Messages

51

General Mach Discussion / Re: Slow A-Axis motion

« on: June 06, 2008, 09:03:21 AM »

That's it.  I changed the code to run CCW as follows:


N5 (Posted with Water Only.pst)
N35 G0  X2.0000  Y0.0000 F600
G0 A180 F5000
N40 M3 (Water On)
N45 G1  X4.0000 F600
G0 A90 F5000
N50  Y3.5000 F600
N55 G3  X3.5000  Y4.0000  I3.5000  J3.5000 A180
N60 G1  X0.5000
N65 G3  X0.0000  Y3.5000  I0.5000  J3.5000 A270
N70 G1  Y0.0000
G0 A0
N75  X2.0000
N80 M5 (Water Off)
N85 G0 Z0.0000
N90 M30

If I have no rotational diameter this takes 1:46 sec.  With Dia. set to 50.0 it takes 56 sec.  Set at 0.5 it takes 24 sec.  When set at 0.1 it takes 22 sec.


Many thanks.  One piece of the puzzle solved.

52

General Mach Discussion / Shortest rotary

« on: June 05, 2008, 08:04:10 PM »

I have the angular shortest rotary on G0 set to "ON" in the General Config settings.  That's fine, but I really need this on all the time.

For example, in the code below, I'm trying to cut a square that has two rounded corners.  The A-axis should follow and stay parallel to the cut.  Direction is critical, so you can't substitute A90 for A270.


G0  X2.0000  Y0.0000 F600
G0 A180 F5000                                                     (I put this on a separate line to speed it up)
M3 (Water On)
G1  X0.0000 F600
G0 A90 F5000
Y3.5000 F600
G2  X0.5000  Y4.0000  I0.5000  J3.5000 A0             (Instead of going from 90 to 0 over 90 deg. - this wants to do a 270 deg. arc)
G1  X3.5000
G2  X4.0000  Y3.5000  I3.5000  J3.5000 A270          (Instead of going from 0 to 270 over 90 deg. - this wants to do a 270 deg. arc)
G1  Y0.0000
G0 A180 F5000
X2.0000
M5 (Water Off)
G0 Z0.0000
M30

This small square must take 2-3 minutes to run because of the arcs.  That's one problem, but the bigger one is how to get the arcs to work correctly without having to run everything CCW - that is A0 to A90 works, but A90 to A0 does not.

53

General Mach Discussion / Slow A-Axis motion

« on: June 05, 2008, 07:49:26 PM »

Does anybody out there know how to get around the problem of slow rotary motion when the A-axis motion is coordinated with another axis?

On my machine, I have to set the A-axis feedrate to something like F5000 to get it to move with any speed at all.  If I try moving it along with an X-Y arc with a F600 setting, I think I'm getting more like F10.

For the A-axis settings, (not a real life machine - just playing around), I have the Steps @ 20, Vel. @ 10,000, & Accel. @ 40,000.  You'd think that would be fast.


Suggestions?

54

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tool diameter measurement

« on: May 25, 2008, 01:20:08 PM »

Thanks for the help.  I think I can use a VB script and measure / compare / update routine to do this.

BTW, I'm using abrasive stones and rubber wheels, so measurements should be accurate enough for my needs.

55

General Mach Discussion / Tool diameter measurement

« on: May 21, 2008, 12:33:08 AM »

Has anyone set up a probe or laser reader to measure tool diameter?  Is this possible?

I need to find a way to measure tools over time to compensate for wear so that my part maintain proper dimensions.  I know that tools can be measured manually and then the tool diameter can be offset manually in the tool table.  Can this be automated?

56

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stop button error

« on: November 03, 2007, 01:35:44 PM »

What Galil card are you using?  I have a machine using a different interface that I'd like to convert to Mach3.

The Galil board is DMC-2143-DC24.  Just trying to figure out what I have to do to get this to work under Mach.

57

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tangential Set-up

« on: October 30, 2007, 10:47:02 AM »

Not yet.

You shouldn't need CAM conversion anything.  When this works properly, the control will maintain a position parallel to or perpendicular to you cut path (depending on where you set your home switch).

58

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tangential Set-up

« on: October 28, 2007, 10:15:26 AM »

Brian will be looking at this in the coming week.  On my machine, it seems to be off by a factor of 360.

That is, instead of moving to 90 degrees, it moves to 0.25 degrees.  Instead of moving to 270 degrees, it moves to 0.75 degrees.

I'll let you know if I hear new information.

59

General Mach Discussion / Re: Upgrades, what a pain in...

« on: October 19, 2007, 02:17:33 PM »

I have screens I've make in Scree4.  I have made versions for 2, 3, or 4 axes.

If I load a part, it generally highlights where I've already cut only on the current cut path, then it resets clearing the display before moving on to the next cut path.  If I change to a different set of screens, I might get no trace at all.  AND, if I load the 1024 screens, now it works perfectly.

Who knows.  It's not my setup.  If it was, it wouldn't work in the 1024 set.

I have a direct email in to Brian, and if he gives me a heads up I'll pass it on.

60

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis design and Mach3 control

« on: October 17, 2007, 05:21:26 PM »

It's a simple square with filleted corners and a few holes.

Nothing fancy.