Messages

1

FAQs / Re: In need of a low speed spindle motor

« on: February 28, 2010, 08:34:09 PM »

I bought the rheostat for 18 bucks and milled .080 nickel silver using a 1/16 carbide ballnose. I cut up a 2x6" sheet of material into 40 little pieces. I think the deepest I could mill at once was .030, but hey, at least I milled it. Not bad for a 15,000 to 30,000 rpm mini router.

2

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Warning-zero length line?

« on: February 28, 2010, 08:19:31 PM »

I found since that it is a Mcam warning that usually pops up when the geometry just doesn't support the command. I's usually a general warning that occurs for sometimes obvious reasons like trying to extend a line to an unsupported point or sometimes not so obvious reasons that may lie inside the geometry that can't be seen. Either way, I found that by hitting esc first after the warning pops up, it goes away smoothly.

3

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: my 5 axis CNC Router

« on: February 19, 2010, 08:34:14 AM »

That is a fine accomplishment my friend. I would love to do something just like that.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and Linux

« on: February 19, 2010, 08:31:06 AM »

It sounds like it could be something with your pc. Mach and XP work very well. I use Linux Ubuntu just to browse the web and for emails and things. For work, I use Mach on an old 512mb tower that is not connected to the internet. For machining, stay with Mach, stay with Windows.

5

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Drawing into LC and then to Mach

« on: February 17, 2010, 11:56:47 PM »

A lot of people want to know how to take a picture and turn it to g code and machine it. I struggled for a long time trying to find the best ways to do this. I now can do a lot of these things. What I invested in was a couple Adobe programs (Photoshop and Illustrator), and obtained Mastercam x3. I rarely use my Autocad, as it seems more suited for mechanical drawing than manipulating artistic renderings. Mastercam will do amazing things with jpeg photos all by itself. you'd be blown away with this amazing cam software. But if you like drawing freehand sketches, you could scan your drawing, then either vectorize it with Illustrator or load it directly in Mcam and let it sort it out. Mastercam X has an art feature that can even make your object 3-D. Long story short, if there's one software you need (besides Mach) try to get Mastercam.

6

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / My rapids are leaving toolpath marks.

« on: January 24, 2010, 08:29:07 PM »

When I pocket in Mastercam, can I set up the rapids to have the Z come up a few thousandths and then back down when rapiding? I'm getting nasty toolpath marks that I'll have to sand out of my pockets.

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G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Warning-zero length line?

« on: January 22, 2010, 09:52:11 AM »

Yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes it's just one little line in there that can kink it all up. Mcam let me scale as small as 10%, and no further than that. I sent it over to Lcam and shrunk it down another 50% and it came out nice and clean. I found in some cases Mcam did a real nice job getting my initial toolpaths processed, and Lcam's ease of use allowed me to manipulate it further. Thanks for the help.

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Zenbot precision

« on: January 21, 2010, 09:20:33 AM »

I have a Zenbot and it is accurate consistently up to .004 for my woodworking projects. If you are experiencing problems, there are many factors that could apply. The machine itself is belt driven, so expect it not to be as accurate as a mill with ballscrews. The spindle motor is not pro quality, since it is a standard roto-zip which will have unusually high runout. If your motor tuning configs are right, and gen configs are right, it is a very stable, and consistent little machine. How much is your machine deviating? If we are talking thousandths, how many. If we are talking in tens of thousandths, then your motor tunings are probably off.

9

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Warning-zero length line?

« on: January 21, 2010, 09:12:32 AM »

Hello everyone, hope all are well today. I am encountering a problem using Mastercam. Sometimes when I am scaling an object down, an error pops up saying warning-zero length line. It won't let me continue at all and closing it out is not possible. It is very frustrating since the only way to continue is to close down the program and start from scratch. I don't know if it's mcam warnning me or my system. I have enough ram and space on my win xp. This only happens occasionally. I researched the web but don't see much and what I do see I can't understand what to make of it. Does anyone else know what this means and how to fix it? Thanks sincerely.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine won't move.

« on: December 05, 2009, 10:54:17 PM »

It is working now. I did not properly put the mach profile into the mach3 folder. Geeesh, get in a hurry and it can cost you a lotta time! Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. Take care.