Topics

81

General Mach Discussion / overriding the home switches

« on: January 24, 2015, 08:29:37 AM »

Hi chaps--
I seem to remember that there was a word or a setup feature which prevented overriding
the home switches on program startup

I would like my code to say g28 early in the program just to get the toolpost out of the way.
If the saddle is already on the home switches when it see g28 - well then it just merrily
overrides the switch

Any workaround??
best regards.
fred

Ps i believe you guys in the north are having a go with the weather- Hope none of you are affected

82

General Mach Discussion / " no spindle feedback seen in G95 units/rev mode

« on: January 17, 2015, 11:17:33 AM »

" no spindle feedback seen in G95 units/rev mode "
Hello Chaps

what is the cure for the above error message??

Is there a published list of error codes that I can access ?

regards

fred

83

General Mach Discussion / what is the oldest post in this forum

« on: January 17, 2015, 07:13:07 AM »

Hello Guys
I dont know how to address this message to the forum administrator- so forgive me for
posting here.

I would like to start at the beginning and glance through all messages from the beginning
of this board.
what is the first message in the forum and at what date.
Then having read it i will mark it as read and can i then configure the board to only display
unread messages in future
regards fred

84

General Mach Discussion / what is the column next to "subject"

« on: January 16, 2015, 12:23:03 PM »

In the mach3 forum topic page
What is the column to the left of the subject column ??

thanks

fred

85

General Mach Discussion / lack of power when using invertor ?

« on: January 16, 2015, 12:20:37 PM »

Hello chaps,
Opinions are welcome!!
I have a benchtop lathe ( chinese thing ) which i have changed to Mach3.
the original motor was a 750 watt 220 volt single phase motor.
I have changed this to a 1.1 kw 3 phase motor run by an invertor.

It seems to me that the new motor does not have the power that the original
motor had. Perhaps it is just my imagination but for example turning 50mm dia
delrin rod at 1500rpm i can only comfortably take a 0.5mm cut depth  at a feedrate of
0.35 per rev .
Does this sound about right  ??
when I used the machine with the 750 watt motor i seldom used more than
900 rpm because the gearbox was to noisy. but still at 900 rpm i could take a
reasonable cut 

regards

fred
 

86

General Mach Discussion / to remember the position of the home switches

« on: January 14, 2015, 12:36:59 PM »

Hello Chaps
I am using my lathe for the first time for about a year and i have forgotten some of the
things.

I seem to think that when i homed the x and z axis- i could them enter a value into the dro
for each . i think that  mach3 would remember that the home positions were as per the value that was set
so next time i pressed all home it would automatically set the dro's to those cooordintes. Am I correct ?
if not is there a way of setting the axis positions of the home switches so the machine knows where it is
when i switch on and say "home All" ?
regards

87

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 reads dro as inches - displays mm

« on: January 14, 2015, 12:26:23 PM »

I wrote a short program about a year ago and as i rerun it now there is a strange occurrence

i use the buttons to "set home x"  and "set home Z "
the machine is set for mm in the general config
the machine homes correctly just touching off on the home switches.
 Now i want to set thwe axis position of the z axix to be z+8. ( this means that 0 (zero)
will be 8 mm to the left of the home position.
when i enter "8" into the dro the dro converts this to "203.4" which means that it has
read the input as 8 inches instead of 8mm and then converted the input to "203.4"
which is the length of 8 inches expressed in mm.
Why is it doing this?
best regards
fred

88

Mach4 General Discussion / using feed per revolution

« on: January 12, 2015, 02:24:55 PM »

Hello Chaps.

Mach turn on o lathe

I recently fitted an inverter and now i have the ability to use css.
please tell me

1. do i use G95 as a word in the initialization string that appears in the general config box?

2. before i B*******R something would you please give me some suggested "safe" settings to start off
with. I use mm mode. please suggest a safe feed rate say f
I tried f 0.05 but it doesnt do anything
3. and how go i apply the CSS in the program.
many thanks

89

General Mach Discussion / electric tool changer

« on: January 06, 2015, 12:42:06 PM »

Hello Guys
I have googled and alibaba'ed looking for an electric stepper driven tool turret
and have not found what i an looking for. China is the most likely source because
of price- but i am having a lot of difficulty in communicating my requirement to
the charming chinese girls who seem to monopolise the email " call centers"
Can someone point me to somewhere where i may be able to find what i am looking for.

Ideally it would be a typical 4 tool tool turret - operated electrically - but I would like
it to be fitted with a quickchange tool post maybe something like the dickson type?
can anyone help?
regards
fred

90

General Mach Discussion / using an inverter to control speed

« on: January 06, 2015, 12:34:17 PM »

Hi guys--
I have had an omron 3G3MX2 multi- function compact inverter connected to my lathe-
the intention being for it to control the speed for using constant surface speed. It was
connected by an expert who is now on leave

During modifications to the limit switches and wiring  i somehow lost the plot with the
controller and now i cant get it back to function again.
( all the service guys are on leave so i am stymied)

My problem is that i dont know how to set the inverter up in the first place. the operating
manual is written in electronic jargon which means nothing to me.
I there somewhere or can someone please tell me how one goes about programming this little
monster.
I seem to think that you have to switch it on somehow then select a mode or something
and then put in some sort of code that the thing will understand.
If someone could give me the sequence of programming it i am sure i will master it
regards
fred