Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 07:19:37 PM

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - RICH

Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 »
141
General Mach Discussion / Re: Lathe tool table
« on: January 27, 2019, 10:21:02 AM »
Vince,

1. I have set up my lathe tool table using tool 1 as reference. 
How can I make an adjustment to tool 1 without having to reset all the other tools?


You are correct in knowing that if you change tool number #1 offfsets it will affect all the other tool use."All" the tools were originaly touched off to same reference point / surface. One can change all the other tool offsets appropriately based on tool#1 adjustment or physicaly position tool#1 back to where it should be relative to the other tools.

So the easiest way would be to touch off to the the X and Z  reference points using one
of the other tools ( their relationships have not changed). Then select tool #1, and move the correct distance, to the same X and Z reference points and reposition tool#1 in the holder. Now repositioning the master tool can be a PITA and that's why I use the equivilent of a cut off tool for the master tool since it has  flat sides and a perpendicular front.

I assume you danaged tool#1 which was the master tool. Frankly the master tool should not be used for machining and and it should not have any tool offsets!

2.  I put a 1/2" precision pin gage in the headstock and set all the tool offsets from that.  Now, each time  I am working on a project, I set tool 1 based on the length and width of the stock and the rest of the tools are good to go, correct?

Most programs produce code that is precompensated for lathe tool geometry.
Most generated code will be based on the stock being at some X and Z=0 where the stock centerline is on the lathes center line and the stock face is Z =0.  If the tool table is correct, touch off with the master tool#1 to define a work offset (G54 is Mach lathe default) and all should be good to go. From a defined tool change / home postion you can touch off with any of the tools.

I suggest the following if using Mach3 Lathe:
- Use a different screen set than the default Lathe Screen set.
- Use probing for work set up and tool setting.
- Create a custom screen set to satisfy how you work.

FWIW,
I use a simple homemade four surface tool setter which takes care of "ANY" type of  lathe tool. A pin is just a PITA and you will make mistakes.The probing and a custom page to set tools just makes ease for the whole process.

RICH

142
General Mach Discussion / Re: Lathe tool table
« on: January 24, 2019, 07:39:18 AM »
Vince,
Do you use probing to set up / populate the tool table?

Tool 0 info can't be changed in Mach. Tool 0 is not recognized by many programs as a valid tool number.
But, a tool like tool 0 with no offsets, can be used to advantage for measuring when in  Machine Coordinates.
I use the master tool concept where tool #1 is the master tool and has no offsets which makes tool zero 0
usefull for setting up tool and work ( ie; you can't screw up the tool table by changing tool #1 offsets which will change the other tool offset.

Have you looked at the G10 L1  command which will change the tools offset?

You can also use "wear" in the tool table to provide for adjustment of a tool.

Also note that you have a master tool and that all the other tools are related to the master tool, but,
also understand that ALL the tools are related to each other.  Thus any tool can be used for setup
once the tool table is populated appropriately.

RICH

143
General Mach Discussion / Re: DXF
« on: January 22, 2019, 05:35:04 AM »
Did you read the LC manual? Don't hack the program, RTFM!
Did you clean the file upon importing into LC?
Did you select you want to generate code for?
Did you turn on the layers you want to generate code for and provide the appropriate information?
If trying to use the advanced features of LC is it the Pro version which requires a license?
Do you have a Mach license?

POST The dxf file.

RICH

144
General Mach Discussion / Re: DXF
« on: January 21, 2019, 04:35:41 PM »
Ray,
Not familiar with TurboCad, but make sure that when you save it as a dxf file that the complete content  is exported. Other CAD
programs allow you to turn off layers / levels / whatever such that they are not exported.

In LC you should see both of the connecting rods if exported correctly.
I suggest you have a read of the LazyCam Manual. When generating code within LC you need to have the layer enabled.
Read the manual.......

If you want post the "version 12" dxf for someone to try it on their end.

RICH

145
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How to generate gcode to do pearling
« on: January 18, 2019, 04:03:39 PM »
How are you achieving this?

It's jeweling. For small diameters , say 1/4",  one could just buy an adapter which holds an
rubber abrasive similar to an eraser on a pencil. If one dose not have a lot of it to be done you can glue emery cloth to a pencil eraser. For big stuff, Mach trailer, I have seen it done manualy with an abrasive pad. 

RICH

146
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3turn tool table is making me crazy
« on: January 12, 2019, 06:00:07 AM »
There are a few different ways to touch off the tools to populate the tool table.
I would strongly recomend that you use probing for touching off the tools.
To each their owne...........

The master tool concept is used. I use tool #1 as the master tool and it has no offset values and is not used to machine with. Tool #1 and tool #0 both have no tool offset.Understand that all the tools relate to the master tool and all the tools relate to each other! Tool # 0 offset is zero and can't be changed in the table. SO using tool "0" you can move to a reference location anywhere and touch off to a surface, and define that point  in Machine Coordinates as zero. Don't have any work offset / G52 / G92  offsets in affect when doing this. You are using  Machine Coordinates as a way to measure the touch off distance difference between the different tools. You should be  be in radius mode/absolute modes as all the offset values in the tool table are in terms of radii.

When doing the above once, the master tool has been touched off, you simply move the controlled point anywhere, change the tool, and touch off to the reference surface, continuing on until all the tools have been touched off. Said differently , a point you are at is a location which is defined as zero, any movement away from that point is tracked constantly, you move back with a different length tool and the dro shows the difference in length of a different tool when it touches the zero point.

FWIW, I can probe 20 tools and populate the tool table in 15 to 20 minutes and accuracy / repeatability is +- 0.0002".

RICH

147
I suggest you consider something different. There is too much backlash in the rack and pinion.
Not an answer to your question, but been there done that and similar.

RICH

148
G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Homing on the fly
« on: January 03, 2019, 06:09:13 PM »
BTW,
You can return to home / to some point any time by adding a few lines of the proper gcode to your program.

The problem that you have is that you don't know where / when your actually missing steps, and chances are the missed steps are not repeatable at some location of the  program. IE; If you have no head room in your tuning  to account for variations in the properties of the wood or whatever you will continue to have reliability problems.   

FWIW,
RICH

149
G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Homing on the fly
« on: January 03, 2019, 05:49:22 PM »
You have what you have!

Don't expect some band aid approach to do machining  with a machine  run in a manner which is above it's capability.

Can't imagine anyone making recommendations to run your current  machine outside of it's capability.

I am thinking, that after 8 years of making the same product, you have done all you can to refine what your doing in MeshCam
to generate a time saving program.


RICH

 


 


150
G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Homing on the fly
« on: January 03, 2019, 09:14:55 AM »
Do as you wish, but, what your asking is not the way to take care of missing steps.

Acceleration  setting becomes more important on small axis moves to save time. In carving you will have a lot of small axis moves.
Make adjustments in the software ( MeshCam ) to maximize the efficiency of machining relative to a repeatable accuracy level that your machine is capable of. If not satisfied then upgrade the machines capability.

Again, a workaround to an ill defined cause of the problem, is just not the way address the problem.

RICH






Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 »