Messages

51

Sieg Machines / Re: Anyone have Softlimits set for the X2?

« on: January 13, 2011, 03:10:19 PM »

I use softlimits, but they only work after homing the machine. See the Manual Homing routine under a different topic in this section.

52

Sieg Machines / Re: Brand new KX3 owner - I have some (hopefully) basic questions

« on: January 13, 2011, 02:50:13 PM »

plungerhead -

my machine is setup -
Spindle Axis - Enabled - Green Check, Step Pin# - 14, Dir Pin# -16, Dir LowActive - Red X, Step Low Active - Green Check, Step Port - 1, Dir Port - 1

Under the Spindle Setup tab -
Under Motor control there is a check in the Use Spindle Motor Output  and Step/Dir Motor, PWM Base Freq is 5 and minimum PWM is 0.
Under General Parameters all are 1.

Under Motor Tuning, Spindle Settings - Steps Per = 1175, Velocity = 875.4, Accel = 212.76, Setp Pulse = 6, Dir Pulse = 0
I played with the Steps Per setting until I got max RPM when 5000 was Selected. I just assume that it is close to 5000.

53

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why is there no effort for the true closed loop control on the mach3 level

« on: January 13, 2011, 02:28:30 PM »

Seems that some folks are just finding a way to say that closed loop is a waste of time.

Closed loop means that the machine is always compensating for position errors. THose errors must remain small, and if they get very big then there is a problem and the control can shut things down as this is a fault situation. Open loop like mach can have huge errors because of hardware failure and never know (or care) that those errors exist. Closed loop takes more computing time than does open loop, and is well within the capabilities of a PC running Win2k or XP. I have used controls running both. The software is more complex and the hardware is more complex. The motion control software on a closed loop can never miss a cycle or the whole machine is out of position. Many have dedicated encoder circuits and require Analog to digital converters for each axis. And they will be more accurate and repeateble and at higher speed. And they cost money.

Mach requires relatively simple hardware and can work with some rather sophisticated hardware. BUT it is open loop and has no way of sensing when the move is not correct. It just send a string of pulses and expects that the drives/machine will keep up. If the drives don't keep up it has no way of knowing how much out of position the hardware is.

Closed loop and open loop are like trying to control the mouse on a computer. If you can see the screen it is easy, yopu instantly compensate for any problems with how you move teh mouse. Open loop is like trying to tell someone over the phone how to do the same operation. You can't see what is happening and can only hope that things are enough identical that they do the same thing you are telling them.

54

Sieg Machines / Re: Brand new KX3 owner - I have some (hopefully) basic questions

« on: January 10, 2011, 06:05:20 PM »

The Mach3Mill profile is a general profile that is not configured for anything. To use it you have to come up with all the lpins and ports and configurte it yourself. Mach is adaptable to many machine congfigurations and this is one fromn the Mach developers.

The Seig KX3 profiles were developed by folks involved with Seig and are appropriate for the machine. How old is the machine as it may have a 5000 RPM spindle and there are some new profiles with the change to the spindle settings.

The machine as shipped is pretty much in Metric mode. I am used to working in English and I created an English Profile that the machine uses that I have access to. I found it easier to configure that way and that is how I run it. There are 2 sets of settings that changed. First - I changed a setting called Native Units to select the Inches box. Then I changed each of the axis (1 at a time and save after each change) and you will have to look in the other thread where I did this. I created several profiles - KX3 500 Inch, KX35000 Metric (pretty much the original config)

I also changed a couple keyboard keys as it was more natural for me to think in terms of the table motion for the arrow keys rather than in terms of cutter motion. I also wrote on the machine the axis name and + & - to show the motion directions. But now my <Up Arrow> moves teh table towards the column and th<Down Arrow> moves away from the column. I did similar with the <left Arrow> and <Right

Where are you located? might be someone in the area who could give you a boost up the learning curve.Arrow>

55

General Mach Discussion / Re: cutting circles

« on: January 10, 2011, 05:51:16 PM »

A suggestion - Use a leadin/leadout like the plasma folks do. If you are trying to cut a disk, start and finish with a move that takes you outside the toolpath for the disk. If you are cutting holes, start on the inside and have starting and ending moves that take you to the inside of the finish hole. You might still come up with a slight mark where the cuts overlap, but if you play with how much under/over cut you do at that point you can minimize it.

56

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why is there no effort for the true closed loop control on the mach3 level

« on: January 10, 2011, 05:46:05 PM »

Plain and simple - COST. Mach is a very nice controller at a very inexpensive price. It has the features that are appropriate for its cost. If you need these other features - Closed Loop Motion - you will have to buy (or invest the time and use EMC2) a controller at a higher price than a 'hobby' controller. Mach requires a minimal investment in hardware and thus you trade off some options - fully closed loop - for lower cost. Some have been able to use it successfully in production environments, but it is still a "hobby" control.

57

General Mach Discussion / Re: Win2000 Installation Problem

« on: December 29, 2010, 01:30:13 PM »

Having run Mach successfully on several Win2K machines I would suggest you try for another download and see if that helps. Win2K on a 700Mhz machine worked fine. Do you have the install disk for Win2K? Try a clean install and see if that behaves better, that would also get rid of anything that might be causing problems, and would make for a cleaner running machine.

58

General Mach Discussion / Re: Allen Bradley 8400 to Mach

« on: December 21, 2010, 02:10:01 PM »

If the machine is working fine then why do you want to change to MACH? I would think that at this point you would be better off making some money with it and then use that to make the changes once you have some experience and more knowledge of what you want and need and what it costs to run and maintain the machine.

59

General Mach Discussion / Re: Allen Bradley 8400 to Mach

« on: December 18, 2010, 09:49:22 PM »

Biggest problem with 1988 vintage drive will be reliability. You might want to investigate some brushless drives as they will work when you need them. The older drives are getting to be a pain when it comes time to get tehm serviced and the cost of repair adds up real fast.

60

General Mach Discussion / Re: Big Power Amplifier

« on: December 17, 2010, 10:31:09 AM »

I have used Yaskawa drives and found them very easy to work with. they are easily configured for step/direction and come in a large array of sizes.