Messages

21

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 07:15:28 PM »

I had my Y and Z axis's reversed. one i got that fixed now things work fine. the pattern is just upside down on my mill from whats show on the screen. but the Z-axis moves correctly now. which i didnt know was wrong until i tried to run one of these test programs. and now the gcode pattern is show in the table view correctly etc.

22

General Mach Discussion / Re: 500 line test designs??

« on: May 01, 2011, 07:13:24 PM »

I was able to run the heart and smiley face patterns today! worked great! here is a vid running the smiley face. I also figured out how to change the end of the code to rewind and re run the gcode file continuously! i was able to run the mill for 30 minutes non stop and check to see how hot the motors and the motor controller heatsink and power supply get...which was not at all! so that was another successful test today! i will run it for a couple hours next time and then take temps with an IR thermometer. but everything was cool to the touch today!

here is the vid of the smiley face

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_cNLcc8AEs

23

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:47:26 AM »

Thanks Hood. I will dig into that today!

24

General Mach Discussion / Re: 500 line test designs??

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:43:35 AM »

It was just so exciting to get the machine to ACTUALLY do something! To move under its own control and not me pushing buttons to make it move! I didn't want to stop playing with it. I ran the 500 lines 3-4 times just to watch it move LOL! I love the sounds the stepper motors make! Zee Zuuu ZOOOOOO hahhaha

  i am not at the point yet of figuring out how to get CAD into Gcode. but i am learning and it has been fun!

25

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:38:49 AM »

hmm well. i have been able to home the table in...im pretty sure anyway and i have the table size figured out and entered in the home/limits section. so when its back and to the left and the machines home position the DRO's all are set to zero.

 When it moves forward it counts from zero to +19" and when it moves right it counts from 0 to +19" but it sounds like i need to set it up so that when it is at home. it is at 0-X and 19-Y and have it count down from +19 to 0 when moving forward.

 I have someone that lives in the MN area that is going to give me a hand at some point. I will keep tinkering with it and watch the rest of the videos in the meantime.

26

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:28:18 AM »

I am very much a beginner. I am no where near being able to use CAM's, or for that matter even know what that is!(I think i know) LOL!

 i am learning mach and just trying to get the machine to run the roadrunner test program that comes with mach hahaha!

27

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:21:04 AM »

I bet I have the Y axis set up wrong. it counts positive when moving forward.

28

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:18:48 AM »

My mill is a gantry type so the table is fixed. but i get what you are saying. and i have figured out how to do the work offset and get a program to run within the machines limits...so i am learning and getting it slowly figured out.

 I have the machine homed in. I move the machine to the point i want to start work at and zero the work offset. then regen the toolpath and it shows the work off the table in the view window. the program runs like this but i cant get the work to be shown ON the table...so i still have something not right.

29

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: PEN HOLDER FOR MILL DRAWING

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:07:49 AM »

I cut a pencil stub, drilled out the back side and spring loaded it on a dremel bit for my mill. I use the dremel as my spindle. I need to make a better version for my machine but it works for now.

30

General Mach Discussion / Mill orientation

« on: May 01, 2011, 07:56:21 AM »

When looking at the machine view/table view window in Mach. it always wants to put the design at the bottom and to the left of the work area as shown. My mill is set up so that "home" is back and to the left. this is the way it was built. Is there a way to tell Mach this so that when looking at the table view it starts at the top left??

 (I am still weeding through the video tutorials)