Messages

21

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

« on: August 03, 2009, 04:16:37 PM »

Thanks Hood for the direction....... I am new to this & every little bit helps. I sure want the switchover from Indexer to Mach to go smooth.

22

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

« on: August 03, 2009, 01:21:30 PM »

After Hood's comment I searched a long time & found this. No LED but this saves alot of work.
http://www.winford.com/products/brk25mf.php

23

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.

24

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?

25

General Mach Discussion / Pendant Setup

« on: August 01, 2009, 12:23:37 PM »

I am converting my 6' X 10' waterjet to Mach3 & have a pendant already with my present system. It seems like you need to install pendant drivers or software that allows Mach to find the pendant. I don't have any software & my present system is running Dos 6.22. Is there a way to have Mach look for signals from my BOB while pressing buttons on my pendant? My BOB is a custom made 1995 version so I don't know if Mach can see it? Any tips for me would be appreciated.

Also if that doesn't work has anyone tried Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 PC Gamepad?

26

General Mach Discussion / 2D Sheet Metal Software for Mach

« on: July 26, 2009, 04:17:34 PM »

There are so many of you out there that some one should know of an economical sheet metal program.
I am looking for 2D software to work with Mach for our waterjet but the CNC software doesn't have to be only for a waterjet. The options that I think are critical are as follows......

1) Cutter comp left or right with variable diameter
2) Flexible internal cut Sequencing with variable width tabbing & be easy to move the lead in & lead out start location
3) Corner feed rate ramping with of feed rate % changing through selecting elements in CAD drawing for a certain % like small little arcs & sharp directional changes.
    I have been working with G-Code for a very long time but I don't want to have to search for little arcs to assign different feed rates in the G-Code file
4) Software needs to be able to handle very complex 2D decorative or artistic files without crashing or sending elements randomly upon import due to the program getting confused
5) Software needs to be able to link to or have a material library capability & thickness of the material option with feeds for each

Please let me know if there are any good programs out there

Thanks
Steve

27

General Mach Discussion / Backlash removal in Mach with rack & pinion & steppers

« on: July 23, 2009, 11:12:43 AM »

I am thinking about installing Mach on one of my machines & I was wondering if most of you have had success with backlash removal IN Mach? What about mapping the table & compensating for a certain area if their is a an acuracy problem? We have a 6' X 10' rack & pinion table using steppers. Also the control software I have now has a slight acuracy problem with circles & big arcs. Anyone had any problems like this in Mach.

28

General Mach Discussion / Waterjet Corner Ramping & Also Offsets

« on: July 16, 2009, 09:23:43 PM »

1) On a waterjet can feed rate ramping be set in Mach parameters or does it have to have have manually input feed rates in G Code? Can Mach search for a very small rounded corner & slow it way down OR go at a faster feed rate for a larger radius using those parameters.

2) Do all offsets have to be produced in the cad file? Sometimes 1 hole might need to be tweaked with a different offset & it would be nice to do it at the control instead of a new cad file.

3) Or can #2 be done in Lazycam?

I know some programs like Lazycam you can select an arc or line segment & say change the feed rate property defining that element a different feed rate.

29

General Mach Discussion / Vexta 5 Phase Motor & Driver

« on: July 07, 2009, 01:44:45 PM »

We have a waterjet & I am starting to research replacing our old 486SX PC based system running DOS 6.22 & Indexer to one running Mach3 on XP. I just learned about Mach3 last week. I saw a kit from Machmotion ( I thought they were Mach3 developers) that is a CNC Plasma or Oxy fuel Stepper Kit [X15-350-01] but their drivers won't work with our 5 Phase steppers so I thought Mach3 didn't work with 5 Phase Drivers & steppers. I like the control cabinet Machmotion has in this kit.
I have open loop steppers that are Vexta 5 Phase .72 deg./step, DC 2.8A PN/PK596AUHA with an obsolete 5 Phase Driver UDX5128NA. The replacement for our obsolete driver is PN/UDK5128NW2 and is almost $1,100 plus has a long lead time.
We have been using our present setup for 14 years & the steppers never skip a step. Are most steppers this reliable?
In reference to a post from mr.c....I though??? would be better if I would switch to a cheaper 5 Phase driver in the new Mach3 intigration since the Machmotion kit couldn't use our drivers.

Here is a Pic of the Driver setup & others.....http://picasaweb.google.com/Share.Pic.53/VextaDrivesMotors?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTBqseVwrnhpAE#

30

General Mach Discussion / Re: 5 phase stepper and Mach 3

« on: July 07, 2009, 01:32:44 PM »

I am just starting & I have Vexta 5 Phase motors. Did you get yours set up?