Messages

71

General Mach Discussion / Re: Display value of Gcode variable on a DRO

« on: December 11, 2013, 11:53:34 AM »

Not sure if there is an automatic way to do that, but you could always do it with a macropump.

Regards,
Ray L.

72

General Mach Discussion / Re: Simple MPG for jogging axis

« on: December 05, 2013, 11:43:24 PM »

Look at vistacnc.com.  Great products, great support, very reasonable prices.

Regards,
Ray L.

73

General Mach Discussion / Re: Closed loop control using encoders?

« on: December 04, 2013, 12:18:35 PM »

Brains will not help you do what you want to do.  Using encoders you can only detect gross position errors, unless you add custom hardware to monitor BOTH the encoders and the step pulses coming out of the parallel port, and determine for yourself whether you are really on-position or not in real-time.  This question comes up on a regular basis, and what you propose has NEVER succesfullly solved the problem.  In the end, everyone either gives up in frustration (after having spent a HUGE amount of time, money and effort in the attempt), or they finally break down and FIX the machine hardware.  If you have NEMA23 motors, you can buy higher torque motors for about $50 each.  More likely, the problem is your stepper drivers, and power supplies, which can be swapped for better ones for probably about $300 for all three axes.  SOLVING the problem will give you a machine that performs FAR better than one that simply detects the problems, and in the end you'll be reliably turning out MORE good parts MUCH sooner.  You got people here with many, many, many years of experience with CNC machines, and Mach3.  Ignore them at your peril.

Regards,
Ray L.

74

General Mach Discussion / Re: Home to machine zero?

« on: December 02, 2013, 11:41:02 PM »

G53 G0 X0 Y0 Z0 will rapid to machine position X=0 Y=0 Z=0.

Regards,
Ray L.

75

General Mach Discussion / Re: Closed loop control using encoders?

« on: December 02, 2013, 11:39:42 PM »

Why not simply FIX your machine?  A properly designed, properly operated stepper system will NOT lose steps.  Encoders are totally unnecessary, and are nothing more than a band-aid to hide the real problem.  Lost steps are ALWAYS a direct result of attempting to operate the motors beyond their capability.  Either slow down to stay within the machines capability, or improve your stepper system (bigger motors and/or better drives and/or higher voltage) to make it perform the way you want.

Regards,
Ray L.

76

General Mach Discussion / Re: Any body got a source for an economical Cartridge spindle and.....

« on: November 23, 2013, 09:25:36 AM »

Scott,

By "cogged" you mean timing belts?  Best source I know is SDP-SI.com.  There are some cheaper sources for specific types, lik XL, but SDP-SI has by far the best selection, and many different families (partial to GT2 myself) in both Imperial and Metric sizes, and countless different pulley styles.  Their prices are reasonable, and most items are in-stock.

Regards,
Ray L.

77

General Mach Discussion / Re: Getting feedback from mach

« on: November 17, 2013, 08:39:28 PM »

In your G-code program, set an output or Var using a custom M-code, and have a macropump monitoring that output or Var.  When it sees it get set, send the signal to the other device, then clear the output or Var.  When the the output or Var toggles, all G-codes up to that line WILL have completed execution.

Regards,
Ray L.

78

General Mach Discussion / Re: Using Soft Limits....

« on: November 14, 2013, 09:53:29 PM »

Ger,

Must've missed that.  Thanks!

Regards,
Ray L.

79

General Mach Discussion / Using Soft Limits....

« on: November 14, 2013, 08:48:13 PM »

I've never used soft limits in Mach3.  Today I tried to set them up on my new Novakon Pulsar mill, and could not get them working.  First, the units and reference are not clear.  I'm assuming soft limits are specified in machine coordinates?  Is there some enable somewhere I'm missing?  I set the Z limits to -0.5, and -11.5, but could still run unimpeded into the hard limits.

Regards,
Ray L.

80

General Mach Discussion / Re: Manual Tool Change with TTS

« on: November 06, 2013, 11:34:31 AM »

The M6 and G43 lines in the first code are commented out (";" indicates a comment, and the rest of that line is compleletely ignored by Mach3), so not executed!

Regards,
Ray L.