Messages

1591

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 7x12 Mini-Lathe converted to CNC

« on: May 25, 2014, 07:34:19 AM »

Jfong,
CNC lathes are fun and glad you got it up and running.

You may want to have a look at LazyTurn for doing profiles on the lathe.

Like you I have made a lot of holders for the small quick change. One to add to your to do list is a drill chuck holder
and attached shows one I use a lot.  A few comments about it:
- Drill / ream the arbor hole first and then square up the stock based on the arbor and machine the rest as required.
- In the picture is a  small Albrecht chuck ( 0 - 1/8" ) shown for comparison to a keyed chuck ( which happens to repeatably hold drills accurately )
  so the distance to the tool post is minimized.
- The tool post will need to be oriented based on drill holder. I say this because you set the drill so it's parrell to the lathe center and then use
   the master tool to touch off. So the threading tool holder wants to be perpendicular to the lathe center. Just something to think about when your
  making other holders. That allows for tool changes in the program.

Have fun,
RICH

1592

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie Advice

« on: May 23, 2014, 06:00:49 AM »

I was talking about Mach3 Turn. You may want consider use a modified screen for the lathe such as the one in the link below.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,13548.msg88932.html#msg88932

Wizards can do general tasks on the fly and can be put togther to create code for a piece. Stand  alone software for the lathe to do more complex tasks  which involve designing a piece and generating the code require CAM. I don't know if Aspire has a lathe CAM. CAM programs such as
Dolphin Lathe, BobCad, etc can do what you want. All depends on how much you want to spend. YOU need to look at them and see what interface YOU like.

RICH

 

1593

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie Advice

« on: May 23, 2014, 05:18:12 AM »

Colin,
You can use Mach to control the lathe.
Generating Gcode for the lathe can be done manualy, with the help of the available wizards, programs such as LazyCam, New Fangled Solutions,
 or CAM software like Dolphin Lathe etc.

RICH 

1594

General Mach Discussion / Re: Another lathe tooltable thread - boring and drilling tools

« on: May 20, 2014, 08:09:10 AM »

Rim,
You can manualy enter offsets into the tool table if you know the difference from the master tool.

So one can just put the master tool at X &Z=0. Use tool#0 but with the master tool #1 in the holder (you can't change the offsets for tool #0). Using machine coordinates you can move as you wish away from zero and the DRO's show the  distance from X & Z=0. Note that in machine coordinates diameter is in radius uinits and that is true for the X offset in the tool table. Touch off with the drill or boring bar and now move  the controlled point ( ie; center of drill or cutting edge of boring bar ) to zero as the DRO's are showing the offset from the master tool.

I like to keep a spread sheet of the tool table and also run a macro to print out the current tool table.

Note that all the tools are related to the master tool and for that matter are also related to each other.

Just another way and you can't screw up the other tool settings. Just make sure you always use the master tool for set up.

FWIW,
RICH

BTW, MACH4 will have a nice lathe tool setting procedure when ever it becomes available.

1595

General Mach Discussion / Re: What's setting free the magic smoke? Help please.

« on: May 16, 2014, 09:18:19 PM »

Who hasnt inadvertently drilled or milled a hole into a vise, clamp or the bed of the machine for that matter?

Me, but i will admit that hopefully it will never happen, but I am assuming that i also have a lot of time to go and only time will tell. 

RICH

1596

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 cant reach desired position .00x

« on: May 16, 2014, 07:28:42 AM »

Rotary axis is A,B,C about the associated X,Y,Z axis.
A rotary axis can be linear or degrees.
You need  required axis resolution for positional accuracy.

Not sure what your trying to accomplish by setting the rotary axis to X.

RICH

1597

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ScreenSet Question

« on: May 16, 2014, 07:09:04 AM »

How will use of an MPG be handled?
Will it be a device?

IE; will that be done via a plugin or will the equivilant setup to Mach3 be provided later on.
If it's a plugin can you provide a generic plugin for multiple MPG's?
 
RICH



 

1598

General Mach Discussion / Re: What's setting free the magic smoke? Help please.

« on: May 15, 2014, 07:18:39 AM »

You need to know the spec's for your stepper motor and then just look around for one that is as good or better.
These days you can buy a new stepper rather cheap so maybe skip the used stuff.

I would suggest that you go to the Geco site. They have info on how to properly test their drive to see if it's blown.
Never plug or unplug a stepper when it's powered, or take readings on the wires when powered.
Also have a look at the different wiring configurations. Don't assume that color coding is correct, thus check continuity to confirm .  Cross sheck the leads to the coil windings to make sure there is no shorting.

If you don't know what your doing stop.....stop what your doing.
Stopping is way cheaper than blowing a drive or doing damage.

RICH

1599

General Mach Discussion / Re: Multiple MPG - Can this be done ?

« on: May 14, 2014, 07:38:06 PM »

does it work well

yes and don't know if i could live without them

did you have to make detents to keep the handwheel from moving

Friction keeps the wheel from turning on mine, detents may be fine if you want to have a feel / indication for amount of movement.
I mostly use mine to touch off tools, and for the lathe, a full turn is around 0.012" but without looking at the screen very easy to move in small increments
like .0002" since i can hear the steppers step.

encoder count

would need to look it up as i don't recall it's been that long

RICH

1600

General Mach Discussion / Re: Multiple MPG - Can this be done ?

« on: May 14, 2014, 07:27:57 PM »

Watch out if your using them to actualy machine something.
Sneeze while turning the mpg can mean one heck of a gouge into the material, broken tool......
Don't ask how i would know that. 

BTW, for machining an xbox controller can be used with some practice as a lot of settings and control  are available.
My friends use it all the time but I don't since i don't feel confortable using it for machining.

RICH

To each their owne...........