Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Running through limits on Smooth stepper

« on: November 04, 2012, 08:32:24 PM »

I installed a smooth stepper on my 3-axis mill. Homing goes great including the slave axis where each stepper touches the inductive limit switch and backs off independent.

For regular operation the machine completely ignores the switches as limits. I can jog straight through them. I know I should be setting my soft limits but I really want to find out why the machine doesn't stop when it hits the limits.

Any settings I overlooked?

Any ideas?

Stefan
 

2

General Mach Discussion / setup speed ref in mm/sec

« on: October 26, 2012, 09:59:12 PM »

In order to use the same code using Mach3 at home as the Multicam I use at work in metric, I need my speed settings to be interpreted as mm/sec, not mm/min as Mach does.
Now I need to go into the G-code and change every F setting to 60 times more to make this work.

Any suggestions on how to change the setup of Mach3 to go from mm/min to mm/sec?
Can I change some factor in the XML file to make this conversion automatic?

Thanks

stefan

3

General Mach Discussion / X-Y offset in tool change? Macro?

« on: June 23, 2012, 03:19:29 PM »

Brainstorming here,...

The cost of a tool changer is way expensive.

I cut mainly cabinet parts. I use 3 tools, a 3/8" for cutting, 8mm for dowel holes, 5mm for system holes.
Besides my main spindle that holds the 3/8" bit, I'm thinking of adding 2 smaller spindles for drilling the 8mm and 5mm holes.

My quest would now be;
- When I do a tool change, I need to select 1 of these 3 spindles and make this the only Z-axis to move.
- At the same time, besides the z-offset, I now also need the x and y offset changed, this should be calibrated once and stored.

I suppose this could be done using a custom g-code builder that "considers" these offsets. Better would be do have Mach3 store the offsets and make it happen automatically. But Mach3 only allows for z-offsets. Could a Mach3 macro cover this?


Stefan V

4

General Mach Discussion / Tangent cutting in HPLG

« on: October 21, 2009, 09:15:56 AM »

I should do more homework, but if someone could set me on the right track.

I'm trying to use the tangent option to make a glass cutting head for my cnc.
Coming from Corel X4 I was looking for a way to translate curves into small straight line segments for Mach3 to calculate the tangent angle.
I was advice to export as HPLG as this gives me control over straight lines from curves and Mach 3 opens HPLG files.

Don't know anything about HPLG yet,...  going this route, will I get to the point where Mach3 will indeed be able to set the angle for tangent cutting?
How does it go then, does HPLG still translate into G-code first?

Any leads are appreciated.

Thanks

Stefan V.

5

VB and the development of wizards / Cutting from Template

« on: October 11, 2009, 11:07:00 AM »

So I have a 4x8 routing table and mach 3 and my new quest is to cut out simple glass pieces according to templates customers bring. I looked at systems using hi-def cameras to build high resolution pictures, trace and turn to g-code. That system scans the whole surface while I only need the outline, costing a lot of “empty” time. And so far it looks like it won’t be in my budget.

Years ago I build a small line follower “robot”, wrote the code in a basic stamp and off it went. By drawing an enclosed path on a large sheet of paper, it would go around and around until the battery died.

Now, if I take the template, put a piece of paper on the table and trace it. Can I build this “probe” and put in my router, get it to follow the line while Mach 3 builds a G-code file? I don’t need the 0.0001 precision, for glass, customers are thrilled about 1/64, very satisfied with 1/32.

I suppose, it could be written in VB (with a some learning challenges for me )
- Take a step in the going direction.
- Detect and correct if line is off center.
- Write coordinate to a g-file every 3 or 5 or 50 or so steps depending on the precision you need.
- Feed the g-file to Mach ,….

For some reason I think this can be done for less that $50 and some programming. I have the parts sitting around in a box somewhere.

Am I making sense? 
Am I reinventing the wheel here? 
Am I in the right forum? 

Lot's of questions.

Stefan