Messages

21

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 24, 2007, 11:44:57 AM »

A few people have Emailed me asking for my Mach3 setup (.xml) file, so I'm posting a link to it here that you can download: 

http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~mike/Mach3Mill.xml

Keep in mind that the setup parameters will need to be tweaked, because your system will likely be wired differently, and your motors may need to be tuned differently, but this will at least get you in the ballpark.

22

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 11, 2007, 10:50:39 PM »

Mike,
Nice looking little machine! I think you are going to like the CV of Mach on the machine it shoudl go a bit faster then it did in the past!

Thanks for the pics (looking forward to the video )
Brian

Thanks Brian!  Actually, I never did run the engraver with the original dedicated controller. It wasn't working, so I immediately disposed of it and added the Xylotex driver and Mach3. I was experiencing some mis-stepping with the old (slow) laptop, so I replaced it with a much faster one, and now the mis-steps are history!

So, you want to see a video?!  I'll consider it. 

23

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 11, 2007, 12:12:24 PM »

Hello xray man,

  Can you help me with wire info for motors,  please.

Thanks,

wulkan

CONTACT ME THROUGH MY EMAIL ADDRESS SHOWN IN MY PREVIOUS POST.

24

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 09, 2007, 01:05:27 PM »

Hello agian,

 I am very interested in your laser project. Did you build from kit?
Finally, do you know where I can purchase cutters for the Vanguard 3000.

I bought the 50 Watt Laser tube from an Ebay seller. I built the power supply myself from scavenged X-ray parts, and a capacitor that I bought on Ebay. It looks like a Frankenstein setup, but it works! When I use the Laser, I do not use any Z-axis moves, but rather I use M3 and M5 (Spindle ON/OFF) as my Laser ON/OFF control signal. Later, when we are corresponding via Email, I'll attach some pictures of my Laser system.

Regards,
Mike "xray_man"

If you want to contact me directly, my Email address is:  mike at amerytel dot net  (I spelled out my address to fool the Spammer programs that seek out Email addresses on bulletin boards).

25

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 08, 2007, 09:28:57 PM »

Mind posting something you made with the unit hooked to Mach3? I am curious to see what you are engraving.

Thanks

Dan

You can see a couple of items in the pictures. I bought a bunch of colored aluminum blanks from an Ebay seller. I use a diamond scribe for making name tags and business cards, etc.  I recently converted my engraver to a Laser Engraver. I mounted a couple of mirrors on it, along with a focusing lens. I have my 50 Watt CO2 Laser aimed at the mirrors, and it does a great job. My only problem right now is I can not control the Laser power. It's on full power all the time, so the items that I can engrave and cut with it are very limited. I will be working on controlling the power as time permits.

26

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controller for New Hermes Vanguard 3000 Engraver

« on: September 08, 2007, 09:23:59 PM »

Hello,

I just bought a New Hermes Vanguard 3000 with no control. I would like to retro fit like you did. If I bought the Xylotex stepper controller would you share your config file for mach 3 which I have to purchase a copy of as well.
Bill@wulkaninduction.com

Sure! Let me know when you are ready for it and I'll Email a copy of my config file.

27

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Can the "Import DXF's" feature be modified in Mach3?

« on: August 08, 2007, 06:42:19 PM »

Ya know, I just realized that there is a laser control function already built in to the DXF converter! It's the checkbox labeled "Plasma". When that box is checked, the converter will place M3 codes at the beginning of all the cutting moves, and then ends the moves with M5. DUH! That's exactly what I'm looking for, but I didn't dig deeply enough to find out what "Plasma" does until now! PROBLEM SOLVED!

Thank you for your input.  (Pun intended!)   

28

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Can the "Import DXF's" feature be modified in Mach3?

« on: August 08, 2007, 05:27:57 PM »

Hey, that sounds like it would do exactly what I need, but I'm not familiar with the "2.5D" feature!  What is it and where can I access it?

Thanks!

29

VB and the development of wizards / Can the "Import DXF's" feature be modified in Mach3?

« on: August 08, 2007, 04:20:01 PM »

I searched the forums and was not able to find what I'm looking for, so maybe someone here could help me. I've been using Mach3 with a Xylotex 3-axis stepper controller to drive a New Hermes engraver. Everything works great but I recently built a 50 watt CO2 laser that I would like to interface to the engraver. I plan on controlling the laser beam on/off with Spindle M3 and M5 codes, and I won't be needing any Z-axis moves. Is there a way that the Import DXF's "Generate G-code" function can be modified to place M3 codes in place of where it would normally place Z-axis moves? If it isn't alterable, then could someone suggest a DXF to G-code converter that is configurable? I would also like to create some other special M-codes for other functions.  If possible, I do not want to have to do any software programming, only program setup and configuration. Thanks!

30

Competitions / Re: ******Guess and win a G100 Grex******

« on: May 22, 2007, 10:25:20 AM »

My guess is:  2,013,123