Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rotary Axis Help

« on: January 08, 2010, 12:28:34 PM »

Rich,
Making some progress. Using your instructions, I now have the A axis active and the motor tuning calibrated and can rotate the spindle using code that I manually input.
There were two areas I ran into a problem.
First was the Rotational settings in the Gen Config. I could not find anything in the manual for the Rot 360 Rollover, or the Ang Short Tot on G0 options. That’s not to say they are not in there, I just couldn’t find them, so I left both unchecked.
Second, when I go to the settings page and enter a value into the Rotational Radius DRO, to activate the feederate compensation, the value clears as soon as I leave the page or click on anything else on that page.?? Not sure why that is happening.   

Richard

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rotary Axis Help

« on: January 08, 2010, 09:29:17 AM »

Rich,
I think this is what I was looking for. Let me give it a shot and I will let you know how it turns out, no pun intended.

Thanks,
Richard

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rotary Axis Help

« on: January 07, 2010, 06:42:38 PM »

Rich,
I have seen alot of the attachments you posted. Trust me, I am not doing anything as complex as you are. I have just converted a wood lathe to cnc to basically perform like the ones you see attached as a 4th axis option on cnc router tables.
Problem is I have never set a 4th axis setup and cant seem to get it to work. When I spoke of rotary axis, I was referring to the spindle of the lathe. Probably the wrong terminology.
If you could point me to something that will walk me through setting up the A axis that would be great.

Thanks,
Richard

14

General Mach Discussion / Rotary Axis Help

« on: January 07, 2010, 03:59:59 PM »

I would like to get some help setting up the rotary axis on a lathe I just completed. I am using a 3 axis driver with the X running parallel to the lathe base, the Z for the router and the Y set up as the rotary axis. I have set the Y steps in the motor tuning for degrees and if I manually enter a degree value, G1 Y360, it moves the correct amount. I also created a 4 flute file and if I edit the code and insert the 0, 90, 180, and 270 degree values for the Y it works.  I get a small step/bump on the Y axis from the inch values generated by the G code, but not the correct movement.
I’m not sure if there is a way to configure Mach to convert the Y inch values generated in the G code to degrees or if you have to use the A axis to accomplish that. If that is the case how would I set it up? I have looked on the forum, but didn’t see anything dealing with this.
This is my first attempt at rotary so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Richard

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit Switch Problems

« on: December 19, 2008, 12:46:09 PM »

Computers are nothing fancy. One is a refurb Dell and the other is a Compaq both used. Both have 1Ghz clock to comply with the latest Mach version. The driver is from Xylotex  and I am using Nema 23 269oz steppers.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit Switch Problems

« on: December 19, 2008, 12:06:38 PM »

I'm not trying to imply that there is anything wrong with Mach. With exception of this problem it has work flawless for me. I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I have found others on this forum with random estops as well. I think we are all looking for some input and direction as to where to look and what could cause it.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit Switch Problems

« on: December 19, 2008, 09:54:51 AM »

I have the debounce set up to 20,000 and still get hits.
Question, If I turn the limit option on in Mach and watch the diagnostics page I see the limit and homing lights flicker when it takes hits. The homing uses the same circuit, but with the the limit swith option turned off and only the homing on the homing lights never flicker, no hits. If there is interference feeding into the circuit wouldnt it affect both functions?

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit Switch Problems

« on: December 18, 2008, 01:50:47 PM »

I didn't mention it, but I am using desktops and a parallel port cards. Now that you mention it, I remember someone saying they had  placed their driver in a metal box to isolate it from outside interference. Maybe that is worth a try.
Thanks for the info.

19

General Mach Discussion / Limit Switch Problems

« on: December 18, 2008, 09:25:03 AM »

I just finished a new router table and am having problems with the limit switches. Upon activating them in Mach, I am getting intermittent estops and the status indicates a limit switch opened. It does this even when there is no file running, so the switch is not actually opening.
I currently have two hobby tables and both have the same problem. Both machines use a Xylotex driver and Nema steppers. The switches are wired in series and the homing feature works. There is shielded cable on all the wiring which is grounded to a central ground. 
The driver is only a pass thru for the limit switches and does nothing as far as functionality goes. With the driver powered down I can manually operate a switch and get an led on the diagnostics page in Mach and cause an estop. That said, it never trips an estop with the driver board powered down. To me this eliminates the ac source and the ground as the cause or I would be getting estops with the driver powered down. As soon as the driver is powered up the problem begins randomly.
I have had both machines on at the same time to see if the hits were occurring simultaneously and they did not. Both took hits, but at different times. Mach is configured the same in both machines with the exception of the table size and motor tuning. To me, a noise spike large enough to trip an estop with the debounce set at 20,000 would have tripped both machines but it dont.
I initially thought there may have been a low voltage condition coming from the computer that might have cause Mach to think the circuit had opened, but if that were the case it would happen with the driver powered down since there is always continuity and it dont.
I am totally out of things to try and really need to get the limits working on the new machine. I would appreciate any and all suggestions.  HELP!!!

Thanks Guys,
Richard