Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Mach turn Thread pitch is off?

« on: July 02, 2016, 05:49:55 PM »

I have an old dyna metronics dm3000 lathe which over the past couple months i've been converting over to mach 3. I've come so far but today i hit a snag.

I wrote a quick program to machine a .5 aluminum rod down and thread a 3/8-16 external thread. After completing the part my diameters are dead on along with turn length. However i couldn't get a 3/8 nut to thread onto it. I checked the thread pitch on the piece and it measures .050 instead of .0625. I looked through the mach threading manual and also did research on this page but was unsuccessful. As the machine is threading , the dro shows the spindle at the program speed of 525rpm. I even used a laser tachometer and received the exact same number. My spindle pulley ratio is set to 1. I have both "use spindle feedback" "spindle speed averaging" checked under spindle setup. I ran multiple parts at different depths thinking it was struggling but that didn't change anything.

What could be causing this? Im using an index pulse card and slotted disc. Could having too big of a slot in the disc be a possible problem? It seems weird since everything else is dead on, including the spindle speed.

Also i am using the latest version of mach 3

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Turret macro is giving me issues

« on: June 20, 2016, 08:13:26 PM »

Got it working!  I originally tried dialing the stepper motor in simply by using an a360.0 command in mdi and adjusting the steps till I got a perfect circle. All was good but the problem was the chewed up gear inside. Once I tore all that out and switched over to a belt drive I was trying to dial it in using the tool macro instead of just commanding the a axis to turn 360 degrees. It left me guessing left and right since it backs up 10 degrees against the pawl. It pays to sit back and take my time.

I must thank all who gave me advice on how to fix this issue. Without any support I would have been completely lost. Thank you

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Turret macro is giving me issues

« on: June 12, 2016, 07:40:22 PM »

It keeps starting from a0 while using incremental rather than absolute, so I'm guessing even if it backs up tight against the pawl that it won't matter since the next move is reset to zero anyways. This is truly driving me nuts! I thought I had it figured out the other day. I tore the whole turret apart to find the worm gear a little chewed up on some of the teeth. I removed all of that and decided to go with a pulley setup much like my x and y drive. There is zero backlash also. I still have the same results.

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Turret macro is giving me issues

« on: May 08, 2016, 09:19:41 PM »

Thank you rich. I will give that a go this week and report back with the outcome

15

General Mach Discussion / Turret macro is giving me issues

« on: May 07, 2016, 10:23:23 PM »

Hi everyone, I converted an old cnc lathe that already had a turret on it. After converting the entire machine over to mach3 I needed to control the turret. I receieved a macro from a different site but no one seems to have any info on it.

My turret is equipped with a stepper motor and a pawl. The macro simply rotates the turret past the tool location then backs up tight against the pawl.

 I installed this macro and I can successfully index my turret from tools 1-6 as long I call the next tool in order.  If for instance I'm using tool 3 and call up tool 6 my turret seems to not rotate far enough, its off by a couple degrees. Is there a math error in the macro? I can't see it being the stepper tuning since It works perfect if I call up the tools in order. I indexed the tools in order for 3 full rotations with no errors but as soon as I command it to call up a tool that's a couple slots away it loses its spot.


Here's the macro I installed:






If IsLoading() Then
 'Do Nothing, program loading


 Else






 ' Dim Variables


 Dim Num_Tools As Integer
 Dim CW_Steps_Per_Tool As Integer
 Dim CCW_Steps As Integer
 Dim HoldingDRO As Integer
 Dim Requested_Tool As Integer
 Dim Current_Tool As Integer
 Dim CW_Feed As Integer
 Dim CCW_Feed As Integer


 'Dim moves As Integer
 'Dim total_move As Integer




 ' set up some vars


 Num_Tools = 6
 CW_Move_Per_Tool = 360/Num_Tools
 CCW_Move = 10
 HoldingDRO = 1050
 Requested_Tool = GetSelectedTool()
 Current_Tool = GetCurrentTool()
 CW_Feed = 3000
 CCW_Feed = 2000
 Current_Feed = GetOEMDRO(818)




 ' start tool change


 Message ("Requested Tool No=" & Requested_Tool)


