Topics

11

General Mach Discussion / Help...canned cycle

« on: June 30, 2007, 12:32:24 PM »

    What is the fastest way to cut a thru hole in a sheet of material where the cutter simply follows the toolpath,stops @ a point, travels down (z-) another .002", again cuts that same toolpath, stops, again feeds down another couple of thousandths, travels the toolpath, etc,etc, finally stoping @ a preset Z- point?

12

General Mach Discussion / MAch and 64 bit

« on: June 05, 2007, 08:56:11 AM »

Any problems running Mach3 with a duelly chip and a 64 bit bus in XP...?

13

General Mach Discussion / Mach License

« on: May 08, 2007, 08:36:59 AM »

gpdc here again (w/another newbie question)....
    The machine we sent out of here last week (pic's posted) came to us with its' own Mach license...we just added some periphials,tuning, mechanical integration & other stuff for "productionization"(much,much easier said than done, as I found out, but a ball doing)....and now I'm far enough along on my own machine (another 3 axis gantry type) to where I'll need to load & run much larger programs, w/o size limitations, so I can now puchase my own copy Mach.....so....what I'm concerned with (Bill Gates has caused me enough wasted time in the past to where I'll ask (probably dumb) questions like this, will I have any problems or other concerns running my simple little testy gcode programs that I developed in the last month or so along with this new license?.....what is the process by which I introduce this new license to my resident Mach trial version (in this computer, but soon to go into the CNCs' CPU)...do I need to uninstall all & reinstall to prevent problems.....I just don't wanna start having mysterious operational problems caused by a front end problem like that...I'm thinking that most of you guys have been thru this & might have a thought or two.....thanks for any/all input!...... gpdc

14

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Project just finished

« on: May 02, 2007, 12:03:09 PM »

Just got this done....it uses a MiniTech Gantry (really good stuff mechanically...imho)/Dell duelly/XP/Smart Scan LC's/IPAC2/NSK Astro-E 2550 Spindle & Controller (very sweet, that item!) & a custom operator console/pendant (had to put the IPAC somewhere!) other stuff includes 24VDC 2A PS, Safety Relay box interface for LC & (MiniTechs') Aux 1 & 2 relays controlled by Mach (M3=spindle on & M8=Vacuum on)...thanks for lookin'...gpdc

15

General Mach Discussion / gaining or loosing steps in jog

« on: May 02, 2007, 07:52:06 AM »

 Hi all...gpdc the newbie back again....my machine, a MiniTech/hybrid (for productionization) using Gecko's & running our beloved (and I do mean that affectionatley!) Mach3 on a duelly/XP platform,presented me with a problem that, as I think back thru the development of this project, has been an issue right along....when jogging, it gains and/or looses steps, ONLY when jogging....haven't determined as yet if it's always a gain or always a loss, and the evidence is the mismatch between the DRO read back & where I KNOW the cutter/spindle to be....this problem is seen in all (3) axis', is random & a jog speed reduction to 75% didn't help....so, oh smart people of the Mach persuasion, what's up?
 Hood: if you should read this, somewhere around here I've seen where you're in Scotland...do you know any of the guys along the coast who are making their own electrical power with windmills they build?...I've ALWAYS had it in the back of my mind that Mach driven CNC is the be-all/end all  problem fix to precision placement of the super magnets they use into precision pockets, be it into wood, aluminum or whatever....just wondering aloud...

 Again, thanks all for any/all replies to my problem....gpdc

16

General Mach Discussion / Reset command & more...

« on: April 15, 2007, 12:33:49 PM »

George the newbie here, so bear w/my ignorance, please!
  I have a MiniTech Gantry Router that I am making some changes to for "productionization", if you will...I need to keep the operators from using/needing the keyboard and the mouse, but I still need those usable by the set-up people.
  I've put a second ESTOP button in my operator panel/pendant... I put it in series w/ the one supplied with the motor controller...which is operational to the point of killing the spindle and motor drives, but when I pull it back out, we take off running again...that initial push of the "E"stop I need to also input the RESET command to Mach, then I need the operator to then manually push reset and cycle start to continue.
  I've got spindle & coolant on/off operational using M codes...M3/4, & 5 and M 7, 8 & 9 using the (2) 115VAC outputs built into the motor controller box...it uses Gecko's
    on what looks to be a proprietery board with no other relays or other access to the parallel port cable returning back to LPT1 (no #2 insrtaled) of the CPU.
  There are no other pin I/O ports available other than a DB9 that accepts the Home switches only....they come in a little kit as an accessory.
  I've got an I-PAC (2) emu board that (I'm thinking) I need to send Mach the reset command and the cycle start command (for sure), and maybe some more as this progress.
  This emulation board has a pass thru that I can't seem to get operational (as yet), but I can get the (4) X & Y jogs to work when I jumper the boards' ground to the correct screw terminals, but nothing else...oops, I do get a feed hold input to Mach if I play around with that jumper.
 So, is there a keystroke input from the keyboard to input "Reset" to Mach"?....and any thoughts anybody might have on the correct set-up & use of the I-PAC for key mapping would GREATLY be appreciated.
  I've still got to add a Light Curtain to the enclosure this week...guess we'll cover that when I get there!
 THANKS in advance for anything that anybody cares to share w/me!