Messages

1851

General Mach Discussion / Re: Please help with lathe tool tables

« on: November 13, 2013, 07:47:56 PM »

Fastest,

Consider the following:

1. Different lathe screens
2. Different ways of holding  the tools ( ie; turret, quick change, multiple tool holding bar)
3. Different machine setups ( ie; no home switches, home switches, using soft limits, etc)
4. Different techniques to touch off the tool
5. Lots of buttons on the screen ( who reads a manual to learn what they are for or what happens when you tick one )
6. Who reads the manual to understand the logic of the different coordinate systems, offsets, configuration, etc.

The list can go on and on, but, as far as the tool table is concerned, they all have a BASIC  thing in common,
namely........ each tool has an X and Z offset from a reference.

So, if you forget about all the considerations listed above, focus on just the tool / populating the table and grasp the basic concept, the tool table itself becomes rather simple. 

LATHE TOOL TABLE BASIC CONCEPT
The tool table is just a listing of the distances the tools are from some location. The same location is used for all the tools.
One tool is used to define the location to the software and then all the other tools are moved to that same location to
find the difference in distance they are from that location. Each tool distance is stored in the tool table for use by the software.

 RICH

1852

General Mach Discussion / Re: Please help with lathe tool tables

« on: November 13, 2013, 01:06:18 PM »

I'll post some info in Member's Doc's on setting up the tool table.
Found the file I posted for Fastest1 some time ago, thought I put in Members Doc's, but it never got there.

I think  I understand what the difficulty about the tool table is and will try to address it.

Later,
RICH

1853

General Mach Discussion / Re: Please help with lathe tool tables

« on: November 12, 2013, 02:02:31 PM »

Hey Hood,
While watching your video I liked your touch off indicator. So having an extra center finder for the mill decided to try
it out for the lathe. The tape just keeps end of the finder centered and restricts movement. The accuracy for setting lathe tools was exceptional, and although I have a microscope on the carriage, touching off to the center finder is so much quicker.
Pic attached......

RICH

1854

FAQs / Re: Beginner and need help wih Mach3 setup

« on: November 12, 2013, 06:02:55 AM »

Suggest you install the latest or later version.
RICH

1855

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Lazy cam to Mach3 G code file not loading properly

« on: November 10, 2013, 07:11:14 PM »

Skip the LazyCam module and use LazyTurn instead. There are a number of issues with the lathe module in LazyCam, Tool definition in particular.
RICH

1856

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie set up question

« on: November 10, 2013, 07:07:55 PM »

You can add a scale factor to any of the axis by putting a number other than 1 in the scale box ( next to the axis DRO )
RICH

1857

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: PLEASE HELPPPPPPPPPPP

« on: November 10, 2013, 07:04:01 PM »

See my reply to your other thread. Use LazyTurn instead. You will find a user manual for LazyTurn in Member's Doc's.

RICH

1858

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: LAZYCAM - DEFINITON OF ANY TERM IN THE MANUAL

« on: November 10, 2013, 07:01:41 PM »

MOHEMEDHELMI,
The lathe module requires a license in order to use it.
I strongly suggest you skip LazyCam for the lathe and use LazyTurn instead as that was done to replace
Lazycam's Lathe module.

RICH

1859

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help!

« on: November 09, 2013, 06:38:52 PM »

Nick,
Sometimes the machine and software just waite a long time, they have infinite patience, then out the blue they may quitely show somethng which is representative of  words from a movie ......" Tell me, do you feel lucky, just can't seem to remember how many times I let you run with no problems, now then, it may have been 10 times or ten months of running, just can't seem to recollect, so tell me Nick, feel lucky?"   

RICH

1860

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Z Axis Weight

« on: November 06, 2013, 06:34:48 AM »

Nicolas,
Drilling a lot of holes may cause the plate to warp. Holes under the rails should not be a problem since the rails act as a stiffener when bolted
to the plate. If you drill addtional holes between the rails for weight reduction that is where you are most likely to get warpage.
Holes between the rails should be done in the center of the plate and arranged so that you have the equivilant of x patterns in the plate
about the holes.

Before you anything, maybe you want to see just how much weight reduction you are getting since  it may not be worth doing in the first place.

RICH