Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Mach3Turn - dimension troubles

« on: July 18, 2009, 06:47:03 PM »

Good afternoon all!

I am having sizing difficulties with both the Turn Wizards output and LazyTurn output.  What settings within Mach3 can introduce consistent offset differences?  I'm getting parts that are about 0.080" larger in diameter than desired.  This appears to be constant across the length of the part.

I have run through the positioning tests, you know, 50-100 iterations of full length extension and return with a dial indicator in place and see no more than 0.0005" variance.

Any advice or direction would be appreciated.  I've been through the Mach3Turn mnual multiple times and nothing jumps out at me.

Thank you,   Joe

2

General Mach Discussion / newbie question - MachTurn parting off and inner taper with wizards

« on: May 13, 2009, 01:43:39 PM »

Now that the little Taig is completely controlled, my first project is making bushings for pen turning.  These are simple stepped cylinders - small diameter fits inside pen tube and larger diameter is desired barrel thickness.  The stepped diameters are straightforward using the OD wizard but I am struggling with parting off and figuring out how to create the 60 degree taper to fit onto my wood lathe centers.

I was trying to use the groove wizard for parting; the inner taper wizard for the 60 degree taper.  The taper goes in the flat face of the larger bushing end.  It only needs to be 1/4" deep to fit onto the wood lathe dead and live centers.

The groove wizard flat out refused to generate G-code.  The graphic from the inner taper wizard didn't look like the simple cone I was aiming for.

What's the recommended way to generate these operations?

Thank you,   Joe

3

General Mach Discussion / Mach3Turn up and running - newbie questions

« on: April 25, 2009, 11:58:42 PM »

Hello All,

With the advise and guidance of a good friend I have my Taig microlathe up and running under Mach3Turn.  Little steppers on both axes; spindle control and feedback - all good.  I have all the motor stuff - lead screw, bearing blocks, carriage drive - on the back side of the lathe.  It all runs pretty well from the diagnostics and manual screens.  I do have a few questions...

First - my spindle control is Step/Dir using a CNC4PC C6 board.  Is there a way to set a step floor in Mach3?  Some minimum number of steps to output to get the spindle moving?  The low end is very non-linear it seems and unless the spindle begins turning the speed feedback doesn't update and adjust power to bring to the correct speed.  I tried running through the automatic spindle calibration but that created other issues.

Second - since my carriage is mounted backwards do I need to change anything to get motion going in the correct dimensions?  Like I said, things run correctly from the manual screen.  For example, the up/down cursor keys move the carriage slide toward the front and rear as expected; pressing left/right moves the carriage toward the headend or tailstock along the bed.  Am I good to go?  How should the movement limits be input?

Lastly (for now) - what's the best way to come up to speed on using Mach3Turn to produce things?  I'm wanting to do some pretty simple things at first - turning stepped guide bushings of various materials and making some pen barrels - but don't know how to get started defining and running the necessary shapes.

Thank you in advance!

All the best,   Joe