Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 automatic ways oiler

« on: July 31, 2019, 08:45:52 PM »

my cnc knee mill ran on a mectronix card 8+ hours a day for 10 yrs, and the folk who built it had the oiler run about 8x a day for about a minute.  this is a good discussion for making the software maintain a schedule you can decide on.  but I lived with the consequences of their 8 x 1 schedule which was excessive oil on the ways and on the motors and in the coolant.  when/if I get this thing running again on either mach or uccnc, my oiler system will be set to run once a day on turn on, and if it is a programming pita, I will leave it out, mount a spring loaded button on the oiler, and hold it down for 30 sec every morning I run.  yes the ways need oil.  most of these machines here could live with an oil wipe by rag every morning.  sometimes the best way to work is k.i.s.s.   jmho, ymmv.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 - MPG - Precise control as it is on an industrial CNC...

« on: June 15, 2019, 12:13:55 PM »

how well does UCCNC handle jogging and the mpg?

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Goofy forum layout

« on: March 31, 2019, 01:27:16 PM »

there are a group of folk who post here, that I make sure to read all of their posts because they are the best here, and two have been kind to respond to my comment.  I think a video is a good idea, but using good machining technique, id guess 8 minutes could be trimmed from that machining operation, even on my knee mill if it was running, likely more with what appears to be an older matsuura maybe 500 series?  then the vid would make folk say "wow" rather than "eww".  practical machinist is one of the larger commercial machining forums, and they take pleasure in damning anything mach, even though they still think mach is the same thing it was decades? ago running from the parallel port.  artsoft needs to have people see their work performing at best capacity and capability, or the "Hobby" level will continue to define them.  and theres nothing wrong with hobby, but this is a hobby video of a machine that I suspect is much more capable than it is shown to be.  I don't expect mach to be the million dollar jet blade surfacing machine I used to run, but across the shop was a matsuura 500 in oem shape, and with 2 vises and 2 stops per vise id be expected to yield 20 of these parts shown in the vid per hour likely more.  dry milling alum, spending time machining air, and generating paper thin chips does not show off what I think mach can do.  perhaps im wrong?

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Goofy forum layout

« on: March 30, 2019, 06:57:34 PM »

i can certainly live with the new forum style and changes, but what troubles me is watching the video they feature at the top.  my eye says the material they are milling at the start is aluminum.  after a long wait I am still hoping to retro my knee mill with mach, but when I watch that video I cringe.  I could have machined that job at 3x, 4x or more feed and speed and doc from whats shown, and watching this job running so inefficiently makes me hesitiate on using mach.  I know its capable of more, ive seen it carve great 3d art in soft material, so the software and computer stuff seems capable.  I think if the folk are going to promote mach as a dependable capable system, they should analyze what they are showing, make it look like it can do serious cutting, and stop posting vids of tooling sticking out 8 times further than it needs to, and drilling with full jobber length drills that walk all over the place because there is no spot or center drill.  if youre showing off your new lathe conversion, theres no excuse for not having the tailstock in line with the chuck, or having your tooling .030 above or below centerline.  jmho, ymmv.  comments welcome.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 and Galill DMC 4133 on lathe

« on: January 13, 2019, 06:56:04 AM »

good question shows my lack of electronics knowledge, 4 brush dc motor, approx. 4" dia x 12" long, 250 ct encoder on end of ea, belt driven ball screws ?x reduction (count in pc based control built by CNC Automation of Amherst NH is 12000/inch) driven by westamp A711X series servo drives.  motion board is obsolete one from mid 90s by Mechtronix.  want all old stuff gone, new either Mach4 or UCCNC.  if I go with Mach4, most likely PMDX, but still thinking using likely UCCNC's biggest amps.  does that help?  leaning PDMX because of what I read here of Mr Stallings posts, and a telcom with them, seem willing to help with my questions.  does that help?  have pics.

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 and Galill DMC 4133 on lathe

« on: January 13, 2019, 12:52:32 AM »

f I were looking to replace what I had on my lathe (which I am not)  I would only be looking at ac servos which are step and direction   like the cnc techniques or the dmm units   In my case the servos and drives are new which makes me very reluctant to tear it apart  archie :-)

for me Archie, I have the dc already on the mill and work fine, for 10 years with just brush replacements and blowout the carbon.  I also have a spare, so want my lathe to use the same motors, amps, and electronics as close as possible.

ken

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 and Galill DMC 4133 on lathe

« on: January 12, 2019, 01:14:23 PM »

Chad Byrd, I have an electronically dead Nardini 17 x40 in my garage, 20T Fanuc on it.  id really be interested in hearing everything you might be willing to tell about your lathes, probably with the exception of the GSK unit.  im thinking steppers myself, or finding some DC servos very similar to the ones on my (also electronically dead) 3 axis cnc acra turret mill knee driven, so I can use them across both machines.  if anyone else has comments also interested.  perhaps send by pm so as not to muck up Archies thread.  engine lathe no tool changer.  I will be looking primarily at PMDX or the UC controllers.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Diameter changes .001 every part.

« on: December 10, 2018, 01:52:41 PM »

don't know, maybe this will be helpful.  I had a fanuc driven engine lathe, start making parts in the morning and I would see a small change, maybe .0002 on each consecutive part.  a little worse if the shop was cold.  go to the shop a couple hours early in the morning, put the lathe in a warmup program, and go back in the house and watch the news and drink coffee.  after that, the parts would usually repeat perfectly.

9

Tangent Corner / Re: how to login my cash app account

« on: November 21, 2018, 01:10:35 AM »

send me your bank information, and a certified check for $10000 us dollars.  once the check clears, since your Nigerian dollars are 60% larger by size, I will send you 120000 Mexican peso vouchers, which in Nigeria can be converted 10 for 1 for grams of ganja from the followers of Fela Kuti.  this can be sent back to me, and we will work details for a similar but much larger exchange.  in the end I will send you 7 pairs of boxer underwear from the Duluth trading company, one for each month.  all in horizontal stripes of the flag of your country, no stink, no sweat, no pinch.  only xxl size available, you may need suspenders.  but in the end, it will be worth it.  remember, women go crazy for a sharp dressed man!

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: February 10, 2018, 11:10:31 AM »

great thread Dave, been following with interest.  my knee mill has a bad control which I hope to get going with either mach or uccnc this spring when the garage thaws out.  just a comment which I hope will be helpful.  mine is a 10 x 50 acra mill with square ways, and it rapids at 70 ipm.  when I bought it, it was at 100 ipm, but I had some control issues and slowing it helped.  thought yours was moving slower than this, just a little input to help.  fwiw, mine has a rolled ballscrew driving the knee, with a pulley and belt where the knee handle would go.  worked great.