Messages

301

General Mach Discussion / Re: DRO vs GCode on Z with Mach 3.46.066 and ESS_v10r2d1d

« on: October 21, 2015, 06:54:02 PM »

geh7552,
Appreciate your answer, I was a Metrologist for a number of years and know how to measure accurately, however unless you are using Linear motors and Rails all mechanical systems will have backlash no matter how much money you spend, even in temperature controlled rooms. Metal will expand stretch and contract in mechanical motion and heat/cold. All guides with gibes will have issues. The balance (back and forth motion) and mass of the Z Drive head as it move up and down will have issues with minute angular tilts. The accuracy of the Ballscrew/Nuts and Trust Bearings and tightness all have backlash issues being some.
We have just completed two engravings without putting any backlash in Mach3 with ESS and both produced good results o.1mm deep.
Our precision Dial indicator shows only .00011" backlash at the engraving level when measuring the tip movement.
We had no issues with Parallel Driver with Mach3 also early ESS drivers did not produce these recent problems.
Regards,
Mauri.

302

General Mach Discussion / Re: DRO vs GCode on Z with Mach 3.46.066 and ESS_v10r2d1d

« on: October 20, 2015, 11:27:59 PM »

Ger21/gen7552,
I tested Mach 3.42.066 with ESS_v10h2d1a and ESS_v10r2d1d same issue with both ESS's.
I tested Mach 3.42.062 with ESS_v10h2d1a and ESS_v10r2d1d same issue with both ESS's.
I tested Mach 3.42.066 with no Driver No Issues all work fine, so the problem is with the ESS Drivers.
I then remove the Backlash from the Z Axis in Mach3 and all works fine, all engraving cuts are at .1mm deep.
Regards,
Mauri.

303

General Mach Discussion / DRO vs GCode on Z with Mach 3.46.066 and ESS_v10r2d1d

« on: October 20, 2015, 09:40:10 PM »

Hi,
In the past we have machined a lot of engravings in Hard Brass with 20D .1mm Cutter with no issues.
Recently we have been having issues with breaking points on 20D .1mm tip tools on engraving.
We did not have this problem before and machined at faster F rates.
We checkout the milling machine and could not find an issue (The Head Z Axis is always within .0001").
What we just have found is that the G-Code Z instruction is go -.1mm Deep, and when you look at the DRO it first goes down to -.100mm at F20 then as it moves on the X or Y at F200 it drops further by -.0313 to a total of -.1313 at the faster F Speed causing the tip to break.
What is causing the Mach3 to not do as the G-Code has instructed it to?
Is it the ESS dropping it further by not properly compensating the Backlash Value?
The backlash for Z is .0330mm
It is mentioned that the Latest ESS has issues with Backlash?
Any ideas to what is happening?
I cannot use Mach4 yet at the CV setting are not implemented yet.
Regards,
Mauri

304

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Unlock Screen

« on: October 08, 2015, 03:55:10 PM »

Hi,
Try test as the password.
Regards,
Mauri.

305

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 28, 2015, 06:48:01 PM »

Hi,
File loading on a Fast PC even as big as 100MB is instant, and very quick even on low spec PC's/NB's I tested.
Generating the Toolpath is very slow (3.5+ times slower than Mach3), but does not have much GPU usage if any, until it has completed, then depending on the G-Code size 3 or 4 axis simultaneous or not, it will have high GPU usage up to 100%.
I have tried many G-Code files from large to small on this fast PC and depending on the files size it will reach 100% GPU usage.
On PC's without a video card is has less of an effect.
On running small jobs on mills and router tables, this mach4 version is not an issue and would not be seen.
Users performing large fine 3D engravings this is a major problem.

Mach3 with large 3D engraving files 3/4 axis even simultaneous on low spec machines is not an issue (3Ghz with 1 or 2 GB RAM and no video card). Even full display of the toolpath actually turning (4 axis) while cutting is not an issue.

The Mach4 program has some sort of continuous loop with the Toolpath generation once it has completed its install cycle.

Regards,
Mauri.

306

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 28, 2015, 06:14:50 PM »

Hi,
I am using V2703.
Regards,
Mauri.

307

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 28, 2015, 04:21:54 PM »

To all,
I am an experienced user of IT equipment.
Today I ran the same file on a Fast PC with a MSI GeForce GTX 970 with 4GB GPU.
Result after the file was loaded and the toolpath displayed the GPU went and stayed at 100% usage.
To me this confirms that there is an issue with the Mach4 Code and not the notebook.
I have made the Mach4 team aware of the issue.
By the way the Notebook is a HP 8710P and is not that slow.
Regards,
Mauri.

308

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 27, 2015, 08:03:28 PM »

TP,
I will give you this much, yes most people do not do fine 3D Engravings on their Mill or Router that contain large files.
You cannnot turn off Toopath display in Mach4 (at least not that I can see) on Mach3 yes you can.
Mach3 has handled these large files as well as displaying the toolpath both in 3 and 4 axis with no issues.
Mach3 uses miniscule resouces to do these large files with the GPU.
Using this NB 4 Axis Simulatneous file 73,701KB finish cut for Router Table only uses 23MB of GPU and 0% to 1% GPU Load and a low temp, with 48% CPU load and a low tempwhile cutting.
Mach4 with this NB uses 168MB GPU 97% GPU load and high temp (it would over heat the NB on a full run), the CPU is 20%. doing the samething.
Mach4 does not rotate the toolpath at this stage as well like mach3 does it just stays stationary.
There are issues with Mach4 Toolpath display program and these are being worked on, so when this is completed then maybe the problem will be fixed.
The graphics card in this NB on its day was Fast (NVIDIA Quadr NVS 320M) for Notebooks with XP and Vista.
We are trying to extablish specications using existing old equipment running XP Pro.
Regards,
Mauri.

309

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 27, 2015, 04:28:00 PM »

Blockhead,
Try G-Code with 1.5 to 6 Million lines and see how you go.
Regards,
Mauri.

310

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 PC/NB Min Spec

« on: September 26, 2015, 10:31:36 PM »

Hi,
For those still not sure what the minimum spec machine is suitable for Mach4, here are some pointers.
I have tested a number of low spec XP NB's and PC's.
You must have 1.5 or greater OpenGL to display Toolpaths (tester available online internet).
If you plan to do any reasonable 3d engravings then:-
If you have a notebook with a video card it must be at least 512MB.
If the CPU does the video you should have 2GB or more of RAM.
CPU should be at least a Intel Duo 3Ghz processor.
On video cards Mach 4 uses GPU where as Mach3 did not.
Example.
Notebook Duo Intel processor T9300 2.5Ghz with 3GB Ram and a NVIDIA Quarto NVS 320M (256MB) with OpenGL 3.30 with XP 32bit Pro.
File Rotary size 47MB
Mach3
GPU 0-1% CPU 50% Low GPU temperature.
NB had still good response with mouse movement while processing cut.
Mach4
Lead-time 3+ times longer than Mach3
GPU 95% with max of 98% with 149MB being used and 0 to 30% CPU with and average of 15% and high GPU temperature.
NB had sluggish response with the mouse.
So this slightly aged notebook although reasonable quick is not suitable for mid to large Mach4 engravings.
At present Mach4 Toolpaths is still being worked so this may change.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Mauri.