Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Dual spindle control on mach3

« on: June 15, 2017, 10:06:44 AM »

Sorry, I was on vacation.
Mach3 really can only control one spindle. For anything else, you need custom macros and possibly electronics to get it to do what you want.

I too am needing to control dual spindles (servos via step/dir), but with independent RPM for each. ie:
M3 S1200 (turn on spindle one at 1200 rpm)
M1003 S500 (turn on spindle two at 500 rpm)

Is this possible at all? If so, what custom macros, etc will be needed?

2

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Mach 3 Dual 5c spindle Lathe with Front Mounted 4 way ATC

« on: June 14, 2017, 03:55:47 PM »

Nice!! Could you give some insight on how you setup Mach3 to control dual spindles like this? I will be building a lathe very similar to this and need to be able to control dual servo driven spindles (step/dir stream for both spindles).

Thanks!

3

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Eccentric machining based on rotarty probing data?

« on: April 02, 2017, 05:00:25 PM »

I wish.. but I'm feeding in a 90" long tube, trimming the end, grinding 1" length of OD to be concentric to the ID, doing some other processing and then cutting about 6" length and starting over.
I figured out the steps and know it can be done using trig math functions in Mach. Brief outline:
-Probe at 90* increments to find the center of the ID.
-OD center is already known (CL of spindle) so run trig math to figure out the angle of the vector between the two centers.
-Rotate the spindle to the angle of the vector so that the offset is at the max in the X axis.
-Run a for loop counting off each degree for C (or whatever resolution needed) and command a move for X to move as a Cos function of the command degree and initial measured vector length.

However, I've decided to approach it from a hardware level and have designed a floating 3-jaw pneumatic chuck. I'll run a mounted ball bearing up into the ID of the tube, feed it over while spinning until it forces the tube to run true on the ID, then clamp the chuck. Will be much faster overall and eliminates potential probe failure and any X-axis backlash issue.

4

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Eccentric machining based on rotarty probing data?

« on: March 22, 2017, 10:24:49 AM »

I'm not sure where to start with but I need to start somewhere!
The need: I'm chucking a tube in a lathe with C-axis control. The tube is round on the OD and the ID, but the ID can be off-center by up to 0.01".
I'm needing to grind a short section of the OD to be concentric with the ID. I need this process to be automated as each tube is slightly different and I'll be doing hundreds.

I'm envisioning some procedure where a probe is run into the tube, then over to check the ID at angle 0, then rotate the C-axis to angle 90, probe again, then angle 180, etc.. to get 4 readings to know the center of the ID.
Then the fun part-- still automated within G-code or macro or brains-- slowly rotate the C-axis while grinding the OD true to the ID by moving the X-axis back and forth in a sine wave to "follow" the ID bore based on the probing data. The offset in the Y-axis as it rotates is not critical as it's not off far enough to make enough difference.

A good example I've found is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpP7iTKuWpw
I'll be grinding so the spindle C-axis rpm can be as slow as it needs as the X-axis keeps up.

Any ideas how to accomplish this??
Thanks!
-Colin

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Yet again, UC100 issues

« on: February 10, 2016, 07:14:55 PM »

Guys thanks for the input! I had also reached out directly to support at CNCDrive who sent a pretty lengthy response. One thing they mentioned to try was make sure DOTNET 3.5 was installed (includes 2.0), so altho my tablet showed it as installed, I told it to uninstall and then re-install 3.5 and now it's working w/o errors!! Hope this helps anyone else coming across this thread.
The next thing I was going to try was purge all previous versions, but so far it looks like I didn't need to do that.

Ger21- I'll look into updating Mach tonight as well.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Yet again, UC100 issues

« on: February 10, 2016, 03:30:46 PM »

BR549- I get them direct from http://cncdrive.com/UC100.html
According to the error screen, it looks like I have 2.148 installed, which is newer than the text on their site stating V2.146, and the manual mentions V2.145!

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Yet again, UC100 issues

« on: February 10, 2016, 02:40:21 PM »

Thread revival! I have been trying on and off for a YEAR to get this to work. I'm having the *exact* same issue as the OP (after installing UC100 drivers/plugin, upon opening Mach3 I'm getting "Plug in DLL defective. Reload".  I click ok and the next screen says "UC100V2_148.dll, defective plugin found, ignoring"). I've done so with the methods described in the thread for installing "unsigned drivers" and still no luck.
I've noticed that the manual for the UC100 now says "Our drivers are now WHQL certified by Microsoft" and Win8 is listed as officially supported. But still... Mach3 driver load errors!
Anyone know what else I can try? Could this be something wrong with Mach3 installation? If I delete the UC100 plugin, Mach loads fine w/o errors.
I'm running Win8 on the Toshiba Encore Mini 7" and my licensed copy of Mach3 Pro 2.0.

-Colin

8

Finished Plugins for Download / Re: USB JoyPad and game device plugin - New Version 2.0

« on: January 28, 2013, 05:19:43 PM »

Update- Seems that the stuck runaway is due to the "Inc. Jog" being active when trying to move in continuous motion jog. Inc. Jog gets turned on when I hit the Alt button to jog in steps, but then never gets turned off, and that messed up the continuous jog. If I manually turn it back off in Mach, then the continuous motion jog seems to work alright.
Is this normal?

9

Finished Plugins for Download / Re: USB JoyPad and game device plugin - New Version 2.0

« on: January 24, 2013, 11:53:30 PM »

I am having a very buggy time getting this to work reliably. Usually ends up running off. Read on..
Running Win XP, SmoothStepper, Mach 3.043.xx on lathe.
Input device is an industrial USB joystick "CH Products IP DESKTOP USB 12-Button Joystick". Windows sees it fine as a 3axis, 12 button input device. Calibrated it in to zero.
Installed this plugin today, read through most of the manual, and configured the buttons all to be "ignored" except the Safety and Alt (Controller button mapping is not intuitive, but I messed with it till I think I got it).

It will jog just fine, but when I select the continuous motion mode button, it will work for about 4 to 5 moves and then it'll get stuck in one direction and NOT STOP no matter what I try. Usually happens if I let up the button while it's moving. Cycle Estop to back online and the machine took off in some wild direction. I'm too young for a heart attack.

Looks like it could be useful but needless to say I won't be going near this plugin until I know what it going on.
Going back to Contour USB pendant for now.
Any ideas?

Thanks-

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Is Calibrate Spindle Working?

« on: September 16, 2012, 11:00:58 AM »

I see the exact same behavior on the USB SS and the latest few versions of Mach (.062 and now .066) and SS plugin ('d' and now I think 'f'). I have it tuned close but have some variance on the extreme ends. Threading works with the threading pulse, but for general lathe turning I'd like it get the extreme RPM ranges a bit more accurate. It stops the spindle (I had it running to start) and acts like it is going through the procedure, but the spindle never comes on..