Messages

4451

Tangent Corner / HOT DOG DAYS

« on: July 24, 2010, 08:23:34 AM »

  RICH

4452

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Mill

« on: July 23, 2010, 08:29:52 PM »

Ken,
Make note of the original steps per unit. Now go to the settings page and calibrate each axis ( info in the manual ).
( the steps per inch, velocity and acceleration can be changed in CONFIG>MOTOR TUNING )
See if there is any difference and be meticulous in what you do. You may want to tweak the steps per unit.
I would suggest that you check it out some by first seeing what the steps per unit should be for say a max travel, then 1/2 the max travel,
and then see what it looks like at a range of motion you may normaly be working at.

Don't know what kind of balls screws are in your machine and the associated specs for them. Even lower spec'd ones will be in the +- .003" / ft
and they would be very repeatable if backlash was neglegable.

You need to have confidence that the steps are correct, machine is adjusted nicely, and then you can adjust machining  practice to achieve desired results.

RICH

4453

General Mach Discussion / Re: What speed computer are you running with Mach?

« on: July 23, 2010, 07:55:07 PM »

Hi Dave,
That's the big difference as my Dells have on-board video and it wasn't worth spending money on The GX520.
My friend has 3 or 4 different Dells than mine and they "sucked " also for cnc control.
Sorry for the "sucked" description but it is what it is and that's the best description i could provide from our experience.
I certainly don't like to bad mouth anything. Frankly i can't and won't recommend any PC other than what i had put together
as you just never know these days until you try it out.  Even when i had mine done it came with an unconditional guarantee,
Namely the maker would replace "anything" until it ran my cnc stuff satisfactorily, price difference would only be in the part cost only
Now you can't beat that kind of service / offering.......... 

RICH

4454

General Mach Discussion / Re: What speed computer are you running with Mach?

« on: July 23, 2010, 05:44:31 PM »

My assembled Asus pc using XP is as follows:

- Asus motherboard - M2N68-AM SE2
- 2 GIG Ram
- AMD  64X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2.7 Ghz
- Asus graphics Card - EN9600GSO
- Rosewill PCI pp card - RC302

It is used to control 5 different machines ( one at a time of course  / it's on a portable stand ). I use it for CAD, CAM and any other associated machining programs. It is never internet connected, no virus protection, etc. The drive is broken up such that operating system , Mach and only min essential exist on the c: drive. Thus all the rest are on other partitions.

It's rock solid / 24998 +-1 for 25000 and and a dead flat line in the driver test. Us a serial mouse and keyboard ( not USB ) and also can use a SS.
Additionaly  use a XBOX 360 which is wireless. Machining camera is a modified Radio shack web cam.

Now on the other side of the spectrum.......An old Nec Laptop 400 mhz 256k memory with PP and works just fine but sits because it is very slow.

My Dells are good PC's , but,  just plain "suck and i mean terrible " when used for running a cnc machine.

RICH

4455

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Disappointment

« on: July 23, 2010, 05:15:17 PM »

Hey Bob,
Maybe said differently it could go like this at some point,
"There are no known bugs in the MSM screen or MACHx" that said, it must be in how you modified the screen, config, your code or whatever.
We all have some base point which we refer back to as known to be solid for what we do.
As a major update you need to have a silmiiar point to kick off from.
My nickle......FWIW
RICH

4456

LazyTurn / Re: LazyTurn

« on: July 23, 2010, 04:59:19 PM »

Hi Dennis,
If the code is correct and the lathe system is good then the part should be to dimension.
Could be in the initial tool touch off to the part or in the lathe repeatbility.
When you widdle the part down there could be a lot of X axis movements and  could end up being over or under
due to steps per unit, repeatability, backlash, etc.

Don't know what more to say....
RICH

4457

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 2nd Build - Steel Tube, Gantry Style, Mill / Router

« on: July 23, 2010, 12:02:48 AM »

Attached is Nooks formula for determining critical speed. Didn't try the calculator......
You can also take a look at other manufactures guidelines. Are they being conservative, well, sometimes companies have deternined
what is good engineering practice based on time tested information. If you want to ignore the info,  then sound engineering experience
or analysis would enter into the judgement. What you want is to operate away from the critical speed
and other possible harmonics. Naturaly this is not limited to just the simple calculation as other things can come into play.
 

RICH
 

4458

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Problem posting Lazycam to Mach

« on: July 22, 2010, 09:33:11 PM »

at least I know I'm not crazy

Well that's your opinion, you posted and I replied.......... only room for one to fly over the cuckoo's nest,  guess we'll just leave it up to all the other users to figure it out!

           
RICH

4459

General Mach Discussion / Re: Can I convert to Mach 3

« on: July 21, 2010, 07:03:41 PM »

I got a reply from Larken ( Larry ) , and they don't currrently have a BOB and would take a few weeks.
So just by pass the Larken board / remove it.
The drives are step and direction and the switches and estop are wired N/0.
That said buy a new BOB from whoever you choose, install it, configure Mach3, and you should be good to go provided
your drives are good.

RICH

4460

General Mach Discussion / Re: Can I convert to Mach 3

« on: July 21, 2010, 11:24:40 AM »

I went the "extra mile" for you and talked to Larken. 

The break out board ( BOB) for StarCam will not work with Mach and you need a different BOB ( i kind of figured that). 
You will need a BOB, since you wish to have more control than say just moving the axes and homing. The drives are opto isolated
and you could bypass the Starcam board, but you will be limited.

Which BOB you purchase is up to you, Larken has one, PDMX comes to mind, but it's up to you. If you purchase a break out board form a third party i am sure Larken won't have much interest in helping you should there be a problem with a drive or use of the third party BOB.

I am sending a mail message off to Larken requesting info on their BOB and associated MACH configuration.
I will post the info when i get it and you can decide to go from there what you want to do.

I am assuming that you got this machine used? If that's the case you should at least confirm ,using their sofware, that the drives and controller work as they should. That could affect your decision on how you proceed if something is not right.

Till then,

RICH