Messages

2941

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please

« on: January 20, 2012, 06:38:18 AM »

 I wonder how the manuals are updated

Can ony address the ones that I wrote. There are only a few changes required since it was originaly posted and
wanted to let time take it's course....which is now a few years .  It's good for a writer to let it sit and then go back and read it since the dumb things become apparent.

For anything that was written by me,  I just make notes on my copy from posted replies, with the intent of udating it.
That requires reading / scanning every post that's made on the site and being aware of Mach changes. I have never recieved any feed back on the bulk of them and i know for a fact that i am not that good at writing about something.
  
Will update it and repost it in Members Docs.

RICH

2942

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cutting depth is deeper than whats programmed

« on: January 19, 2012, 09:24:46 PM »

Just repeat exactly how you set up before, but don't run the program, Then look at  CONFIG> FIXTURES
and see if there are any offsets. Also look at your first few lines of code and see what moves are taking place.

Think you will find your answer.

BTW, You can avoid what happened by air cutting / dry running the program before actually trying to machine it.
This way if something is not correct you can correct it before milling the table top.
RICH

2943

Share Your GCode / Re: anyone have code for a mini cooper logo?

« on: January 19, 2012, 06:37:14 AM »

Bob,
The gcode for a lathe or mill is manipulated back into a form of a dxf file. If you look at version 12 dxf file with notepad
you will see data for every vector  / direction and length .  Backplotting is the reverse. A friend wrote a program that works fantastic so i keep testing it. What you get in the backplotted dxf is all the pathing and the pathing are placed on diffferent layers and color coded. Very easy to compare the original dxf to the gcode generated. Unforetunately
he will not share it with the community. NCPLOT is a program that will backplot but it's like $400.

RICH

2944

Share Your GCode / Re: anyone have code for a mini cooper logo?

« on: January 18, 2012, 07:35:17 PM »

Here is a dxf based on backplotting the gcode.
RICH

2945

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 G-Code conversion

« on: January 17, 2012, 06:04:09 PM »

Post the gcode file and maybe someone will back plot the gcode to a dxf file.
RICH

2946

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 17, 2012, 04:48:50 PM »

Clearance and tolerance are still a bit hazy

There are two clearances, one is how far you want the tool to retract from the stock ( pullout) and the other is how much you want to leave on the stock after the cutting ( stock clearance ). ( see page 23 of the manual).
You can think of tolerance as how closely the pathing will try to follow the profile.

Note that every button and it's associated inputs are defined in the manual.

What did you do to produce the pathing shown in the hcir.jpg? It looks like you have a large number of passes, both for rough and finishing

.

It is so easy to delete and then do another rough and finish pass that i would recomend that a new user use a rougher /
more cutting depth so they can get a feel for the passes provided and get a feel for the pathing.
So instead of .005" depth of cut use say .050" and you will see what is provided and what is left until you get the hang of it.

I need a sharp corner on the left side of the collet

You will need to use a sharp tool ( parting tool will work ....create the tool and try it) or use a left cutting tool. You can't select a place on the part to start the pathing but you can always use the same dxf with modifications.

As the profiles become more compplex you need to use a number of different tools just as if you were doing it manualy
on the lathe.

RICH

2947

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 17, 2012, 06:35:03 AM »

Post screen shots of :
-the tool input dialog screen for your 35 diamond
-roughing parameters dialog screen
- The top side ruler ( green / yellow pentagon) how much of an offset are you using?
   Why are you doing that?
  
I have no problem with your drawing.

Have you had a look at the manual?

RICH

 

2948

General Mach Discussion / Re: Question on "Zerp World"

« on: January 16, 2012, 06:40:58 PM »

The home position will be lost since by clicking the Zero World button you are telling Mach that the current position in Machine coordinates is now
at a different location. So you would need to define where your new home position is.  Home can be anywhere.  Think of it as cleaning everything and starting from scratch.

RICH

2949

Feature Requests / Re: Probing Surface to adjust Depth of Carvings on Non-Planar Surface??

« on: January 16, 2012, 04:36:57 PM »

Tom,
Can't read German thus the link is of no value to see what magic the software does or dosen't do.

I model 3D parts in AutoCad, generate code using with MeshCam or CamBam.
Don't fool with point clouds at home since it's enough of a PITA at work and leave it to the pro's at work to do if required.


RICH

2950

SmoothStepper USB / Re: smooth stepper and C32 BOB

« on: January 16, 2012, 06:30:53 AM »

Assign as you wish. I would recommend that a user make a list of their available pins based on port, inputs, outputs and what they are used for.
 This way you know what has been used and what is still available.

RICH