Messages

41

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 07, 2009, 02:18:55 PM »

What do you use to create the Gcode? LazyCAM?

what profile do you use? Mill?

42

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 07, 2009, 09:18:33 AM »

George,
That´s awesome.
What do you use to draw the lines? What software?
I know I can perfectly control the machine with Mach once I have the gcode generated.

43

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 07, 2009, 08:14:08 AM »

I expect this to be used mostly to dispense the resing along text using scripted fonts.
Another idea I just came accross is having the operator to draw by hand lines or vectors on top of the graphic to be used and having the CAM software to follow this vectors. This would make the paths simpler.

The operators have graphic design skills but no coding capabilities. So I can request them to do some pre processing as long as it is graphic oriented.

44

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 07, 2009, 07:10:20 AM »

I see your point, although I doubt any CAM package would vary spindle based on the with of the line in a graphic. The people who will be using this has no coding capabilities (Am I asking way too much?? )

45

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Resin dispensing machine

« on: September 06, 2009, 09:12:04 PM »

Hello all.
I´m quite newnie at this.
The project I´m working on is a dispensing machine that needs to dispense resing along different graphic shapes.
Since the people who will be using this has no coding knowledge, the idea is to use a CAM software so we can start from a graphic (either image or vectorized).
The biggest challenge right now is to be able to vary the dispensing rate when the line is narrow.
For example, if I need to dispense the resin along a word written using a script font. The line with is not constant, so where it´s narrower I need to either move the nozzle faster (X and Y axes) or to dispense the resin slower (Z axis) so I release the proper amount of resin.

How can I do this starting from a graphic??

Can this application be thought as an engraving machine using a v-shaped tool where the deeper the Z axis goes, the wider the line??


Thanks for your help

46

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 06, 2009, 08:48:33 PM »

Can´t we think this like if it were an engraving machine using a v-shaped tool where the Z axis depth makes the line wider or narrower???

47

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 05, 2009, 09:27:22 AM »

Yes, I did think about it. I know there are two ways to do this. Either to change the resin dispensing rate using another axis for the dispenser or to keep that fixed and change the nozzle speed so the same amount of resin is dispensed in a longer (or shorter) line.

If I use the variable dispensing rate, this would be the 3rd axis since besides this there is no Z. At a constant dispensing rate the dispenser on-off is not an axis. Is this correct??

I need to be able to start with a graphic image of what I want to dispense resin on. The idea is not to write the Gcode.
I wonder if this can be done with LazyCAM or not. If not, what should I use instead?

48

General Mach Discussion / Re: Different use of Mach3 (dispensing)

« on: September 04, 2009, 11:10:47 AM »

Congratulations on your machine!

I´m new to this and my project is to do exatcly what you did, a resin dispenser for domes !!!!! It´s great for me to see what you did.

One question (or at least the first one):
One thing I still didn´t figure out is how to control the amount of resin dispensed where the trace is narrow. For example, let´s say I need to dispense resin over a text done using a script font. There are parts where the line is very thin and other parts where it´s wider, so where it´s thin I need to dispense very little resin, or to move faster so the same amount is dispensed along a longe line.

How do you tell Mach to do this?
How do I do this starting from the text graphic??

Thanks a lot in advance!!!




Roman