Messages

691

General Mach Discussion / Re: axis zero moved

« on: June 20, 2013, 05:07:55 AM »

I was reading on another post about the same issue and someone commented on the step pulse polality.  How do you know if it should be set to active low or high.

If your datasheet doesn't tell you, you can find out like this...

Those drives can be wired to allow your port pins to either source or sink current. i.e. you have individual access to both the anodes and cathodes of the opto-couplers (PUL+/PUL-).

Ideally you should have your 5Vdc supply on PUL+ and your step signal on PUL- (sink mode). If so then...

Disconnect your step wire from PUL- and connect a short wire.

Touch it to ground and then remove it. Did it step when you touched it or when you released it?

If the former then you set Mach active low. If it stepped when you released it then set Mach active high.

-----------------------------------

If on the other hand you have PUL+ connected to your step pin and PUL- connected to ground (source mode - not ideal) then...

Disconnect your step wire from PUL+ and connect a short wire.

Touch it to 5V and then remove it. Did it step when you touched it or when you released it?

If the former then you set Mach active high. If it stepped when you released it then set Mach active low.

Note: with microstepping set you may not be able to detect a single step (try touching the motor and feel for it). Alternatively you could set them to full step just to perform the above and set them back when you're done.

Ian

692

General Mach Discussion / Re: Squares not square.

« on: June 20, 2013, 04:06:44 AM »

Regarding your router, go shove 1 to 2 tonne on your gantry and tell me you can still get these accelerations

reckon It'd then do 1G... straight down! 

Ian

693

General Mach Discussion / Re: Squares not square.

« on: June 20, 2013, 03:29:04 AM »

Beat me to it there....

That is what is called corner rounding and is due to low acceleration/decelleration and is most often associated with machines that have steppers.

Servo snob  - not if the steppers are driven correctly and within their operating capabilities. Remember I can get as much accel on my stepper router as you have on that big green thing (0.5G right?)  .

Ian

694

General Mach Discussion / Re: Squares not square.

« on: June 20, 2013, 03:20:34 AM »

That would be the effect of CV (so called Constant Velocity Contouring) on a machine where the acceleration is perhaps not as good as you'd like. You can try a few things to mitigate it.

1) Turn CV off.
2) Try to improve your acceleration.
3) Reduce your feedrate
4) Modify CV Distance and CV feedrate on the settings screen (No point in messing with CV angles when you're cutting squares).
 

695

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motor tuning

« on: June 19, 2013, 05:23:08 AM »

Try renaming the plugins folder to Old Plugins then make a new folder called Plugins but dont put any plugins in that folder.

Hood

What? What? What? WTF bizarre set of "logic" causes that to work? - LOL

how do you know this sh1t? - you're starting to get really spookey! 

696

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine zero

« on: June 18, 2013, 01:25:21 PM »

if you have home switches hit "ref all home".
if you don't have home switches - jog to where you want home to be and hit "ref all home".
now it's at machine zero - unless you've changed to something else in homing/limits.

Ian

697

VB and the development of wizards / Re: M10P1 NOT WORK USB MOTION CARD :o

« on: June 18, 2013, 05:50:45 AM »

Virtually all that "code" in M10 and M11 is comment. There is only ONE executable statement in each i.e.

M10 is:

ActivateSignal(9)

and M11 is:

DeActivateSignal(9)

Surely any external motion card should be able to handle this - it's just toggling an output pin after all.

Can't speak for M10P1 / M11P1 because I don't know what they are (I use R3.043.022) - but if they're a newer version of M10/11 that take a parameter defining the pin - then the code you've posted for M10/11 has no code to handle any parameter.

Ian

698

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Looking for utility to cut rectangular pockets

« on: June 18, 2013, 04:58:32 AM »

oops! - I already sent him one Terry - looks like we stood on each other's feet

Ian

699

General Mach Discussion / Re: Router cuts angles wrong

« on: June 18, 2013, 04:48:28 AM »

Well, this might forever remain a mystery. I started over, drew the part in DCad, exported to DXF, imported to CamBam, generated toolpaths, and viola (some folks think that word is "walla")!!!  Perfection!

Obviously operator error. Somewhere.

Thanks, Everyone.
Brad

LOL - and some other folks think that word is "voilà" and that viola is a stringed instrument - sorry - couldn't resist  

Ian

700

General Mach Discussion / Re: Router cuts angles wrong

« on: June 17, 2013, 07:39:54 AM »

Plotted your gcode in Rhino and the angle between your lines is 36.4 degrees. Both are equally above and below the horizontal by 18.2 degrees.

Cheers

Ian