Messages

171

General Mach Discussion / Re: Reversed Arcs in Front Post/G-code/Dolphin question

« on: December 28, 2014, 02:59:57 PM »

Actually I chose the tool as it should be for my machine, ie: front tool post, approach from the front.  I re-read your response to another of my posts a year or so back but since this job came out near-perfect with only the Reversed Arcs change, I didn't try reversing the tool direction in Dolphin.  I'm orf to go try that now....

172

General Mach Discussion / Re: Copied/modified profile doesn't keep tool table?

« on: December 27, 2014, 01:52:16 PM »

...transfer the tootable...

Nice spelling there Milton...doofus!

Anyhoo, I searched some more & found the solution.  Copy the tools3.dat file from Mach3/Macros/my existing profile folder to the new profile folder and Robert is your Father's brother. Easy-peasy.

173

General Mach Discussion / Copied/modified profile doesn't keep tool table?

« on: December 27, 2014, 12:01:26 PM »

As part of a workaround to the problem in my other post about reversed arcs/Dolphin I decided to make a renamed copy of my existing profile.  In it I unchecked the reversed arc box and expected to click on the "Dolphin" profile upon starting Mach and all things should  remain the same other than the one changed checkbox.  That way I wouldn't have to remember to change the config each time I use a Dolphin generated file.

It does exactly that other than the tooltable.  All of my carefully tweaked tool offsets are gone in the new profile!  Is there a way to transfer the tootable to the 2nd profile?

174

General Mach Discussion / Reversed Arcs in Front Post/G-code/Dolphin question

« on: December 26, 2014, 02:31:07 PM »

Been doing some Dolphin lathe CAM stuff lately and having trouble on internal turning cuts.  Here's the path I'm having trouble with as seen in Dolphin; it's a roughing cut:



Using the Mach3 diameter mode post, here's what I got at first:



After unchecking Reversed Arcs in Front Post, everything is perfect except the one little circle at the end of the 1st roughing pass that leaves a little gouge in the piece, line 270 I think.  Everything's fine after that.  Anybody have an idea why that happens?  I guess I can edit that line, change it to a G01 back out to the clearance point??  My G-code Kung-Fu is weak unfortunately.

175

General Mach Discussion / Re: CamBam & lathes?

« on: December 22, 2014, 09:35:40 AM »

I bought Hood's Dolphin v10 referred to above; thanks Hood!!  Sorry, but even though I curse & scream at it often (most likely due to my own ignorance and not a fault of the software) I wouldn't sell it.

I haven't seen anyone else that has an older version for sale cheap but I'll keep my eyes open.  I could use another Dolphin owner to share info with.

176

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Z-axis opto probe for me Orac.

« on: December 14, 2014, 11:25:46 AM »

Looks great Rich but I guess I need some Special High Intensive Training.  I don't know the difference between "Clobal Shift" and "Global Sh!t."

177

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Z-axis opto probe for me Orac.

« on: December 13, 2014, 01:46:22 PM »

Most all my work is modifying or repairing existing parts that don’t get faced off and I’m always having to touch off the tool on the face or a feature of the part.  I’ve used all the methods including a USB microscope to set Z-zero but it’s a real pain to accurately do this on 15 or 20 parts in a row.  So, I decided to build this device.  It’s a Z-axis probe that’s semi permanently mounted to the back side of the carriage of my lathe.  It has a little opto sensor/board I got off ebay from Holland.  A spring loaded plunger with a flat dial indicator tip on it, some aluminum scraps & acetal bushing is all it needed to work very well.  It’s dead-nuts repeatable & accurate as I can measure with a tenths D.T.I.  I use the “Set Home Z” button on Tool 0 in the standard Mach3 Turn screenset.  I’m in the process now of setting up all of my tools’ Z-axis offsets in the tooltable.  Once that’s done, I should be able to home the Z to a feature of the part, slap on which ever tool is needed and cut away with confidence that it’ll come out on the money.







Here’s a pic of a typical setup

178

General Mach Discussion / Re: how to adjust tool cutting depth in mid program

« on: December 11, 2014, 06:47:36 PM »

Let's say you want to go .020" deeper: With your Z axis sitting at zero, click in the Z-axis DRO and type .020" and press return.  The next run will be .020" deeper, yes?  That's the way my simple mind thinks anyway!:)

(By the way I'm not experienced but I have faced the same issue.)

179

General Mach Discussion / Re: G76 Lathe Theading Problem

« on: December 07, 2014, 07:03:07 PM »

...just waiting to see if I should stick Mach3 or go to Mach4.

If you want to use that lathe to thread anytime soon, ya' better pony up for Mach3; no other choice.

When Hood says Mach4 Turn is good enough to switch over to, I'll be all over it!:D

180

General Mach Discussion / Re: Software Great, CNC Machine doesn't move

« on: November 08, 2014, 12:09:06 PM »

Looks like you have to follow these instructions from their website exactly before anything will work.  Surely it came with an instruction sheet?  Good luck with it, you'll get there.

Setup Procedure:

Install Mach3 Software if you haven’t already

Insert Disk

Plug in ‘Mach3 Motion Card’ using the supplied USB cord.

Computer will then search for and install the necessary drivers. May take up to 5 minutes.

 Open the disks’ contents and locate the folder, “USB card driver-v2.35”, and open it

 The NcUSBPod.dll is the card driver. Please copy it to the Mach3Plugins directory (C:Mach3Plugins)

 The Mach3MotionControlCard.xml is the Mach3 configuration file, please copy it to the Mach3 directory (C:Mach3)

Now open Mach3 Loader and select Mach3millUSBMotionCard

Mach 3 will now open and ask to select a plug in

Select “NcUsbPod-XHC-Mach3-USB-Motion-Card”

You should now be able to run your machine

One more thing:

Close out Mach3 and go back into your C:Mach3 directory

Go back into the CD contents and open “USB card driver-v2.35”

Copy the file “M930.m1s” to C:Mach3macros Mach3MotionControlCard

You are now complete