Messages

791

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle speed calibration?

« on: December 12, 2009, 09:33:20 PM »

Rich
Thanks for the help. I do have the disable spindle relays unchecked. I have it set to index and not timing. Timing never showed rpms. It operates just the speed is different than stated. I am going to check into the P.I.D. settings as these might have some overall effect. Not sure yet. It is working with m3/m5. I air cut a thread using my mill with the lathe profile, it did seem to mimic the correct action and the spindle seemed to slow down while the z moved pretty rapidly. I have played with the debounce. Also I notice that the index led on the diagnostics page seems to miss a beat occasionally or it looks that way and the debounce or index debounce seems to have no effect. Since i am controlling the speed with a pwm the motor tuning shouldnt have an effect should it?

792

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle speed calibration?

« on: December 12, 2009, 04:57:48 PM »

3.042.032. Right now it is on a sherline mill though it swaps over to the lathe very quickly. I just tried a threading wizard on the mill using a lathe profile. It looked like it went thru the motions correctly but the indicated speed is never close to requested speed.

793

General Mach Discussion / Spindle speed calibration?

« on: December 12, 2009, 11:30:24 AM »

Well I finally got my new speed controller board from Sherline. I connected it back up and everything worked as it should or appeared/s to. I installed the min din and Dc 04 and all seems to work however the speeds requested and speed delivered are 2 different things. If I am in manual mode it appears to turn about 1480rpms. So in pulley configuration under pulley 1 I have set the max as 1480. However when entering M3 S1300 I might see 480. So far the maximum I can achieve is 1100 no matter what I tell it. If I am on the diagnostics screen I see the light blink everytime the mark passes the sensor, when I manually turn the spindle. At speed it is hard to tell if it is seeing each pass but appears to. I have tried using the index and timing as the input with the exact same rpm reading after setting changes. Any ideas? Autocal doesn’t seem to do anything. It does go thru its routine and asks me if I want to save the findings. I select yes, then I select save changes, restart Mach and it is right back where I was. So close and yet so far. No smoke though, everything still works predictably if in manual mode. I have tried with and without spindle speed feedback with no differences.
                                                                                            

794

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor output help

« on: December 04, 2009, 10:00:51 AM »

I dont know but are you running a gangtry style mill with 2 steppers or servos on the x axis? That is the only reason I would think  there would be 2 X's in the output. I know in mach there is a setting for slaving an axis to any of the axis'. Are you running more than 1 parallel port? If no then the port should always be set to 1. Pins are dependent on your set up but I would think shopbots documentation would help with that. I dont know anything about a shopbot.

795

Tangent Corner / Does CNC Zone really exist?

« on: November 29, 2009, 10:13:04 AM »

Apparently I must have pissed off someone there as they wont send me an activation letter. I have tried thru all 3 of my email addresses and nobody ever reponds. I did get a username and password, both of which are recognized but wont let me post. The site always refers to an activation letter that is never sent. I am not the only 1 with the problem judging from the fact that they have at least 1 thread stickied to the top of the forum about how to enter. I never have problems on the other sites, everyone elses activation letters got/get thru fine. Are any of you active there?

796

General Mach Discussion / Re: Laser pointers to set starting mill position

« on: November 28, 2009, 09:57:58 PM »

Looks like Arnie might be letting others deal his products. The link was from the bargain basement to wild-horse was Arnie's the site claims the probe is designed by AM designs. I wonder who that could be?

797

General Mach Discussion / Re: Laser pointers to set starting mill position

« on: November 28, 2009, 07:03:08 PM »

Dont use a wiggler use a digital probe. Zarzul has them for under 100.00 in the bargain basement section. Work great.

798

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to install Shuttle Pro?

« on: November 28, 2009, 11:17:24 AM »

I am just figuring out how to use a plugin. I spend many hours reading about SS and Mod Bus etc with absolutely no understanding their uses or advantages just yet. I do like the pendant you are using and the price seems very fair.

799

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to install Shuttle Pro?

« on: November 28, 2009, 08:51:52 AM »

I second Daves opinion at the moment. My shuttle pro 2 has worked flawlessly since plugging it in. I do agree that it is a clumsy device and probably never meant to be picked up but now I can move part to tool effortlessly. I also do as Ray suggests with the manual machining. It does make manual machining easy and accurate. Did you use a plugin for the imach or is it a pendant where you used keygrabber? And why arent you using your mini mill? Hood can you see your parts in your machines from where that console will be? Also I saw that probe you built. Solid seems to be a constant around your shop.

800

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to install Shuttle Pro?

« on: November 27, 2009, 09:56:33 PM »

Ray why do you say FAR? How do you set up the imach? Keygrabber or plugin? I watched the video it seems nice and it looks like the price must have come down. I was using a defective joystick and this was available at Micro Center NOW. So I bought it, but you know this is an evolutionary process and tools can be reallocated. I like the Campbell and Homann designed stuff too.