Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Slaved Axis pitch diameter difference

« on: November 21, 2010, 08:24:52 AM »

I have a rack & pinion gantry that has a 10’ travel on the "X” axis that is slaved. If the pitch diameter on 1 of the pinions wears a few thousands more than the other and you have 10’ of travel the gantry ends up out of square the farther you get away from the home switch. Is there a way in Mach to comp for 1 side of a slaved axis traveling slightly different than the other on a slaved axis?

Thanks
 
Steve

2

General Mach Discussion / Smooth Stepper & Backlash

« on: July 14, 2010, 09:54:29 AM »

I thought Smooth Stepper was going to have an update for backlash a year ago? Sure would be a good option.

3

General Mach Discussion / SS & Backlash Comp

« on: September 22, 2009, 03:34:20 PM »

There was a post a few weeks ago stating that progress with the backlash option in SS being close to complete. Any updates?

4

General Mach Discussion / XP Home Setup

« on: September 22, 2009, 03:27:26 PM »

I am getting ready to install Mach3 for the 1st time for a machine using XP Home SP1. I have Mach3 installed on a PC to tinker with it to learn it. Are there any tips for setting up XP Home up for a machine? I am not going to use Win Update & will not use the machine for ANYTHING but Mach...No internet connection or other any programs. I have an 8GB solid state drive.

Thanks

5

General Mach Discussion / "X" travel on gantry question

« on: August 16, 2009, 09:07:55 PM »

I am replacing an DOS 486 system with XP & Mach3 & have a question.
 
We have 120" of travel on our slaved "X" axis steppers with rack & pinions. If the pinions wear at a different rate than each other (which is common) at the end of the 120" travel we get an accumulated error making the "X" slightly out of square. To mimimize or split the error we manually square or "HOME" our "X" axis at the 60" or midpoint point of gantry travel which helps split the acculated error. We don't have "HOME" switches now but will eventually like to install them with Mach3.
 
Question....
1) Can I set HOME manually like we do now with a screen button while in the center of the "X" axis travel?
 
 2) When I get a little farther along with the retrofit can I set "X HOME" with optical switches in the middle of the "X" axis travel??? I don't think I can have a mechanical "HOME" switch in the middle of the table with the gantry continually traveling back & forth over the "X HOME" area.
 
3) Will Mach3 allow a total axis travel setting using a negative from "HOME" on one side in the parameters?
 
Thanks
Steve

6

General Mach Discussion / Pico Motherboard a Good Option??

« on: August 11, 2009, 11:41:14 AM »

I am setting up a 2 Axis Gantry & was wondering if a Pico Motherboard with 8GB flash disk is a good way to go. I will ONLY install XP Home & Mach3 on the computer, nothing else. I realize I will need Smoothstepper. I noticed Hood wrote about the Pico MB last year & liked it then, what about now? Our gantry is very simple with 1 "Y" axis stepper & 2 "X" axis motors slaved. I am in Florida without air conditioning so the temperature can go up to 100 Deg F in the machine cabinet.

8GB Flash Disk @ http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=SF8GB5Y41&src=FR&pid=61f314d6796ff23a7fde340f3d24a5d66ec42b1ade63783ccc585e22ba5d406d

7

General Mach Discussion / Chopped Micro Stepping Controller

« on: August 05, 2009, 06:57:28 PM »

I just read in section 4.4.1 of the latest Mach3 documentation & found a little over half way down the page steppers need to be driven by a Chopped Micro Stepping controller. What is that I have a 1995 gantry that has run well with the Oriental 5 Phase steppers & drivers. I just need better motion system software. There is no resistance load on the gantry just the weight of the cross member. Anyway we will be replacing a 486 PC to use Mach3 for our motion. Could I have problems with old electronics? Will the drivers know the difference?

8

General Mach Discussion / Manual "Z" Axis wireless problem on Large Gantry on Mach installation

« on: August 03, 2009, 09:32:16 PM »

We have a large waterjet gantry that I am trying to convert to Mach & have found a Bluetooth wireless device for a pendant but my "Z" axis is manual only. It is wired to the BOB but it looks like it is wired to an isolated terminal, it looks like it doesn't have to be on the BOB at all. Is there a way to have the "Z" be manipilated by Mach with a Bluetooth device? It has to be pretty reliable, we don't want it to crash the head. I assume I have to add some electronic devise to be the communicator from Mach to the "Z" Anyone gone through this before?

9

General Mach Discussion / Will switching motion system to Mach smooth out old steppers

« on: August 02, 2009, 07:48:45 PM »

I have a 1995 6'X10' waterjet table with Oriental 5Phase steppers and I am in the process of switching the motion software to Mach3. I just realized one thing I haven't thought about is the motion is not real smooth on the old Indexer LPT system & never has been. I don't run it above 80IPM with a rapid of 200IPM. Will Mach3 by itself run smoother or do I need smoothstepper? I think my rough motion problem is the old motion software.

10

General Mach Discussion / 25 Pin Parallel Signal Tester with LED's for each pin WANTED

« on: August 02, 2009, 11:29:22 AM »

I have an old 2D system that I am wanting to convert to Mach. It uses 2 parallel cards to steppers like Mach & I would like to test the signals & maybe use my breakout board that I have on the system now. I have purchased & used a 9 pin serial tester with LED's in the past but have not found a 25 pin test plug with LED's to test a parallel signal. Is there a test device with LED's I can plug into a 25 pin parallel card to send a signal & find out the current pin assignment so I can use my present BOB?