Topics

1

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Circles instead of Arcs ?

« on: August 09, 2013, 11:54:06 AM »

Hello Everyone,

I am using BobCAD v25 to generate gcode for my Mach3 controlled mill.  Most of my configuration is working well.

But when my gcode generates an arc, the result is a circle bigger than and well beyond the intended boundaries of the part.  The following line is an example of the gcode arcsbeing generated in my BobCAD post (nc) files:

     G03 X1.3285 Y.3853 I.0444 J-.0146

My gcode skills are not evolved enough to tell if this is a problem on the BobCAD or the Mach3 side of my process.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Bob

PS: I have tried to create this post a couple times now and keep getting errors.  My apologies to the group if this is generating duplicate topics.

2

General Mach Discussion / Left Hand Threading ???

« on: April 05, 2008, 10:34:54 PM »

Hello Everyone,

I am using Mach3 Turn and have a project in the pipeline that will require left hand threads.

I don't see anything that indicates the existing G76 macro will support this.

Has anyone figured out how to do this?  How?

Bob

3

General Mach Discussion / Turning a Morse taper

« on: March 08, 2008, 10:11:18 PM »

Hello Everyone,

Now that I seem to have gotten through some of the basics, I though I would try turning a taper.

What I want to do is turn a Morse #2 taper on the end of a piece of round stock. 

I pulled up my handy machinists reference and it tells me that the rate of taper for Morse #2 is 0.59941 inches per foot.  My handy dandy trig table tells me that the angle for the taper is equal to arc tangent of the rate of taper divided by the length (Arc Tan 0.59941/12) for 2.8596 degrees.

I started up the Mach3 Turn OD Taper Wizard and entered the following parameters:

X End:       0.5
Angle:       2.8596
X Start:     0.8
Z End:       2.3
Z Start:     0.0
Clearance:  0.1

I started the program and it ran without a hitch.

But, my pretty new taper doesn't fit...

I figure that I did something silly, can someone tell me what?

Bob

4

General Mach Discussion / Tool Diameter Wear ?

« on: March 17, 2007, 01:43:31 PM »

Hello Everyone,

I am working on a small project on my ShopTask machine using Mach3.  After making several duplicates of the same part I noticed that my end mill wasn't cutting as clean as it had on the first part and that my tollerances were starting to drift out of spec.  I replaced the end mill with one that had been resharpened and the cuts looked much better.  Then is discovered that my parts were really out of tollerance.  For example I milled out a round hole that is supposed to be 1.757 inches in diameter and it only measures 1.744 inches.  I checked several other different dimensions and the results tell me that my end mill is under size by about 0.0065.

When I look at the tool table dialog in Mach3 there is a field named "Diameter Wear".

If I enter a value in the Diameter Wear column for my tool, will it cause Mach3 to correct for my under sized tool?

If this is the case, what value should I put into this field?

Bob

5

General Mach Discussion / License question

« on: February 28, 2007, 09:39:27 AM »

Hello one and all...

I purchased a Mach1 license some time ago and am quite pleased that it is still valid for Mach3.

I have Mach3 installed on two computers.  One computer runs my shoptask machine, the other is used for CAD/CAM work.  The latter system does not control any sort of machine, Mach3 is run in simulation mode so that I can preview, identify and debug problems without doing stupid things to my machine.

Having recently discove rd that an odd problem on my machine system was being caused because the Mach licence file hadn't been installed, I copied my license to the machine system.

Being a honest fellow and appreciating the value that ArtSoft provides, it occurs to me that I might need a second license.  Ration thought might argue that as I am only running one machine and I only use one system at a time maybe I don't...

I want to do the right thing.  Do I need to purchase a second license?

Bob Segrest

6

General Mach Discussion / Another G-Code Loading Problem

« on: February 28, 2007, 12:05:11 AM »

Greetings,

I am having some difficulty loading a complex G-Code file created from a line drawing using LazyCam.  It looks ok in Mach3 on my CAD/CAM system but fails to load correctly on my machine controller.  The attached pictures show what I am seeing on each of these systems.

I have checked the IJ Mode and it seems to be set correctly (at least changing it didn't make any difference).

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Bob Segrest

7

General Mach Discussion / G-Code not loading correctly?

« on: February 27, 2007, 09:14:02 PM »

Hello Everyone,

I am running Mach3 on two machines.  On the machine where I do my CAD/CAM work I run Mach3 in simulation mode (without any device driver).  The second machine is my shoptask and is equipped with three stepper drives.

For the most part everything is working well.  But I am seeing an odd problem that I'm hoping someone can help me resolve.

I can work out a design in my CAD system, generate a G-Code file and it looks great when loaded into Mach3 on my CAD system.

But when I take the same G-Code file and load it on my shoptask machine, it looks all screwed up.  I thought at first it might be because I had only a minimal amount of memory in the latter machine, but it has been upgraded to a full 2 Gigs and the problem still exists.

In the two attached files you can see a screenshot on the CAD system, a screenshot on the machine system and a copy of the G-Code.

Any ideas?

Bob

8

General Mach Discussion / Text Engraving Wizard ?

« on: January 13, 2007, 01:15:36 PM »

Hello Everyone,

I am trying to figure out how to use the Text Engraving Tool authored by German Bravo.

Using the following process...

   Launch the wizard
   Enter my initials as text
   Select a font (Bauhaus)
   Select the Write key
     Provide the following responses to the popup dialog boxes
       Feed Rate:       2
       Separation:       50
       Height:            -0.01

At this point the Text Engraving wizard closes and G-code appears on the Mach3 Program Run window.

My question is...  Why are all the G-code values set to zero?

G00 G49 G40  G17 G80 G50 G90
G21
M04 S0
G00 Z0
G00 G90 X0Y0
F2
G00 X0 Y0
G00 Z0
G01 Z0
G01 X0 Y0
G01 X0 Y0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G01 X0 Y0
G01 X0 Y0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G02 X0 Y0 I0 J0
G00 Z0
G00 X0 Y0
G00 Z0

In addition, the displayed status message reads "Zero radius arc on Line number #11".

So, what am I missing?

Bob 

9

General Mach Discussion / Basic tool use

« on: January 13, 2007, 09:09:16 AM »

Hello Everyone,

I am just getting started with CNC and could use some help.  I am using TurboCadCam to generate G-code to feed Mach3 which will drive my ShopTask mill/lathe.  At this point the hardware is working and I have my motors reasonably close.  Now that I can move the table about in a predictable pattern and speed it is almost time to start cutting something.

I am having some difficulty with the Mach3 tool configuration.

I opened the Config | ToolTable dialog and saved tool 1 as:
      Description:     End Mill, 2 flute
      Diameter:        0.2500
      Height:           0.5000

But I haven't been able to figure out how to load tool 1 or tell Mach3 that tool 1 is loaded.  That is to say the Mach3 tool displays are always zero.

What have I missed?

Bob