Messages

31

General Mach Discussion / G68 and Plasma cutting - help!

« on: July 13, 2011, 05:03:05 PM »

Hi all,

I can't seem to find anything on XY rotation for a CNC Plasma Cutter.

I know other controller software can do it, so MACH3 should also be able to do it! When we load a plate on our bed it is not always 100% parallel to the X or Y axis. I want to use a laser (with an offset to the torch tip) to calculate the amount of degrees that the plate is rotated. I figured it to be something like this:
1. Move torch to corner of plate (which should become X0, Y0)
2. Laser shines on the corner and operator press button to say this is the 0,0 coordinate
3. Operator moves torch along the X axis towards the next corner (which might be at an angle of say 5°)
4. Bring laser to exact corner and operator press the button again to tel the machine the current coordinate. (ex X1000, Y20)
5. Now (somehow??) it should know the plate is not parallel to the side and rotate the XY plane by 5°

After the job is cut it should take the XY axis back to normal state.

My research only told me that it might be the G68 code, but I have no idea how to use it! This would save a lot of time in CNC Plasma Cutting!

Any help would be appreciated!
 

32

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: July 13, 2011, 04:43:32 PM »

Thanx for all the help. I'm almost finished with it. Only one thing didn't work... I can't get the DRO to show the actual time being counted down (25 to 0)

I'll just keep on to battle with it, and when I have a bit more time I'm sure I will get it working! 

THNX!

33

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: July 04, 2011, 09:03:59 AM »

Sargon,

Maybe it's better if you could clarify it... I'm still learning...
apart from that, i have 3 qstns:
1. how would the code for the countdown look like? Something like this?
timeleft = Timernow - Timerstart
setUSERDRO(1056, timeleft) ?  '1056 is my userDRO ID

2. Where should that code be put in?

3. You say I need to replace the cycle start button script. I use Machscreen for editing, can I just change the cycle start button with all these script in there?

Cheers!

34

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: July 04, 2011, 02:53:10 AM »

Thnx Chris, I'll take a look today! 

35

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: July 01, 2011, 05:39:16 AM »

...here is the image 

36

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: June 30, 2011, 11:22:41 AM »

OK. My idea is to start the cycle. Then torch moves to start coordinates, and start the ignition process. The ignition process will first open the LP gas and then the timer must start. Right after it has started i want to start the auto ignition. But as it happens, it doesn't always start and i want to manually confirm that the torch is on. Then when it comes on, it stays on for the whole cycle. I want to ignite only at the beginning of each job.

The steps must be something like this:
Torch on
Timer on
Igniter on

The Operator must confirm [torch OK] before the timer hits 0 or the machine will go to STOP or RESET state. And if the Operator did confirm, the G-Code must continue...

I would prefer a macro being called for that, yes! See image for how I pictured it to be in mach3.
Just a BTN with Yellow LED flashing(while not confirmed) and green LED that comes on when confirmed. At the btm is the counter in a DRO.

Maybe a MSG popup only when operator did not confirm? That way thay i can leave a small message to tel the operator what he did wrong...

I think it can't be too difficult, I just don't know how exactly.. 

Thanks for you replies!

37

VB and the development of wizards / Oxy Fuel Safety timer

« on: June 30, 2011, 02:09:46 AM »

Hi all,
I am setting up Mach3 to run with a Oxy Fuel process. I have searched everywhere but can't seem to find any info.

I want to put a simple safety feature in place that cuts off the gas supply if auto ignition haven't been confirmed by the operator within a certain time frame. Since I don't know too much about VB it is a bit difficult... I have read through a lot of posts but I still can't get something. The basic process would be something like this:

Timer countdown 25s (a visible counter would be best)
If "operator have confirmed ignition before " then "resume cycle"
else
STOP

or maybe on different approach:

Timer countdown 25s (a visible counter would be best)
if counter = 0 and confirm = 0 then stop

if counter >= 0 and confirm = 1 then Resume

Any help would be much appreciated.... I've spend many hours trying to work it out but to no avail.

Sinkyster

38

General Mach Discussion / First pierce delay Longer than the rest

« on: March 17, 2011, 05:23:12 AM »

Hi all,

I have a cnc plasma cutter and I am using Sheetcam TNG and Mach3. With the first pierce of every operation, the pierce delay is a bit longer than all the rest. I have 4 holes to cut. Pierce delay on the tool (same on all 4 holes) is 0 seconds. But when starting to cut the first pierce have a delay of ± 1 second. The other 3 holes will be 'normal' as specified by the tool...

Any ideas?

Sinkyster