Messages

271

General Mach Discussion / Re: Whats the best settings for a CNC3040 in Mach3?

« on: February 10, 2014, 09:48:33 AM »

Have you used this machine before or are you new to it?

When you say the 1st and 2nd times are you referring to passes or attempts at getting the correct size?

Is you machine calibrated and moving properly? The correct tool diameter in the machine and in the CAM?

272

General Mach Discussion / Re: Whats the best settings for a CNC3040 in Mach3?

« on: February 10, 2014, 09:32:46 AM »

Joker welcome to Mach.

When you say you are having some problems getting it to cut right, what do you mean? Is it cutting the wrong size? Losing steps and moving over in 1 or more axis and leaving what appear to be steps in the side walls of your parts?

Btw, Where are you located?

273

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 and Gecko540

« on: February 09, 2014, 10:14:13 PM »

   No I talked to him.

  The original controller burnt up. Chinese not a Gecko.

He is so frustrated with the company he wants to go with a Gecko due to their reputation. Upon talking to gecko he believed the repair was over his head. I tried to encourage him to reuse what he can (case, power supply and steppers) and install the G540 where the Chinese controller was. He didnt feel confident but i assured him thru this site and a little patience we could get it done. I also referred him to a local hackerspace in the DC area and assured him that for a small donation possibly he could find an interested party to help him. Hopefully he allows them or us to help him rather than pay money to someone else.

274

General Mach Discussion / Re: Sherline speeds direction transition

« on: February 09, 2014, 10:03:21 PM »

I thought Sherline used flashcut?

Anyway yes, go into Config/Motor Tuning, only vary the velocity (the max speed you desire the axis to go in a rapid) and accel (how quickly it gets up to that speed). You will hear the difference in the song. As you listen to different machines on YouTube the people with higher accel rates sound entirely different.

Also go to config/general config and check Constant Velocity under the motion mode area. This will keep the machine running a more continuous speed. on the right side of that same page, change the "look ahead" to 100 or more.

275

General Mach Discussion / Re: Sherline speeds direction transition

« on: February 09, 2014, 09:56:40 PM »

I dont understand why you linked this video? That is a CNC router I believe. Maybe a 3020

276

General Mach Discussion / Re: Sherline speeds direction transition

« on: February 09, 2014, 09:47:39 PM »

Do you run Mach 3 in this machine? (I am guessing so since you are here). Are you familiar with it settings?

The motor tunings will alter quite a few things, distance traveled and the speed and acceleration at which it does so.

Yes you can change the amount of backlash to be compensated for and at which speed it does take this slack up.

277

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to make a Pocket RIGHT!!

« on: February 09, 2014, 08:01:46 PM »

I am having problems with pockets as well.drew a design in vecrtic aspir was supposed to cut a circle to 51 mm and 4.5 mm deep depth came out fine but circle is only 46 mm dia and should be 51.I have calibrated all the axis and they cut to the right length and z axis raises and lowers to the right heights don't know whats wrong does anyone have any ideas

Regards \Kevin

 Is your tool diameter correct?

 Not being familiar with your CAD/CAM, is your offset correct for the direction of travel? I know in BobCad I usually have 3 choices, to the right, left or on the line. Those would all make a difference in the widths only and not the depth.

278

General Mach Discussion / Re: D&M 4S Upgrade Config question

« on: February 09, 2014, 10:48:53 AM »

   It is using an L297 driver chip.  How long is the duration of pulse? (this under config/motor tuning & setup). Lengthen it to 5 as a test. This is the amount of time (in microsecoonds IIRC) the direction or step signal is presented to the chip. On some machines if this setting is too low the controller never sees it. Some people use "Sherline" mode (again found in config/ports & pins/Port setup & Axis selection). Try both of these settings, first independently and then combined if all else fails. Dont forget to do a restart after changing to Sherline mode, it warns you on the page too.

   Are you a member over on CncZone? If not I suggest you join there too. Not knocking Mach and the helpful people here at all. This is more of a motion control software site whereas the Zone has specific builds and electronics sections that deal specifically with the products in your board. Personally I and quite a few here enjoy both.

Btw, I did just come across this site where it looks like they have offerings to interface with the original equipment of D&M and many other brands. So if all else fails all hope is not lost. I think we should be able to work with what you have if it is operable. Nothing is blatantly obvious in your pictures like burnt or swollen electronics etc.
http://www.eaziform.co.uk/index.php?home

279

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to make a Pocket RIGHT!!

« on: February 08, 2014, 09:37:20 PM »

SF, Sure there are some things you can do.

 Lube all ways, slides ball or lead screws too.

Then as Gerry said, lessen your velocity and or acceleration.

Find out the micro stepping that your controller is on and see if changing its value doesnt lessen the resonance. This will require some retuning so if you are very new, hold off a bit. Not that it is difficult.

Btw is this all of a sudden? Was there a change in its operation? Or are you new to the machine and experienced these problems right away?Just out of curiousity, what kind of speeds/accels were you running?

Either accel or velocity can cause lost steps depending on their values, so it could be the velocity was fine but the instant accel for its mass caused loss of steps or vice versa.

280

General Mach Discussion / Re: D&M 4S Upgrade Config question

« on: February 08, 2014, 02:27:03 PM »

  A few ideas. Though you are detecting something when a direction key is pressed, can you turn the stepper by hand when the controller is on? It should offer significant resistance, especially if you are trying to turn it by the shaft (does it have a hand wheel?). You can overpower a stepper by hand when powered but it is difficult. No harm will be done,  it just trying to make sure it is powered.
 
   If the machine was working prior then change the wiring back to the way it was when operable. There are many settings within Mach or EMC that allow pin assignments and such. We want to minimize any variables if possible.

  You mention 4 wires coming from the driver. I am assuming they are coming from the BOB to the driver, not from the driver to the stepper (again assuming the stepper is a 4 wire in this case). One thing I have found is that machine wiring doesnt seem to follow any convention I am familiar with in regards to color. It might from an industrial standard but the typical "black for ground, red for +" is not always the case.

   The issue with the flyout is odd. You do have other machines that are CNC correct? And you are familiar with Mach? If not familiar with Mach and you used the flyout, there is a resolution button that only affects that screen, not the direction keys on the keyboard. It has 3 options (maybe 4?) IIRC, they are 1,.1,.01,.001 and .0001. If in one of the finer resolutions, movement would be difficult to detect.

  Dont worry about the rats nest during set up. Most of us except those that are very organized go thru this. Probably not the best way, but you wont be the first by any stretch. That being said I wouldnt really be changing anything regarding wiring just yet.

  Also I am assuming you have the particular axis "enabled" within Mach. It appears you do from the DRO's and the diagnostics screen.

  Finally, Pictures, yes! It does help in identifying steppers, driver chips, BOB's (though you said you are running a C11) and power supplies etc. Simple ones taken with your cell phone and preferably hosted here and not on a secondary site. Ok, that last one might be a personal peave. I just dont want to go to dropbox or any other site to see the pictures of a problem discussed here. I understand many have build logs and posting in both is fine IMO. Others here might need this info in the future. It would be nice if it is self contained.

   With a little info and some research on your drivers etc, we should be able to get it running quickly. If you pm me your number as we get further along (assuming you dont get it straightened out prior) I will walk you thru what I know. That should be every bit of a 15 second discussion! ;-)