Messages

31

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

32

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

« on: May 07, 2007, 12:01:07 PM »

ynneb: thank you for the compliment...I hated that I had to send it away so much that I'm now well along with my own...can't wait get get it cranking!
Graham: how on earth did you take my high res pics, reduce them to 10 x 7 & repost them...I just didn't catch that right away...it was a mistake I won't make again & thank you for the fix.
                                           gpdc

33

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

« on: May 04, 2007, 06:46:17 AM »

Here you go....
http://www.nskamericacorp.com/prod_machineTool_e2550.aspx

34

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

« on: May 03, 2007, 09:41:44 PM »

Greg,
   The spindle is driven by the grey box mounted high & to the left of the computer monitor....you can just barely see (2) green led digits & they indicate the speed that the spindle is currently running @....it's an NSK controller & motor, 5 to 50K rpm.....George

35

General Mach Discussion / Re: gaining or loosing steps in jog

« on: May 03, 2007, 04:26:41 PM »

Brett...thanks for the help yesterday afternoon....so...what I found out was this: absoluetly no skipped or gained steps in jog...indicators don't lie (generally!!)
    What does happen is this:  intrusion into LC = killed motor drives but program continues to run (hello servo's!)
                                          "cycle stop" button input = both program and motors are stopped & will continue on after "cycle start"...but no spindle...and that depends, of course,on where in the program I stopped it (before or after an M3)...is there some way, after the cycle stop input to turn the spindle back on?...hmmm... a magic OEM code or keyboard input or other means I could emulate off the IPAC,interface thru a PLC (or not) or ??
                                          "E" Stop input= this button is detented in, and is wired in series with the "E" stop in the MiniTech motor drive box,as is the LC ...all three (the LC & both "E" stops) are wired NC & the operators' console "E"stop has a second set of contacts (wired NO) that send the ` character
 (which is a"reset") to Mach....so when that "E" stop is hit, the motor drives AND Mach stop, but I saw (on my indicator) a discrepency between it and the DRO's
  So, the bottom line to all this is I placarded the machine to tell the operator that after ANY power interruption, LC intrusion, cycle stop, "E" stop actuation or other, to do a "ref aal home" (auto 0 in effect) & restart the program from the beginning....we'll have to wait & see how that works out, of course (the machine left here for the customers today), but methinks it's a non-issue & problem solved....a little messy perhaps, but solved nevertheless.

36

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

« on: May 03, 2007, 03:56:53 PM »

wow...thats the last time I post such high res pics...lesson learned!

37

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

38

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

39

General Mach Discussion / Re: Challenge question regarding Homing & Limit Switches

« on: April 25, 2007, 03:11:18 PM »

FWIW dept....the hell w/multiple LS's.....that's a band aid for your set up....a nice fine thread jam nutted bolt (say the HEAD of a 1/2-20) with a squared end against a hard stop that is initially manually set by feeler gage & you're done.....the single limit switch per axis would then be mechanically " in sync" with all the other motors common to that axis' movement....periodic PM/QC would be all you need methinks...just a thought...would that be workable?

40

General Mach Discussion / Re: Reset command & more...

« on: April 15, 2007, 02:48:03 PM »

    hmmm....FWIW....just found out the pass thru on the emu board is NOT for USB use....so now I've got (3) usb ports used: mouse, standard keyboard & my new I-PAC2....and they all work!!