Messages

441

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Model Epiphone acoustic guitar

« on: November 11, 2012, 10:44:57 PM »

Very nice.

442

General Mach Discussion / Re: Questions 1st Aluminum Cut Sample

« on: November 11, 2012, 09:55:39 PM »

   How did you generate the code? Were you just using wizards? Which CAD program are you using? If you used a Cad program generally there are a variety of ways to have your tool enter and exit the stock. You could plunge, ramp, helical (like a corkscrew) and tangential (which I dont understand yet). These different techniques place different stresses and or allow the tool to achieve its depth before following a path to minimize the deflection as you experienced where the top groove was wider than expected. Or maybe they create a place of the chips to be evacuated at the start of a cut. Or a dimple or ridge at a start point of a bore. You also want to overlap if boring a hole or circle to minimize the entry points mark.

  That is what I am guessing happened though it could be a few things. So much of this stuff has been counterintuitive to me. Rarely has higher rpm helped me and many times it has overheated the tool, the part etc.

  If I am seeing it correctly there are plenty of chatter marks in your letters. This could be caused by many things, fonts, feedrates, gummed up flutes. There is much to learn and engraving will bring new challenges of which I dont have much experince but have made similar errors to you.

  Also if the tip of the tool could go all the way thru the material so it uses the side of the tool to cut you would get a better finish on the final cut outs walls. Try doing the cutout with the 2 flute end mill. Also direction of cut is important. Climb milling has produced better results for me though I am getting better at both.

443

General Mach Discussion / Re: Questions 1st Aluminum Cut Sample

« on: November 11, 2012, 08:27:21 PM »

Others with more experience will chime in. I dont think I would have used a drill pointed (chamfer?) end mill to plunge if that is what you used. I would have used a center cutting 2 or  4 flute end mill which is what it appears you used on the MDF. Are you trying to outline that square or was the intent to cut thru? Depending on the machine and its rigidity the depth of cut might or might not be too much. Did you calculate the chipload, rpms and feedrate or just guess? Dont be embarassed if excitement took over and you just wanted to see something happen! I have broken way too many tools and parts in this journey. MDF looks good. Also dont expect the letters to turn out very well unless it is engraved. They can be much better than what you experienced so far. As you can see wood and metal are 2 different materials. Actually if you were trying to remove the center piece. I would have done a circular or helical ramp into the inside of the line then proceeded. Straight plunges seem to wobble too much for me.

444

General Mach Discussion / Re: Home/limits settings

« on: November 11, 2012, 08:14:17 PM »

Brian, you should get the flashing reset upon a trigger. Or by "activated" do you mean enabled? Have you checked or unchecked the active low setting in response? Do you have any debounce? Maybe a 500 or so to get thru testing might help. This is a setting that allows a signal to be present for a specified amount of time before it is recognized by Mach. This is for dealing with noise that cause triggers in limit and homing switch circuits. IMO  100-500 is probably ok but any higher and there is underlying issue. I dont run any. But I have run a bit in the past.

445

General Mach Discussion / Re: limit switches work and dont work i need help

« on: November 11, 2012, 08:07:32 PM »

Keith,
   Have they ever worked successfully and then there was a change?
   The intermittent problem has always existed?
   What kind of controller are you using?
   Power supply?
   Are you running any debounce?
   Capacitors?
   EMI filters?
   Do you have a "star ground"?
   Is the V- of your power supply tied a point on the chassis also or just to the - terminal of your controller?
   These are a few things to check first.
  For me the V- not being tied to a star ground was the issue. Nothing else helped. It didnt seem safe with my limited electronics experience but with the help of others here. It runs great.
  Also pictures of your electronics are always fun and helpful. Nothing fancy, a cell phone will do a great job.   

446

General Mach Discussion / Emco 50 Lathe & Mill

« on: November 11, 2012, 11:26:11 AM »

I am the other end of the country or I would drive over and offer my input. You will probably be able to do many things from the console if it works. Things like homing and automatic backlash compensation etc. keep us posted.

447

General Mach Discussion / Emco 50 Lathe & Mill

« on: November 11, 2012, 08:10:11 AM »

OP, I  sorry I believe the build thread was on CncZone. A different forum many of us participate in. Look there also both provide great insight in these areas.

448

General Mach Discussion / Emco 50 Lathe & Mill

« on: November 10, 2012, 10:28:24 PM »

The guy who did the first video (the mill) yvesdupre turns out to be a member here and talks a little about the controller he uses. It is a csmio Ethernet controller. They are supposed to be pretty reasonable. The few things I have read are very positive.

449

General Mach Discussion / Emco 50 Lathe & Mill

« on: November 10, 2012, 05:29:05 PM »

Drip

450

General Mach Discussion / Emco 50 Lathe & Mill

« on: November 10, 2012, 05:28:42 PM »

Can you operate it manually from the console? My Dyna was able to do a few things but I could never drop feed it. So I converted it. I couldn't find the software or the dongle.