residential neighborhood. SO I go outside to take out the garbage cans. Typical Monday morning!
To my supprise these gal's have decided to take up residence and run up and down the front yards. pic 54
They follow me ( yeah .... felt like mother goose! pic 55)   and showed them  to my meighbors back yard  ( don't want their green poo on my sidewalk and the dog was going goofy when she saw them).
Still here today........just can't pick your relations or your neighbors. Guess one should look at things from their point of view.


RICH
 

17

Members Docs / BACKLASH SETTING 50-50-50 RULE

« on: February 22, 2015, 08:58:49 PM »

My backlash suggestion "50-50-50" rule to consider is as follows:

50% - The max velocity is 50% of where your steppers will start to skip
50% - Set the shuttle Wheel setting in configuration to .0050  to .050 ( .5 too slow )
50% - Backlash speed
The last two settings have an affect on how the backlash is implemented.

---------------------------------------------------------
The Shuttle Wheel Accel is in seconds. How exactly is the" time" applied to the backlash "cycle"?
Well I don't really know.
 It's internal to Mach. By observing the difference in how the motor reacts to different settings
 you will see that it affects the overall time it takes for Mach to take up the backlash and at
 say a value of 5 you will find that over five seconds the handwheel / shaft will turn
 rather slowly. At 0.005 sec its almost instantaneous. In the real slow setting, and say you jog
 a distance of .1"  you will find there seems to be almost 3 distinct motor responses in the cycle,
 ....... a small rotation then deceleration...... then backlash taken up over a time...and then 
 accel and move to finish the distance.

So to get of flavor of it you need to start slow, observe, listen to see what is happening over an operating range.
Work your way up in settings.

NOTE:
Carefull with the backlash, with small diameter end mills you can break them in a heart beat. Rule of thumb is max depth
of cut  less than 1/2 dia of mill. BC worked fine for me for when  ihad to use it.
 

RICH

18

Members Docs / MACH 3 TUTORIAL - SETTING UP A BASIC 3 AXIS MILL

« on: January 05, 2014, 05:58:18 AM »

Here is a copy of tutorial.
RICH

19

MACH TOOL BOX / MACRO - LATHE TOOL TABLE

« on: December 11, 2013, 08:09:19 AM »

The macro will create a file called ToolInfo_LATHE.txt in folder ( you need to create the folder) under Mach3 (IE; c:\mach3\LATHE TOOL TABLE ).

Example of txt file content: *Tool1 * MASTER*TIP RAD 0 *X OFFSET 0 *Z OFFSET 0*XWEAR 0 *ZWEAR 0
                                          Date: 12/11/2013 Time: 7:20:38 AM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't provide the Tip Dir, Turret....., or Post.
You may need to change the macro if the path to  cmd.exe  is different than  c:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c" & sCOMMAND

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Put the macro in the Mach3 / macros / " the lathe profile folder you will be using"
You may want to change the macro number if you wish and  run the macro via the MDI line anytime you alter the tool table.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just the macro I prefer to use for the lathe,
RICH

20

MACH TOOL BOX / MACRO- LATHE DRILLING MACRO - G83

« on: November 27, 2013, 05:07:33 PM »

M1083 was replaced in some later Mach versions with one that did not work completely.
There were issues with the macro where Z will feed back in after the retract rather than rapid back in.

Replace your existing one with the attached one.

REFERENCE POST:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,25964.msg183017.html#msg183017