Messages

101

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Lathe Gcode

« on: July 22, 2008, 04:19:05 PM »

Is it in the documentation for Mach3 Mill? I to am trying to find a list and brief description of operation.

102

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Warco VMc /Chester 626 knee mill CNC conversion

« on: July 22, 2008, 02:13:29 PM »

Hood. Any clues as to which belts and pulleys are suitable ? I can't find any timing belts on the UK brammer site. I've found a few at
http://www.bearingboys.co.UK/Timing_Pulleys-1042-c
But there are hundreds with different codes on that don't mean much to me. Some are pretty hefty in price as well IE over £300. What width of belt is likely to be adequate ? I was thinking 10mm but it's not obvious to me which of the ones on the site are 10mm. Hmmmm

103

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Warco VMc /Chester 626 knee mill CNC conversion

« on: July 22, 2008, 01:56:25 PM »

The 600mm per minute max speed will traverse the 365mm table travel in around 36 seconds which I suppose is slightly on the slow side but still quick enough for me I can always upgrade to bigger steppers and ball screws if I found the speed a problem. Y axis is no problem of course at this speed having a much shorter travel. I was thinking of maybe going for a 10:1 on the Z axis as I get nervous when I feel the weight of the knee and table assembly. Do you think a 10:1 would make the Z too slow? I know the total travel of the Z is 360ish mm but in reality wouldn’t you only be using up to 100mm of that travel and for most applications even less. Am I right in that assumption? I’ve got lots of time to think about these things while I wait the long three weeks for my smooth stepper to appear from over the pond.
Thanks again chaps.

104

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: RC scale airplane propeller blades.

« on: July 21, 2008, 03:26:18 PM »

Wow some impressive stuff on those websites. I think the V carve software will prove a little too expensive for me as I'm only a home fiddler rather than a serious CNC professional but still good to see what can be done if ever I turn pro.

105

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: RC scale airplane propeller blades.

« on: July 21, 2008, 03:02:10 PM »

Thanks to you both. I'm a little premature as I haven't actually got my machine up and running yet (due to some fellow going on hols with the half built base locked in his tool locker grrrr). Still it gives me time to look at the different software packages without feeling rushed as I know once it's up and whirring I'll be wanting to cut stuff and in my experience once you've used a package once or twice and it did the trick it's difficult to force yourself to learn another one which may turn out a lot better. I haven't got a use for a turbine wheel but would sure love to machine one just to have it sit on my side board looking nice.

106

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Warco VMc /Chester 626 knee mill CNC conversion

« on: July 21, 2008, 02:55:53 PM »

Some good informative pics there my friend thanks. Are they 12mm belts ? Have you thought about putting a solenoid on the oiler ? just something that came to me whilst looking at the machine it could be pulsed every programe run by mach and again at the end of a run.

107

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Welcome to SmoothStepper forum.

« on: July 21, 2008, 02:50:07 PM »

It's the way forward I think. It wont be long before you wont be able to find parallel ports on a desktop PC either. They looked at me quite stupidly when I did a tour around the shops asking for a Laptop with parallel ports. "what's one of them ? ",  "what would you use it for ? " they asked. How can you answer a questions like that ? The youngster have probably never seen a printer connected to a printer port.

108

Modbus / Re: Can A Modbus control a.........

« on: July 21, 2008, 02:40:21 PM »

I may be completely wrong but I think poppa was offering an alternative in that Mach with a two parallel ports (or smoothstepper) can handle five or six axis's (if that's the right word) and thus if you don't need six axis on your machine and you are not worried about a fast tool change then you can set up mach to use one of the unused axis to control your ATC. The PLC option can do this an a lot more but comes with a price of being a lot more complex.

Ps Please forget me if I'm wrong.

109

Modbus / Re: Can A Modbus control a.........

« on: July 20, 2008, 11:07:45 AM »

It's an easy job and fairly cheap to stick another parallel port in. If you are happy with the performance of your four axis already then this would probably be the simplest way forward.

110

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: RC scale airplane propeller blades.

« on: July 20, 2008, 11:00:39 AM »

What would I look for now then ? Is it still part of the Autodesk stable ? I've already got Inventor and that's pretty good for 3d stuff.  So if I'm reading your post right you make a drawing in autodesk and it'll be saved as a IAM or IPT or something like that and CUT3D can import this and convert it to GCode. That's pretty impressive stuff. I've seen a pic in a model mag where some fellow had CNC'd a turbine blade for a jet engine I don't know how many axis he used but the mind boggle as the complexity of it.