Messages

71

General Mach Discussion / Re: Noob is mystified

« on: April 24, 2009, 06:03:36 PM »

Can I uninstall the driver or do I have to uninstall everything and start over on my office computer?

72

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motor tuning calculations

« on: April 24, 2009, 05:58:19 PM »

I have run into the same thing on my Bridgeport. I have 200 step per rev steppers and 5TPI ball screws = 1000 steps per inch.
I have to set X & Y to 2000 steps per inch and Z to 1000 steps per inch to get correct moves. In the AHHA software all axes are 1000 SPI.
Darrell

73

General Mach Discussion / Re: Noob is mystified

« on: April 24, 2009, 05:30:04 PM »

Does that mean that if the PP driver is not installed and Mach is in simulation mode that the demo limitations are gone?(500 lines,wizards)

74

General Mach Discussion / Re: Noob is mystified

« on: April 24, 2009, 02:51:12 PM »

Mach 3 just homes by moving into the home switch and then slowly backs out until the switch changes and stops.
Backlash must be determined with a dial indicator. Then there is screw mapping which is another whole topic.
Your plan to install without the driver on the office machine is a good one. Enableing the axes is needed so the program has a reference to track on the screen.

75

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pocketing and Island avoidance issue, need help

« on: April 22, 2009, 10:54:36 PM »

If you set Jog to 1" increment and hit X jog 5 times how far does it move?

76

General Mach Discussion / Re: Noob is mystified

« on: April 22, 2009, 09:02:42 PM »

Well it looks to me like you have things set up in metric but some setting is trying to run the code in inch.

77

General Mach Discussion / Re: Noob is mystified

« on: April 22, 2009, 04:15:31 PM »

In "Config/general config" is IJ Mode Absolute or Incremental? Being set wrong would cause the large circles.

78

General Mach Discussion / Re: What size motors?

« on: April 22, 2009, 04:01:42 PM »

One thing that no one has mentioned is that with a stepper system if everything is ok it works but if anything goes wrong it stops.
A servo system on the other hand can fail in such a way that the servo takes off at full speed and goes until it hits something that can stop it.
That is the reason for the high cost of commercial servo controls. They have to be able to detect and stop any such failures.
Systems that only rely on the driver to recognize out of position moves don't have the safety of a system that also depends on the control.
Speed is not the most important thing when most of us are at best high end hobbyists. A mill that can move at 500 -600 IPM would scare a lot of us.
It is not as if shaving 30 seconds off of a part run would save us millions like it could in a major factory.

79

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pocketing and Island avoidance issue, need help

« on: April 21, 2009, 11:49:55 PM »

I have an old Bridgeport and am happy with +-.0005. From what I can see of your machine, +-.002 or +-.003 should be reasonable.
A six inch caliper should be just fine at those tolerances. One thing to think about is when your Z axis is all the way down you will have the
most potential for deflection errors. Try mounting your material to be cut as close to Z zero as possible leaving just .2" clearance.
For testing Try this file. Remember to subtract the tool diameter from 5" for the measurement. The file cuts 1/2" around each corner.

80

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pocketing and Island avoidance issue, need help

« on: April 21, 2009, 09:12:04 PM »

Ok, just for me, run both of these programs. If the sizes are still off, Uninstall Mach 3 and re install it.