Messages

341

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for help with a spindle motor.

« on: April 10, 2022, 04:56:33 AM »

Worth looking at this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi09g49JksA
These sewing machine motors are fantastically controllable, they would be great for machine tools with a bit of understanding of how to use them.  They usually have a foot control for the machine operator.  This thread has some interesting information.
https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=171903&p=2
The fact that the controller may not be mains isolated isn't a show stopper - lots of DC motor controllers on CNC mills aren't either!

342

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for help with a spindle motor.

« on: April 09, 2022, 04:17:03 AM »

I agree that using a servo will allow rigid tapping but I'm not sure how useful that is in a lathe.  Ordinary external threading is though.  The sewing machine motors are actually "servo" motors being brushless and allowing fast acceleration/deceleration, though not maybe position control (though I'm not sure about that since basically they are synchronous).  Maybe the ideal is a dual-motor setup with 500W for fast metal removal and all-round flexibility and stepper-servo for rigid tapping?

343

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for help with a spindle motor.

« on: April 08, 2022, 05:24:33 PM »

Well those sewing machine motors run up to 5k rpm I think and can generate 3/4 hp, much more suitable than a 130W servo motor IMHO for a lathe.  If precise spindle control is needed for threading then I think Mach4 can process both spindle encoder and index pulses.  Nice looking little machine though.

344

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for help with a spindle motor.

« on: April 08, 2022, 03:00:31 PM »

What lathe is it?

345

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for help with a spindle motor.

« on: April 08, 2022, 06:52:16 AM »

Why use a stepping servo motor to drive a spindle?

346

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bit depth zeroing tool help

« on: April 07, 2022, 08:03:49 AM »

OK, I've been looking again at the script I supplied and single-stepping it and there is a line:

DoOemButton (1003) 'Clear a possible feed-hold condition

When it reaches this point it jumps up 20mm or so then goes down again.  I have no idea why that line is there, and removing it restores the functionality that I remember.  Try editing it out and see what happens.

TPS' script also looks worth trying.

As background, my script is based on one I found on here with a few mods to suit my machine, but I've never taken the time to go through it and understand every line.  I think there's quite a lot of history lurking in it!  One day I think I will rewrite it from scratch so I fully understand it.

347

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bit depth zeroing tool help

« on: April 06, 2022, 07:21:21 AM »

Sorry that I haven't replied on this.  I tried the script again to see if it interacts with work offsets, but have found that though I have been using it for years without issues something has changed and it operates differently which may or may not be causing your problem.  Bear with me...

348

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Joy Stick controlers

« on: April 05, 2022, 02:54:22 AM »

Certainly with Mach3 there's a software plug in that allows the use of an xbox controller which can be wired or wireless.  I'm sure there must be something similar for mach 4.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=31171.0

349

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bit depth zeroing tool help

« on: April 03, 2022, 03:39:51 PM »

Why do you have a work offset set at all?

350

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bit depth zeroing tool help

« on: April 03, 2022, 09:47:38 AM »

I assume you are working in mm?  What number did you replace 50 with in the second edit?