Messages

1161

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Success! Mini Machining Center under Mach3 control - Video link

« on: June 04, 2009, 11:46:10 AM »

Himy,

That's exactly my devious plan. I'm SICK of spending over $1 for a friggin' bolt at the hardware store. I only need to make about 23,000 bolts and I'm breaking EVEN, baby!!!

CoolFox,

As shown in the video, it was acting stricly running as the A axis with all rotations pre calculated, and what you see is the max speed severely limited by the Gecko340.

Later, I learned how to do some 'semi - documented' tricks in Mach that improved the process:

With appreciation for all those who helped me figure it out, let me say it is a pretty slick process. Only thing left to work out is the screwy feed rates. XYZ and A are from different planets in that regard.

Primarily I had to write some VB macros:

One handles the switching the A axis and the spindle using Mache's Swapaxis function.

Another swaps back and the re-homes the A axis  (the secret that makes everything work) . . .  and zeros the machine and DRO.

Another takes arguments and caclulates threading moves and passes the variables back to mach for use in a gcode program.

Friggin thing is REALLY fun to play with     I just ordered a Viper servo drive that will double the speed to the full 4,000 RPM

1162

General Mach Discussion / Has anyone used Viper Servo drivers?

« on: June 03, 2009, 03:24:54 PM »

Being unhappy with the Gecko 340, I did some reasearch and came up with this:

http://www.viperservo.com/Sales.htm

If it does all they claim, it will not have the limitations of the Gecko.

Just wondering if anyone is using this product and can render and opinion of it.

1163

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up a second parallel port card - NetMOS Nm 9805CV

« on: June 03, 2009, 10:43:33 AM »

The Rosewill card I am using has a driver associated with the chipset. Interestignly, the driver that came with the card does not work with MACH, but the driver from the chipest manuf site (MOSchip or something like that) works fine.

I posted that the physical port on the card was the second port and that the pigtail port was the first com port, but I have since learned that it is actually random. Either can be either, so you have to just try both addresses and see which one works.

1164

General Mach Discussion / Re: First Post - Help with setup issue?

« on: June 03, 2009, 10:36:10 AM »

jimpinder,

First, let me compliment you on your ability to have an objective discussion about a Mach shortcoming. This is how software gets improved.

I have only a little toy mini mill to play with and it is not very rigid so I need to change the spindle speed occationally if it threatens to chatter, and I want the feed rate to follow the spindle speed, hence feed per rev. Also, milling toolbits have a certain optimal chip load per tooth for various materials and it's just a lot easier to calculate the feed per rev without considering the spindle speed which can vary greatly depending on a lot of factors.

Lathes are different animals and are better suited to a travel speed type of feed fate.

I disagree that the machine 'must' stop to take up the slack. I see no reason that the comp move cannot be incorporated into the CV stream, but the velocity set to G0 speed for that 'move'. It appears now that Mach behaves as if it is in exact stop mode when the comp takes place. It has been a while since I investigated backlash comp, but my recollection is that there was a definate stop, if not a pause, before and after the comp move. Now granted the pause may be only an impression cause by the significant delta in feedrate between the cut and the comp  move, but it definately behaves as if there is a stop in there.

If, in fact, the feature is triggered and a sub of some kind is called, then at least that processing time could be eliminated by incorporating the comp move into the CV stream when the toolpath is calculated by MACH.

My solution was to install oversize balls in the leadscrew nut for near zero backlash. Mo better.

1165

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up a second parallel port card - NetMOS Nm 9805CV

« on: June 02, 2009, 07:59:59 AM »

I posted a card that work with Mach a little while back including info on drivers, etc.

Just look back for the obvious thread title.

1166

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3/XBOX 360 Controller Question

« on: June 01, 2009, 05:53:28 PM »

I don't know about the 0x028F issue, but you do have to have the xbox driver loaded in windows before the plugin can find the controller.

Driver software available at Microsoft site. Make sure you have the xbox controller showing up in your device manager, and that it is working via the control panel.

If all is well with Windows and you get no error when loading the plugin, then you may need to contact the guy who wrote the plugin. His contact info is in another recent xbox controller thread. 

1167

General Mach Discussion / Re: First Post - Help with setup issue?

« on: May 27, 2009, 12:21:43 PM »

jimpinder,

It is not the concept, it is the implimentaion in MACH that is troublesome.

When I tried it, the compensation event was not incorporated into the CV stream nor did it obey the commanded feed rate. The feature behaves as if is not integral to the pre-calculated tool path, but  rather an add-on which is called like a subroutine triggered by a change of direction.

To use a example, say you are cutting aluminum at 7,000RPM with 5/16" three flure end mill with a .006" per rev feed rate and CV is active and no coolant. With backlash on, every change of direction results in a stop, taking up the backlash at a crawl, then another stop and then the tool path resumes.

The reult is at best a bad finish and at worst a ruined end mill.

I recall there is some setting for the speed at which MACH does the comp move, but MACH comps at the same slow crawl no mater where that setting is. If you are machining at a slow crawl, then you might not notice the problem, but if are cutting at anything approaching a production rate, or are cutting any type of hardenable material, you really can't use the feature.

If the comp was well integrated, i.e. the move was predicted during the tool path generation and incorporated into the CV at the same feed rate as the rest of the tool path, then it would be useful for continuous motion machining.  As I said, it is still usefull for drilling hole patterns and I'll add it may be useful to to those who are already machining soft materials at very low feeds.

1168

General Mach Discussion / Control box shielding options - transparency possible?

« on: May 27, 2009, 11:47:18 AM »

My setup is sensitive to any noise so my solution was simply to eliminate the wireless interference makers including Xbox controller, network and keyboard. I also completely reworked the grounding of eveything in the setup.

My control box with a CNC4PC BOB and 4 Gecko Drives is aluminum and hangs on the wall behind and off to the side of the mill. I have a clear plastic cover on the box so that I can observe the many indicator lights on the devices inside. I suspect the polycarbonate plastic is useless as shielding.

Is there any way to shield while still being able to see the internals? I was thinking a metal screen like aluminum window screening might provide some shielding and I could probably see thru that well enought to see the fault indicators, etc.

Another though I had was the sunscreen film for windows. I recall reading that this material is a metal coating on mylar or something like that. If that is a metallic coating, then perhaps that would provide shielding.

Any thoughts on this?

1169

General Mach Discussion / Re: How can I use subprograms in the subroutines folder?

« on: May 27, 2009, 10:51:56 AM »

An interesting anomoly I discovered in subroutines is that there has to be a return at the end of the M99 line of Mach is unhappy. This behavior was with imbedded subs, but may also be true for extrenal subs.

There is a recent version of Mach that would skip the next line of code in the main program after returning from a sub, so watch out for that . . . I think it may have been .26 but the Changelog has the info.

1170

General Mach Discussion / Re: First Post - Help with setup issue?

« on: May 27, 2009, 07:00:30 AM »

For a milling machine, I found Mach's backlash compensation unuseable in its current implimentation for anything but drilling holes of other non-motion type of operations becuase it literally stops and takes up the backlash at a set rate at each direction change and then begins moving again at the commanded feed rate.