Topics

11

General Mach Discussion / Tool Paths Saving

« on: May 25, 2006, 09:51:21 AM »

I have V Carve Wizard and I've been having trouble saving and then finding the file to load into Mach 3. I do not have trouble saving files, it's just," where do they go ? ". V Carve saves in .tap extension I've even gotten a postp for .txt and still I can't find the files to load onto Mach 3. Has anybody ever have this problem before with V Carve? I know we have some member users here,HELP!!!!!

12

General Mach Discussion / Tool Changes

« on: April 29, 2006, 09:19:41 AM »

Now that I have my machine doing what I want it to do I have this question. How can I accurately change tools bits on a router? I want to make one or two changes on a piece. I mean to get the tool bits the same hieght from part zero. I need a simple cost free application, something a gnome can use without thinking too much. Any suggestions will be helpfull. Thanks

13

General Mach Discussion / Eureka I'm Cutting

« on: April 18, 2006, 08:45:26 PM »

I have finally cut my first chips. I have got to give Brian Barker my deepest appreciation and gratitude for his help in configuring my machine in Mach 3. It has been almost 1 year since I purchased my machine and Mach Control Software. I know many of you have read My 2 Cents post and know I just got in over my head. This forum and it's members have been supportive and very helpfull to me in a one to one spirit Once again THANK YOU BRIAN.

14

General Mach Discussion / Reversing Motors?

« on: April 11, 2006, 05:51:41 PM »

I have noticed that my machine seems to move contrary to what I thought it should. Case in point, my Z axis. It wants to go through the material. I set X&Y at zero at the right hand corner of the part, touch off for Z zero. When I start the cycle the Z, drills into the material and into the table. Then it moves to the left when I think it should move to the right and retract between cuts to a safe Z of .250. I use V Carve Wizard to generate my code,( 2d only) it displays a preview of what the cuts look like. This is the basis of my observations. I've tried to reverse the motor by changing the values in Motor output, and when I do that I get no movement at all. No sounds no hums nothing. Any ideas as to why that is happening?

15

General Mach Discussion / Help with Position of Home and Piece Part

« on: March 26, 2006, 02:44:31 PM »

Please see attached doc for explanation of what I strive to do. I've read and reread the manual and watched the videos and I still can't seem to grasp it. Also when I run G code from V Carve the machine runs it up in the air. The moves seem to be OK but, all it cuts is air and the Z axis movements are backwards. HELP!!!!!!!

16

General Mach Discussion / 2 Cents Part 2, more help needed

« on: March 25, 2006, 08:38:39 AM »

Hi guys. I have tried to use the G56 fixture area while setting up to run my first part. Then I get back to the main screen and try to posititon it on the screen that shop my table, that's when it hits the fan. As soon as I try to move in that area with my mouse it go haywire, losses it's orientation and goes rotational on me. Any input as to what I'm doing wrong here. Oh the machine drilled a hole deep into the table and tried to move from deep in the substrate..

17

General Mach Discussion / Strange Things Occur

« on: February 20, 2006, 11:29:25 AM »

Yes, strange indeed. Well if I extend my arm toward the machine, and come within four to five inches of the frame. a limit switch triggers on. I haven't run any parts yet because of this occurrence. I have a two conductor wire, 22 gauge, taped to the mdf table with alum. tape, connecting the two limits to a shielded cable to my breakout board. It seems as if the electrical field of my body is grounding out the system, could this be so? Any ideas as to why this happens.

18

General Mach Discussion / Help Set Me Straight ( Limit and Home switches)

« on: February 01, 2006, 05:23:08 PM »

I finally got around to mounting my limit/home switches,here's what I did. I used SPST momentary push button normally on type two conductor switches. I connected them to a cnc4pc breakout board as directed by schematic. Using solid wire to connect them together and shielded wire to connect to breakout terminals via a RCA type plug between board and switch. As for settings I used  X++ port 1, pin 10, X-- port 1 pin 11.  For  X Home port 1, pin 11.  For Y++ port 1 pin 12, for Y-- port 1, pin 13, and for Y Home port 1, pin 13. Axis X, Y Homes are shared. I then unchecked the boxes to set them on active high. Now how do I set the soft limits? Is one set to zero and the other set at the length of travel, such as -0 as soft minimum and +12.00 as soft maximum? Can someone with a working machine look over my scenario and recommend the proper changes or tell me what I am doing wrong!. I get the Y axis to work, but the X axis will not, and if I touch the wire that connects the Y switches it triggers the limit on. Also what is a good setting for debounce, whatever that is? Man, I hope someone can help. I'm buggin' on this.

19

General Mach Discussion / Hand Wheel and more

« on: January 31, 2006, 09:27:09 PM »

Is it OK to move an axis with a hand wheel? I mean when I will set a zero at a material heights, so as not to hit the surface to hard with jogging only? Also, I'm setting up my home/limit switches and I've got the Y axis working, but the X doesn't register. And, while it's in the X mode, if I should put my arm across the table it triggers the Y LED. Any thoughts on that situation. Should I be using shielded wire instead of solid ribbon wire? Are the limits set up one by one with a restart between each settings?

20

General Mach Discussion / Where to put it?

« on: January 29, 2006, 12:04:09 PM »

Is there any optimal position for a router body on a Z carriage? I mean does the Z travel, mine is 3.00", have a determining factor to where it is mounted on the Z axis? Sort of top dead to bottom dead travel?