Messages

271

Machscreen Screen Designer / Re: MachScreen releases

« on: February 24, 2018, 12:31:54 PM »

Thanks for the work you do. I personally appreciate the effort.

RICH

272

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 lathe home input

« on: February 24, 2018, 12:29:14 PM »

So does the G31 command work in Turn?

Yes.
G31 is not delineated in the Lathe Manual but it is in  Using Mach3 Mill manual  ( section 10.7.12.1) so use as defined in the mill manual. I use version .062 and probing works just fine.

I thought I'd seen somewhere that it didn't.

Don't recall anything that said something like that.

Can one invoke it using a Code statement in a macro

Yes, but I have a custom screen set with vb scripted buttons used to probe.  

any chance you could post some example code to get me started please?

First step is to define what you want to acomplish with probing, in light of how you want to use the lathe, and the final  results you desire.
Everybody works diffferently .

RICH

273

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 lathe home input

« on: February 23, 2018, 04:55:04 PM »

probing is not supported in M3 Turn

I probe to set all my lathe tools/ populate the tool table. I also using probing to obtain locations manually or automatically, copy a profile, etc  such that the point locations are saved as a dxf file for easy manipulation. Probing does work in Mach3 Turn but you will need to do some custom screen work to implement it.

RICH

274

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: February 14, 2018, 07:42:46 AM »

Dave,
The ball rotary burs I use have 6 cutting edges on the 0.019" diameter. They machine the material.
Drag seems to not work well  at very small size in terms of quality of the engraving.

Depends on what you want in the end and surely a spring loaded drag tool will do depending on the size and quality of the work to be done.

RICH  

275

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: February 13, 2018, 11:58:43 AM »

Maybe consider using a dental round bur. They come in different sizes and for fine engraving I use FG1/4 ( .5mm dia).
Do a search as you can find some paces that sell them in lots of ten @ around $1.50 each.

RICH

276

General Mach Discussion / Re: newbie and new machine

« on: February 12, 2018, 09:57:18 PM »

If it says demo, then it is not a licensed copy of Mach3. You will need to purchase a license for some lathe functions to work
and be able to run program with more than 500 lines of code.

Do you really  think Taig is giving a Mach3  license away for free?

RICH

277

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: February 12, 2018, 09:46:53 PM »

I personally like to use a high speed rotary tool attached to the Z axis.
The Z axis should have no backlash and be very repeatable . Some work the cut depth is only a few thousands deep. I use several rotarys which run over the range of  18000 rpm to 65000 rpm. The higher ones are air driven.

Here is a link to some small engraving work done a long time ago.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,13398.msg87957.html#msg87957

This link shows soom engraving done on custom mirrors for a chopper.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6187.msg40704.html#msg40704
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6189.msg40706.html#msg40706

I don't use V bits since they just don't hold up well in metal  and the cut becomes wide very quickly limiting
size of the engraving. Play around trying different ways to cut engraving.

All depends on what you want to so. A friend uses a spring assisted drag tool and does does nice work with it.

Don't know what Fusion has available these days. No need for anything fancy as you can use 2d pathing for flat work.

RICH

278

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Glad |I asked first

« on: February 11, 2018, 10:50:36 AM »

Sure BLC in a cnc controller would work very well on a lathe

.

Not really. If you want to do accurate work the heart of the machine, ball screws / bearings ,etc. must be as good as one can provide. Just as Brett has replied. I used BC on mills and lathes and it helped, BUT, the accuracy will never be consistant.Note  that every machine has some non-movement it's just a matter of degree. No one will ever convince me that BC will work just as good a mechanicaly correct machine.  

I do think that BC has a place to improve the preformance of many hobby machines. Many users are not going to spend the money for quality components or machines. That is fine, BUT,  they need to keep use of BC in perspective.

RICH

279

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Glad |I asked first

« on: February 09, 2018, 06:55:20 PM »

Or perhaps you need to get your message across in a way you mean it, which seems the below isn't:

Well after saying the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, all these years,  we sometimes try to change the way we reply so folks who can't get it get it. If at first we don't succeed we try, try again is our motto! 

RICH

280

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Mach3 Error when running G-code

« on: February 08, 2018, 09:50:06 PM »

Gordo,

I back plotted the circular code from the code you posted. The program as posted runs fine here.
I have attached a picture of the gcode back plotted into CAD and it DOES NOT LIE!.

There are two things that I will candidly say:
1. Read the manual as this stuff is not plug and play.
   You must set the steps per unit correctly for each axis.
   CLick the Settings (Alt 6) tab an in the lower left corner you will see Axis Calibration. Click the Set Step per unit button.
   Follow the instructions by selecting an axis, how far you want to move, say 6", it will then ask you how far it actually
   moved, say it was 5" ( you ACTUALY measure the distance it moved and will also say that the move should be as long as
   possible) , Mach3 will then calculate the steps per unit that it should be. Do it more than once until it's right on.

2. The problem is the operator .......... not the software or the generated gcode. I don't know what you measured in some
    drawing,but, as shown it was not right. Do the above and listen to what folks are telling you and you'll be on your way in
    short order.   

BTW, Please read the manual as one of the first things one does is check their axis for calibration.

RICH