Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / How to Diagnose Cutting Error Problem?

« on: May 01, 2017, 12:56:30 PM »

Is there any sort of list of steps to take to diagnose a cutting error problem?  Everything seems to be fine mechanically with my 2' x 4' router, it runs smoothly, etc.  But the parts I am getting are wonky. Circles are coming out egg shaped, or the machine tries to cut a figure "6" type shape, where it starts cutting wide, and then closes in to complete the circle.  I'm running Mach3, with a SmoothStepper, and haven't had a problem with this setup in three years.  Now, things are really messed up.  I'm just hoping to find an organized approach to figuring out the problem...

Thanks in advance!

-Taylor

2

General Mach Discussion / Noob Set-up for 4 Axis Hotwire Foam Cutting

« on: June 09, 2012, 12:26:38 PM »

I am OH SO CLOSE to being able to cut foam wings with Mach3....  I've got a custom screen set that Sam Harbold created.... it has on-screen buttons for jogging the towers, and everything is working welll..... FORWARD makes both towers run forward... UP makes both wire supports go upward.

The problem is that the DRO's for the horizontal ( X axis) are reversed.  Forward makes the numbers go more negative.....
AND... if I load an actual cutting project,  the wire starts at zero and then runs AWAY from the part, towards the front of the machine.

How can I tell the animated screen, and the DRO's to reverse themselves in the horizontal axis ?

Thanks!

-Taylor

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Crop Circles.... But Not Everywhere....

« on: December 27, 2009, 08:13:27 PM »

Yes..... I tried Regenerating the Toolpath, closing the GCode and re-importing it, etc...... All I could get was a black screen in the preview window.....

Now that I know about the setting for the I & J interpretation, it's a non-issue... until I mess something else up.   

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Crop Circles.... But Not Everywhere....

« on: December 27, 2009, 10:06:27 AM »

Thanks...... Before posting my question here, I did a search, and saw a reference to putting in that G90.1 or G91.1

I tried editing the code by putting in an "N10G91.1" at the very beginning of the code string... but when I did that... NOTHING showed up in the graphic preview window for the part......  What did I mess up by attempting this?

Thanks for the help.  After dinner last night, I went out to the shop and successfully cut my parts.....

-Taylor

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Crop Circles.... But Not Everywhere....

« on: December 26, 2009, 07:31:51 PM »

Hood,

Thanks for the BLAZING FAST reply.  I tried monkeying with that setting on my laptop, and am able to duplicate the crop circles, so I'm pretty sure that will solve the problem when I get back out to the shop to attempt the actual cutting again. (Can't go right now... as my absence will upset the cook... so close to dinner time!)

Thanks for the help!

-Taylor

6

General Mach Discussion / Crop Circles.... But Not Everywhere....

« on: December 26, 2009, 07:13:42 PM »

I'm mystified.  I've got a small file to cut some small parts with my CNC router.  I started with a .DXF drawing that I found on the web, and imported it into Vectric Cut2D.
Everything looks as it should in Cut2D..... and I can save the cutting file with the Mach3 Arcs/Inch Post Processor without a problem.

On my laptop, the cutting file imports into Mach3 Mill just fine... and I can scroll through the G Code to follow the little white dot around the cutting path.

BUT... when I import the exact same cutting file in Mach3 Mill on my actual workshop/cutting machine... I get a whole bunch of concentric "crop circles"... with a center that looks to be at about -10" X and -10" Y.

What setting in Mach3 (on my cutting machine) got hosed up to cause this?  I recently installed the Blue mill screen set (with centering and Z axis setting scripts, etc.) on both machines.....

What do I do now?

Thanks... and Happy Holidays!

-Taylor

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: ShuttlePro VID Number?

« on: September 24, 2009, 12:34:12 PM »

That is GREAT news!  When I found that my existing, silver ShuttlePro wouldn't work... I got sidetracked onto other projects.  I'm going to drag it out, and try again.. with the new driver...

Thanks for letting us know about this development!

-Taylor

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: ShuttlePro VID Number?

« on: April 01, 2009, 02:47:16 PM »

Thanks for the help!  If you have any influence with the 'Powers that Be', you might encourage them to update the documentation to reflect the necessity for the ShuttlePro 2... or whatever....

It's never easy being me!  :-(

-Taylor

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: ShuttlePro VID Number?

« on: April 01, 2009, 02:36:48 PM »

Yes... It's silver.  This is interesting because the top line of the documentation says "This document describes how to install the Shuttle or ShuttlePro into Mach3" .......

I guess I'll need to get a Shuttle Pro 2......  :-(

-Taylor

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: ShuttlePro VID Number?

« on: April 01, 2009, 02:27:28 PM »

I suspect that it is the original ShuttlePro... but all I really know about it is the model number (SP-JNS)

Does Mach3 require the Model 2 version?

Thanks!

-Taylor