Messages

2421

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Help/Advice with Gcode Chess Piece

« on: September 20, 2012, 06:57:46 AM »

Part off the same as you would manualy. So just add few lines of code.Move the parting tool to where you want to cut the piece off and then just use a G01 ( ie. G01 X..... F......)  axis move at a feedrate. The tool can provide for chip breaking if prepared correctly and I don't peck when doing a cut off.

Pecking is an in/out motion ( the tool cuts / then retracts / then moves in again and cuts again). For a small diameter one continous motion of cutting should be fine.

RICH

2422

General Mach Discussion / Re: HI I HAVE A QUESTION

« on: September 19, 2012, 11:45:13 AM »

Yes.
 
Will that particular board just hook up trouble free to the pp and work with Mach?
Don't know the answer to question above.

RICH

2423

General Mach Discussion / Re: CNC Masters 1440 lathe to mach3

« on: September 19, 2012, 07:02:40 AM »

CNC Masters is a controller which uses the usb port using their external motion control board. That's what I get from a quick view of their site.
 Mach uses the PP but provides for a few usb external motion devices which have a plug in allowing use of them.
So hardware is different and without a special plug in you would not be able to use their board.

Software related, depends on what the cnc master post processor provides in terms of gcode as compared to Mach's interpretation of
the gcodes.  

So to upgrade would seem that you would rewire properly for Mach hardware use and software wise i would just suggest dumping their program and going to a different cnc program / or using Mach's wizards which provide appropriate code for Mach.

RICH

2424

General Mach Discussion / Re: Antibacklash Nut

« on: September 18, 2012, 07:01:04 AM »

1. How tight is finger tight? It seems if I tight the nut with my finger too tight, the motor does not turn the ballscrew properly, it stalls momentarily.

Guess it depends on what one would feel. I would say in the range of 10 to 40 in-oz.  What is important is that nut is tight enough to remove
most of the play in the bearing. So what you may want to try is tightening the nut until the bearing seats or causes a lot of drag in the bearing and then back off by a part of a turn. That will get you in the ball park of first adjustment for later testing.

How much you tighten everything is important. If loose there will be play in the bearing and you will have backlash and too tight you will be
using up available torque from the motor which is better used for machining. Example, it takes a total of 100 in-oz to move my mills table thus if the motor was rated at 200 in-oz that would only leave 100 in-oz for all the other things associated with that axis. If you leave 30% of available motor torque for headroom then there is not much torque to overcome other influences. Most folks concentrate on the ball nut backlash but the bearings can be a big influence on backlash. You will NEVER have zero backplash or play  in the bearing, but you can
minimize what you end up with. 

I am lucky such that i have an excellant torque gauge and can measure accurately the influence of each item in the axis chain. That allows me to tweak things and arrive at a good comprimise. Be meticulous and it will pay off in the end.

RICH   

2425

General Mach Discussion / Re: Meshcam

« on: September 17, 2012, 07:23:18 PM »

but i can't find anything else either

You got it Dennis, as there is not much out there worth a darn for the lathe as a package. I waited over four years and nothing came to be for the lathe other than LT and that is limited.

I won't try to sell you on MeshCam, but if one can do whatever they want in 3D CAD and generate a stl file, then MeshCam can generate the code for it.  It fit the price and my needs for now and into the future.

RICH

2426

LazyTurn / Re: Complex figures

« on: September 17, 2012, 07:13:22 PM »

G17 is the XY plane (MIll)
G18 defines the planes as XZ ( lathe)

You would be doing 3D work so a model of the figure is made in CAD or CAM. Different CAM programs work differently.
Suggest you have a look at the MeshCam site tutorials or Vectric site tutorials rather than me explaining.

RICH

2427

General Mach Discussion / Re: a few questions aboput tool table setting up

« on: September 17, 2012, 06:30:31 AM »

Here is some addtional info on G28 & G30 saved from another thread worth reading.
RICH

2428

General Mach Discussion / Re: a few questions aboput tool table setting up

« on: September 17, 2012, 06:23:05 AM »

Fred,
Have read of Appendix "F" in the LazyTurn Manual which can be found in Members Doc's.
Should answer a lot of your questions.
RICH

2429

LazyTurn / Re: Complex figures

« on: September 17, 2012, 06:01:24 AM »

You have a router / 3 axis machine (x,y,z axis) along with a rotary which we'll call A axis (4 th axis) and not a conventional lathe.
You can speak in terms of a lathe, if the rotary can be used to turn continuously other than just index and you are configuring
Mach, and also the axis which is holding the tool, such that you have an X & Z axis as conventionally defined for a lathe.

I don't know what software you are referring to. Mach is a controller which controls the axis movements based on instructions as written
or generated by specific software and how the axis are configured. There is big difference between G17 or G18 ( plane selection).

Thus you can use a lathe as a mill or a mill as a lathe, but, the software must generate appropriate code based on configuration. In general
software is specific for a lathe or mill. Mach MSN allows the user to use a mill as a lathe with mounted non-turning cutter .

2D software uses a profile. In the case of Mach Turn, it would assume that it is a conventional lathe, the profile represents a cross section
through a 3D part and thus provides a 3D symmetrical shape about the center line. A chess horse figure is not a completely symmetrical figure.

Just one example to do the horse figure you could  use the mill along with the 4 axis as a rotary such that the piece is machined by rotating the axis in 2 to 4 steps and the Z axis has a rotating cutter ( say router mounted on it).

RICH

 

2430

General Mach Discussion / Re: Meshcam

« on: September 16, 2012, 03:47:33 PM »

Dennis,
I use MeshCam and will admit I'm no expert on it.  You can use it to generate code for 3D or 2D parts.  The code generation is good and the learning curve is rather easy. Also use CutViewer Mill along with it. A stl file of the 3D part is created in CAD and then used by MeshCam to generate the code. Haven't used it for 2d cutting as I have other options, but it can use a dxf. Like any software one needs to play with it.

Watch the videos on the site to get a flavor of how it can be used.
Don't recall if V5 made more import files available. Should be able to find that on the site .
  
BTW, how did you make out with Dolphin Lathe?

RICH