 If Requested_Tool > Num_Tools Then
 Message "Requested Tool No. too high, program stopped."
 Code "M30"
 End
 End If


 If Requested_Tool < 1 Then
 'Message "Requested Tool No. too low, program stopped."
 Code "M30"
 End
 End If


 If Requested_Tool = Current_Tool Then
 ' do nothing
 Else
 ' lets do some changing
 If Requested_Tool > Current_Tool Then moves = Requested_Tool - Current_Tool
 If Requested_Tool < Current_Tool Then moves = Num_Tools - Current_Tool + Requested_Tool


 total_move = (moves * CW_Move_Per_Tool)+(CCW_Move/2)


 'Move to safe position
 Code "G0 G53 Z-1 X-.25"
 'Pause for 1/2 second
 Code "G04 P0.5"


 Code "G91 G94" 'incremental & Feed per minute
 Code "G01 A" & total_move & " F" & CW_Feed
 Code "G01 A-" & CCW_Move & " F" & CCW_Feed
 While IsMoving()
 sleep(10)
 Wend


 SetCurrentTool Requested_Tool
 SetUserDRO HoldingDRO, Requested_Tool
 Code "G90" ' back to absolute movement
 Code "F" & Current_Feed
 End If
 End If


 ' end of tool change

16

General Mach Discussion / Getting my c11 board to control my spindle but am having an issue

« on: April 09, 2016, 10:08:19 PM »

I'm redoing an old cnc lathe with all new electronics. The lathes spindle motor is a dc servo motor. To power it and control it I am using a bardac 1600i drive. Last week I was able to successfully wire up the bardac to control the spindle manually with the use of a pot. I now want to control it using mach 3. I purchased a c11 breakout board but am confused as to how to wire it. The c11 has a analog 0-10v output. I have a +12v psu that powers the analog just like the manual says. I then ran a wire from the analog to terminal 3 on my bardac. Is that all I need to control the spindle speed? What would I need to set the spindle pins at in mach 3 considering its only using the analog. I attached the bardac manual if anyone is able to help me out. Thank you

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper motors are acting weird! please help

« on: March 14, 2016, 10:06:36 PM »

I've checked the power supply and it appears to being able to handle both at the same time. I Just find it very odd that everything works great , including moving the motors separately and also together with no issues until I try going z- and x+ at the same time. I took the buffers/optoisolators off my c10 bob today since they do sell replacements online but I'm not too sure if there is any way of testing them to rule them out before I buy. This is really stressing me out haha I can't believe it

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper motors are acting weird! please help

« on: March 12, 2016, 06:29:31 PM »

Today I grounded all my shielded wires from the motors and from the drives to the bob. I turned the machine on and the motors now hold steady and don't move on their own which is great! However I still have an issue. The x motor will move back and forth perfectly, the z motor will move back and forth perfectly. I can move the z motor away from the chuck while moving the x motor in either direction perfectly. When I move the z motor towards the chuck and move the x+(away from part) it starts to squeal and twitch out but will work perfectly if I go x-.  I checked every single wire and retightened all my connections to the board,drivers. What am I missing? Why is it perfect only until I move z- and x+ at the same time?

Now could this be an issue? According to the manual for my c10 bob, it says that the jumper for the "com" should be set to +5v instead of ground if using a geckodrive which I am. But I believe in the gecko 251x manual it uses a common ground. Who do I believe haha? Currently the jumper is set to ground

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper motors are acting weird! please help

« on: March 06, 2016, 05:30:41 PM »

What is the correct way to ground the shielded cables? I just about ran out of patience on this thing. The x and z both move fine in one direction but are all choppy in the opposite direction. I even changed the bob to see and I still have the issue.  I've been struggling with this issue for a couple weeks now and I can't even use this machine.

The power supplies I'm using for my machine are 24v and a 5v. The ac power goes to the 24v psu then from there goes to the 5v psu. The 24v is used for the motor drives and the 5v feeds the bob. Can that be causing interference? Should I run a separate ac line to each psu? I'm just running out of ideas here.

20

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle servo drive not working with mach 3

« on: March 06, 2016, 05:23:32 PM »

Sadly no I gave up on it. Decided to sell all the electronics