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Messages - jevs

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171
I am going to have to learn the Lua to some extent anyway or at least muddle through to get what I need to work. I will have to write something to control my tool change since the VB script I wrote will not be able to port over I assume.

If your going to have buttons and switches and jog physical buttons aside from a pendant, it seems like you are going to have to do this eventually or be stuck on Mach3 forever.

I also want to use the probing stuff and two probe inputs (I think I can have my tool height setter and 3d probe work with separate inputs in mach 4?). I know there is a workaround for mach 3 on one port, but rather than shorting out my 3D probe connection port when it is not connected to keep the tool height setter functional, having them separate would be nice.

I am just not that invested in mach3 operation at this point. Even though I built the machine, wrote the tool change thing, and got all this crap running. I have only made a couple parts with this thing, so I have very little time invested in actually using Mach3 to make stuff. All my time was spent just getting it going and then the machine sat for long periods of time unused.

Also, I am building another CNC machine....so I kinda need to get up to date. I don't want to keep learning on Mach3 and getting more and more invested into it. It seems silly to learn a ton more on mach3 when I still have a lot to learn. I think I would rather do a little reset at this point, get going on mach4, and spend my time learning something current.

By the time I get up to speed on Mach4 something else will be out better LOL. Too many hobbies & too much time working gets in the way big time!


172
I think I can just open pokeys software and get the answer as to what does what (I have not looked at this in years). I am not positive, but then I should be able to just make the same settings (if I put in newer pokeys that works with the plugin)?
https://cdn.solarbotics.com/products/documentation/pokeys55.pdf

But yes, my pokeys is not doing anything with motors etc. It is just for connecting the buttons, switches, pendant, and spitting it to the computer via USB as you described others doing. I do have an ESS already for the rest.

If people are not really using pokeys for their physical switch panels anymore with Mach4, then what are they using?

I have not used this thing in so long that it took me like a day and overnight just to get all the windows updates loaded via the wi-fi (my computer is built into my machine).

Now that Windows 10 finally got all up to date and I installed my 3d probe and tool height setter, my next step is seeing what I can get to work with mach4...

I could consider a pendant change, but that won't help with the physical buttons and the other mechanical controls.

I am just doing some preliminary research here trying to figure out my options, but I have no time actually investigating this live on my machine yet....but will soon.

Will the Mach4 demo let me work these bugs out before I buy it, or am I gonna have to restart the program every 6 minutes during my configuration? That could be quite frustrating.

173
Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 work with Pokeys 55 or 56 ?
« on: July 29, 2019, 11:49:38 AM »
I have a CNC machine that has a Machmotion control panel in it. This control panel basically has a pokeys 55 or 56 in it that connects to the computer via USB. The control panel has a pendant connected to it and also some basic controls on the panel. Machmotion provided a plugin for Mach3 to make this work. I would not be able to get any plugin from them for Mach4 without buying a new system apparently.

What I am trying to figure out is if I will be able to make Mach4 work with this setup since it uses a bit older pokeys 55 or 56? I have to take it apart to see which one it has I think, or maybe the pokeys software I have loaded on there years ago will tell me which model it is. I will have to check this. 

My other option would be if I could just swap out the pokeys 55/56 with the newest model and use the plugin pokeys supplies for Mach4?

I attached a manual. I am using their control panel and pendant and their I06 breakout board, but not their computer or anything else.


174
I am looking into migrating from Mach3 to Mach4 and figuring out what hardware will/won't work and any updates needed etc.

I called the supplier of some of my components and they have basically changed direction and are no longer selling pieces and parts to build your own system. They are just selling complete retrofit packages now I guess.

They mentioned something about switching to a different setup than what I have now because there is no encoder feedback with the breakout board I have etc. Apparently they are using Ethercat or something now. 

My question is. Why do I need this? I have Teco Servo motors and drives. Is there a reason they should need to feed anything back through the breakout board to the controller?

I thought the servo drives themselves took care of closing the loop and all that? There was talk of me possibly needing a whole new motor/drive, control etc system....but I don't see why any of that would be necessary?

Is there any reason Mach4 (or even Mach3), should know anything more than a drive fault has occurred? I believe this is how it is configured now with Mach3.

From researching all my hardware and all the documentation, the main thing I was concerned with is that their control panel I have uses a pokeys 55 in it and they have their own plugin for mach3. I would not be able to get a plugin from them for this to work with Mach4. I also cannot just upgrade to a newer pokeys in it and get a plugin from them for Mach4. They only give that out if you buy a new system I guess. I may be able to upgrade the pokeys and just use the pokeys plugin to get around this. Not sure.

Anyway, the mention of needing a new controller, breakout board, possibly drives and motors and all that due to no encoder feedback kind of came out of nowhere for me. I was not expecting this to be of any concern? My feeling is that it is not a concern, but I want to find out why.....??





 

 


175
Thanks for the replies. I spent a decent amount of time last night going over all the documentation from Warp9 , Artsoft, Machmotion, my own schematics and what is in my machine (retrofitted by me).

I do think I am going to try out Mach4. It sounds like it has some benefits and should work with most of if not all of my hardware.

