Messages

5071

General Mach Discussion / Re: A Really Exceptional Vendor....

« on: January 26, 2010, 07:56:29 AM »

Simpson36,
Was the vendor problem an isolated incident? I only purchased some steppers from them and had no problem.
Can you put it into perspective?
RICH

5072

Works in progress / Re: Three Page Lathe Screen

« on: January 26, 2010, 07:44:33 AM »

Swap the axis and use Mach Mill as it' only a one shot deal.
RICH

5073

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper Motor Question

« on: January 26, 2010, 12:26:04 AM »

Backlash is non-movement of the axis during change of direction. You can go to config>backlash and see if it is even being used. Don't think that is your problem.

The problem is, if you can duplicate it or it's repetative then you can hone in on the problem, if not the
then it's a PITA and the guessing or suggestions start flowing driving you bonkers.

Try running running the same program cutting air.
Try running the part of the program, where the Y stalled  and  cutting some scrap.
Were the motors hot? Have you moved any wires around? Anything different than what is was like before?
Different material that you were cutting?

See if you can duplicate the problem.

In the mean time,  take a real close look at all the mechanical things and make sure there is no binding, etc and be able to convince yourself that there is no mechanical problem. At least that eliminates one part as a possible cause.

RICH



  

5074

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Model Engine Heads

« on: January 25, 2010, 11:44:11 PM »

Stevehuck,
Thanks for posting. My kind of engine, straight pipes, fits in a drawer, and if it dosen't start, no big thing!
Looks like a fun project and more work than what folks would think. Nice work.
RICH

5075

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper Motor Question

« on: January 25, 2010, 11:22:32 PM »

Chuck,
The only temperature change that i have found to make them act funny is if they get hot. My ambient temp here is 70 deg so no experince on running them cold.

You reduced the velocity and acceleration and it helped. I am rather conservative and leave a lot of head room. By that I mean, if the steppers start to skip at say 120 IPM i run them at 60 IPM. The problem with all this is that
without a motor curve you just don't know where you will get the max power. Over time and doing machining you just kind of find the acceleration, velocity, and depth of cut that works for all that you do. Part of that
"head room" is power used up to do machining.

Are you using backlash compensation?

Not sure what else to say......

RICH

5076

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

« on: January 25, 2010, 03:27:40 PM »

Can you post one of those jobs and i will give a try here?

I also assume that they ran in prior versions of Mach ( before 036 ).

RICH

5077

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

« on: January 25, 2010, 02:54:25 PM »

I have included a number of dxf files that are used in the tutorials.
TheY are in the thread and here is the link:

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,12078.0.html

RICH

5078

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

« on: January 25, 2010, 02:51:11 PM »

MOTU,
I assume your aware that there is a manual for LazyCam in the Members Docs.
See section 4.0, 6.0 to 6.2.3

I am not sure what you mean by load a job.... do you mean something done in LC and posted to Mach?
Or do you mean.... He is trying to load a Gcode file he created or was created by another program?

RICH

5079

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

« on: January 25, 2010, 11:04:12 AM »

When he uses LazyCam, does he use the Mach screen ie; FILE>LazyCam....
I assume that he installed LazyCam when installing Mach.
I had the same problem, a long time ago, darn if i  can recall what was wrong. I think i just did a reinstall
of both and all was fine. Sorry i can't be of more help.

BTW, what version of Mach and LazyCam?
RICH

5080

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Smoothstepper step problem

« on: January 25, 2010, 09:35:28 AM »

  The SS is not the problem. The combination of spindle and cutter runout along with depth of cut makes
the individual cut lines run together such that there is no longer any space between them. Since the color
is lost ( visual spacing) you no longer have a legable letter. So the mechanical system  becomes the limiting
factor and not the ability of the software and hardware.

If some fraction of a silly .0001" was added to or removed from a cut you would not see it. Which brings us
 back to what we have been trying to say all along.

Now to see say 0.000100" you need to look at it under a lot of magnification. If you had a known optical
standard to compare to, ( yes i have one that goes to .000020" ) , took the time to calibrate a 1000x microscope in a controlled enviroment, along with proper lighting etc, then you can monitor the actual or non step  mechanical movements to sent pulse for fractions of the silly .0001" inches. But in your case, why do all that since your resolution that you have for a step is .0001" and frankly, depending on your stepper motor the micro step won't exactly position in the electric field for that pulse. Of course you can try a different motor and would find out that they are not all created equaly and thus would find differences.

Let not the heart be troubled due to an emotional issue of display.

RICH