Messages

11

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 17, 2012, 12:07:08 PM »

Interesting. I just upped the passes by changing the depth per pass from .043 to .022 and the pathing comes out more or less correctly.

12

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 17, 2012, 11:57:23 AM »

Thanks for the reply. Attached are screen shots for the roughing parameters and the tool input dialog. I was experimenting with a 45 degree angle left tool to see if the pathing would improve. There are no changes with 0 degrees and center tool.

The yellow pentagon is .0413 and the green one is .0313. I had assumed that I needed an offset so the tool would not be butted against the billet but making the offset zero shows there’s still space between the two.

I have gone through the manual several times (as well as the Mach Turn manual) and have absorbed most of it, except of course the part that would make the correct pathing. Clearance and tolerance are still a bit hazy. I find, oddly enough, that getting through a 2 axis manual is more difficult than getting my Tail mill up and running with Mach 3 Mill. I’ve cut a number of clock wheels out and need to produce identical parts on a lathe. I just finished retrofitting a manual Sherline lathe to CNC and it appears to be working.

What did you do to produce the pathing shown in the hcir.jpg? It looks like you have a large number of passes, both for rough and finishing.

I need a sharp corner on the left side of the collet as that is where the clock wheel fits. In fact, the ½ in. part should be undercut slightly. How is this done with the typical diamond insert tools? A friend who runs a CNC machine shop suggested a parting tool from the rear toolpost would do the trick but that’s too advanced for me as yet.

13

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 16, 2012, 10:44:31 PM »

The tif of the tool paths somehow got lost in translation.

14

LazyTurn / Re: Strange tool path generation

« on: January 16, 2012, 10:41:55 PM »

Here is another strange tool path from someone learning LazyTurn: the drawing is of a collet for a clock wheel saved as DXF V12. Tool is a 35 degree diamond. Just the rough path is shown but the fine path is similar. The billet is .5 brass rod with an OD on the right hand side of the collet of 5/32. Disregard the left hand side - that's to come later. I'm being very conservative using 4 passes of .042. Also disregard the very slow feed rate.

Why doesn't the pathing go all the way to the drawing and what are those paths on the right side?
The drawing of the collet is 1/2 inch but LazyTurn shows the shaded portion as larger. Is this some sort of compensation for the tool bit radius?

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach Turn jog not working, Mach Mill works

« on: January 03, 2012, 05:12:33 PM »

Good catch! I used the default XML port address for Turn but my PC has an odd address that I knew when setting up Mill a couple of years ago. Where is the parallel port address stored in the XML file? A search doesn't find any X378, just a 378 in a couple of places for DRO2.

Thanks for the help, the motors are running. Now I have to build something.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach Turn jog not working, Mach Mill works

« on: January 03, 2012, 11:39:17 AM »

This is the revised Turn XML with the velocities and accelerations the same as the Mill XML. The motors still do not turn. An oddity in the Turn XML is that the Jog Velocity line has a zero in it. Is this a problem? There's no such line in the Mill XML.

I've gone over the config procedure in Turn and can't come up with anything obviously wrong. I've tried MDI and the DROs change but nothing with the motors suggesting the problem is not specifically with jogging.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach Turn jog not working, Mach Mill works

« on: January 02, 2012, 10:01:35 PM »

These are the two XML files. I have to admit I have not spent the time to decipher XML files. There's probably some very obvious errors somewhere but it would take me time to discover them.

18

General Mach Discussion / Mach Turn jog not working, Mach Mill works

« on: January 02, 2012, 01:04:25 PM »

I've just converted an old Sears (pre-Sherline) lathe to CNC and tested the motors using the setup I use with my Taig mill. Everything works fine. Then I copied the existing Mach3Turn XML, renamed it, started Mach Turn and set up the configs the same as the mill. Turning the controller on and in manual mode, the motors "click" and get slightly warm but do not move. Jogging is on and the DROs increment on screen.

What am I missing?

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: New to CNC, Need input please

« on: October 04, 2011, 09:32:12 AM »

Sounds like you're progressing like a lot of us: learn CAD, learn CAM, learn Mach3 and learn by experience. I'd say you are rather advanced based on what you've already built and hope others will chime in with suggestions. This is a fascinating hobby/obsession.

The only tip I have is that the Mach docs are a bit obsolete and refer to things that have changed in the program. The people participating in this forum are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. If I knew more about Mach3 and there was a call to update the docs, I wouldn't mind participating. The only suggestion is to add related documentation - what you are doing for example, written up and posted on the site as examples of Mach3 applications. Don't overlook the forums relating to your equipment. Know the feeling on hot Florida. My Taig is in the garage and even with fans, all the motors get really hot. Buy the wife a nice present or she may decide that either the table or you have to stay outside.

20

General Mach Discussion / Re: SIGNALS REALLY MIXED UP??? Please help

« on: September 06, 2011, 03:27:59 PM »

Thanks for the explanation. For some reason, I can't find pulse width referring to anything but spindle setup. In Config, Motor Tuning, all I see is the Motor Movement Profile window having to do mostly with acceleration for the axis motors. Below to the right, there is a box for Step Pulse and Dir Pulse, both set at one as the docs recommend. They go from 1 to 5 and 0 to 5 respectively. Where exactly do I set pulse width?