The main thing in question is if the pokeys 55 (I think this model, have to check physically) used inside the Machmotion control panel can work. The pendant and buttons on that panel run through the pokeys then to the computer via USB.
If this does not work then I can possibly contact Machmotion for help or update to one of the newer pokeys if the pinout is the same or close enough to adapt it. I could also just change up my panel and pendant if needed, but that will have some cost. Anyway, I can do something to overcome this one way or another. Machmotion does seem to support Mach4 now with some stuff I believe I found and read.

I would have to rewrite my tool change stuff unfortunately, but I think it may be worth it to get up to date.

I am also be building a CNC router as my main project that I will be using the mill for now, so putting that machine on Mach 4 will be good and making both the same will be good if I can. I will lose the $150 I paid for the Mach3 license and only used for a couple parts unfortunatly. That stings a little :(, but not worth staying behind for in my opinion.

One benefit I do see is that I will have the option to connect two probes which will alleviate the current thing I am doing (adding a tool touch and tool holder probe from Wildhorse). I think these are normally closed, so running them in series when the probe in the tool holder is not connected would need a work around. Mach 4 should work using them as separate inputs on ports I am not currently using.


176
I have my mill all setup with Mach3 for years now, but never had much time to use it. I am about to get back into it and I am wondering if I should upgrade to Mach4.
 
I am wondering if Mach 4 will work with my Machmotion I06 breakout board and Warp9 ethernet smoothstepper?

Does this combo have backlash compensation with Mach4?

Will my Machmotion pendant work? I believe it basically goes through a USB pokeys.

The other problem is that I use a Macro I wrote in Mach to let my tool changing work. What would I do about this? It is a mechanical tool change done by Z moving above home and a ratcheting turret. No PLC or anything was needed for Mach3.

I was getting ready to research installing the Wildhorse probes I bought years ago and got onto whether or not I should try to upgrade before I spend more time learning Mach3 better or installing the tool height and work probes.


177
General Mach Discussion / Re: "Manual" Milling With mach 3
« on: April 21, 2015, 01:30:08 PM »
I cannot get to my machine in real life right now, but in looking at the manual, it appears I can enter a feed rate from the GUI much the same as spindle speed.

Will it use this feed rate to jog if I have my knob set to 100% FRO, or will it use the max rapid speed using the jog buttons?  In other words, how do you make the jog buttons utilize the feed rate number to move?


178
General Mach Discussion / "Manual" Milling With mach 3
« on: April 21, 2015, 01:10:35 PM »
I am wondering what methods you guys use to operate your mill for simple cutting operations.

So far I have just been twisting my feed rate dial to a percentage that gives me a speed that seems close, and then setting the proper spindle RPM from the GUI. I then just use my jog buttons. This works "ok". My percentage knob only has so many settings though...5% 10% 20% etc.

I do also have a pendant with MPG, but that is not as smooth as holding a button and letting the machine handle the rest.

The only issue I have is that I am not sure how to set a proper feed rate rather than picking from the few choices my knob has for percentages.

Can I use an MDI command to set the exact feed rate I want and then use the jog buttons to machine?

I assume this is possible, can anyone tell me the code? I briefly looked and it seems you can issue an Fx within a G code to set it, but I am not sure how you would utilize this for "manual" operation. I have only let my CAM generate G-code so far. I can decipher it for the most part, but still learning. 

I know completely using the MDI to make the move may also be better than the jog buttons, but...baby steps.


179
General Mach Discussion / Re: Help get rid of soft limit warnings
« on: April 10, 2015, 09:48:07 AM »
I like having them though. When I am jogging around it keeps me from hitting the real limits on accident or getting Z into the tool change area up past home.

180
General Mach Discussion / Help get rid of soft limit warnings
« on: April 09, 2015, 11:45:05 PM »
Tired of getting soft limit warnings every time I load a program, even though it runs fine.

It seems to be related to calling for an axis to go to 0, but I would not swear to it.

Here is a simple two hole drilling g code you can look at. It gives z and y warnings. They seem to go away if I disable the steps that have z0 or y0 in them.
I suspect it is going to be because my soft limits are z0, y0 & x0, but that is where I want them....so if that is this cause, then what can I do about it?
I have real home and limit switches. The home switch is before the limits are hit. The limits kill the machine no matter what the software wants.
You should also know that my tool change macro moves z above the home position into the positive area, but the macro disables and enables soft limits. I do not think this is having any effect on anything as far as the warnings are concerned. Like I said, they seem to go away if I disable the lines calling for 0 moves

I could make the soft limits on x and y slightly negative (past home switch) or something. There is a little room between the home and limits. I could also make the soft limit slightly positive above zero if needed I suppose. This just seems like it would be an issue if your beyond that and hit ref home or something. It might just go ahead and drive into the limits since the home switch would not be tripped.....

Or do I need to make the soft limits just a hair in front of the home? Hate to lose any more working space. I already lost some when I quit using the limits as home switches so I could make real limits that kill the machine rather than let mach3 ignore stuff and crash my machine.

Attached are my limits, tool table used, and the gcode.

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