Messages

151

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Homemade ATC for an R8 Spindle (several years old)

« on: February 17, 2011, 02:44:03 PM »

A couple more pics....

JH

152

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Homemade ATC for an R8 Spindle (several years old)

« on: February 17, 2011, 02:43:12 PM »

I wanted to share this early design of an ATC for knee mill that I did several years ago.  There are several things that could be done to improve the design for speed, but the basic concept is there.  So I hope this might help someone thinking of doing something like this.

Keep in mind, this is a functioning prototype only.

Thanks,
JH

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vsC-10q3wv0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;border=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/vsC-10q3wv0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;border=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/I_4T1TmF6B8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;border=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/I_4T1TmF6B8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;border=1</a>

153

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 10, 2011, 05:55:47 PM »

It looks like your up and running! 

I would look at all the code and make changes anywhere movement is performed when converting to mm

JH

154

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 09, 2011, 05:14:49 PM »

JH,
    Hey man just thought I would drop a line here and tell you that you should be really proud of yourself man... you built one of the most kick ass CNC retrofits I have ever seen.... Amazing workmanship, amazing machine man.... Congrats.  Wish I was your next door neighbor so I could come over and drool all over that thing because it is awesome... Peace


Pete

Thanks Pete.  Very kinds words....Thanks

This project was a huge learning experience for me and I really enjoyed it.  (the day you stop learning is your last day)

I plan to start on my CNC Lathe soon, just trying to get a big block of time before I commit to it.  This has several new things for me to over come...looking forward to digging into to.

JH

155

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 09, 2011, 05:07:26 PM »

i tried setting it up on my testing pc, with no machine attached.  To do all the button mapping ect.  I mapped the probe to a key on the keyboard and start one of the macros and press the button on the keyboard.  The probe LED lights up but the macro doesnt change.........  I see that this is setup in inches, so I changed my native units to inches as well.  Still no dice.  Does it need a hardware probe on pin 15 or should what Im doing trigger the macros functions?  Like I said, Im trying to "PROOF" it right now before implementing it on a machine.

To get your hands around a Hardware Probe Project, you can test your probe without the M1200 Macro via the a MDI Command Line.  Just type "G31 Z0 F5" on the MDI and your Z will move to ZERO or it will stop early if the probe signal trips.  Make sure you have your probe input setup in Mach via the Input Screen.

I used this same method to test my probe with G31, before writing the M1200 Macro

Hope this helps.
JH

156

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 07, 2011, 08:37:32 PM »

OK, I "THINK" I have the DRO`s setup now.  Just added a DRO to the screen and gave it an OEM code of 1150, 1151 and 1350.  Put numbers in the DRO and clicked on any of the buttons and Z moves.  Trigger the probe, Z continues to go down.

Man, I hate trying to learn something new..........

Did you make any progress on this ?

JH

157

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 06, 2011, 03:55:58 PM »

Cool, let us know how it all works out for you.

JH

158

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 06, 2011, 02:19:03 PM »

[quote author=J

I used 74LS05 (open collector) to buffer/drive the 12V Led at 20ma each.  This work good for the LEDs that I wanted control one at a time.  I do have some banks of LEDs/buttons that are lit up depending on the state of the state machine, these are all tied together and are driven with the a large power transister ( I think I used 3055 ... )

Do you have a diagram that shows how this is wired?  I am an electrician, not an electronics guy, but I can follow a schematic.  I looked up the data sheet for a 74LS05 and don't see how this would be wire.  
Thanks
Vince
[/quote]


See if this quick schematic will help.  Also is a Macro Pump used to map poKeys DROs(buttons) to Mach3 Outputs.

JH

159

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 06, 2011, 11:59:58 AM »

The z error means it never found the top of the stock after moving 1 inch.
 
The macro reads the value of the dros for touch and rapid speeds, so you need to have those dro with a value set, if they are not, the touch speed will be zero, therefore you will have no movement and never reach the target.  So make sure you have the dros on your screen with the user code set as defined in the M1200 maco const table.  Then set to the touch speed to 5 ipm or so, I made these dros so you can tune your system on the fly to match the accuracy of your machine.

JH

160

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 1987 Bridgeport Production Center Interact 412 to Mach3 Conversion

« on: February 06, 2011, 10:47:32 AM »

I hate to jump back a few pages, but Im trying to mimic the tool probe setup.  I am not very experienced with screen designer..... I have the buttons setup as buttons, I just dont understand how to mpa each button to the function and how to get the DROs setup and mapped, if someone who has done this can post some screen shots and how to do it with screens 4  I would sooo much appreciate it!

Im new to doing the screens thing so treat me as if I was a 4th grader please LOLOL

Here is your screen shot....

JH