Messages

71

General Mach Discussion / Re: TECHNO ISEL

« on: December 15, 2007, 05:17:18 PM »

Be sure to read and go through the mach3 windows xp optimizing procedure as little disruptions can create weird speed behavior.
Cheers
Lemo

PS;Yup, those older cards are not usable in faster newer systems. I don't buy build in cards for that reason. WHo knows what bus the next generation has...

72

General Mach Discussion / Re: TECHNO ISEL

« on: December 14, 2007, 09:54:07 PM »

Mach3 needs a pentium4 and at least 1GHZ cpu clock. You will most likely need a newer pc. Get a dell for about 400$. A friend of mine did that and that works well.
Even if you upgrade the system a bit, you will have a very useful machine. That Isel might even be a servo system.... Why not contact the Isel guy's. They will reveal the details.
Good luck
Lemo

73

General Mach Discussion / Re: Fun with Mach3 at the shop

« on: December 14, 2007, 04:11:38 PM »

Darn links... always break after about 6 month.
I bought a Bridgeport Link Fixer Attachment on e-bay recently.
Links made with that will last longer!
Lemo

74

General Mach Discussion / Re: MACH3 ROCKS !!!

« on: December 04, 2007, 10:42:11 PM »

I second that as well.
Greetings from New Jersey and thanks to all Mach3 Wizards!
Lemo

75

Tangent Corner / Re: Which Plasma Torch

« on: October 21, 2007, 03:07:48 PM »

Unit came back last week. It must have been damaged in the first place when I had the problems. Right now it cut's like a champ and I am actually real happy with it. Kerf in 18 Gauge galvanized was about 1/16th which is nice and small. 1/2 Inch is a challenge with it and can only be described as 'chewing through'. But it works better than a angle grinder to cut it . 1/4 Inch and smaller cut's like butter, with tiny kerf and as fast as I can move the handle. I also pieced 1/8 steel without a problem. I drilled holes using the Miller X-treme.... Nice! Takes no time and creates less heat than drilling. So, right not I stand corrected. It's definitely not a piece of junk. Friday I added a air filter for the pressured air and that enhanced the cut quality significantly as no water get's to the nozzle. And with 90PSI required at the nozzle, there IS a lot of water arriving without that filter.
Lemo

76

Tangent Corner / Re: Which Plasma Torch

« on: October 07, 2007, 03:57:42 PM »

It took another week and I still don;t have it back 8(

77

Tangent Corner / Re: Which Plasma Torch

« on: September 28, 2007, 10:48:20 PM »

One week has passed and no trace of the cutter. So.... weekend off 8(...
I hope it's not taking another week 8(((((.

78

Tangent Corner / Re: Which Plasma Torch

« on: September 22, 2007, 04:49:43 PM »

After messing with it to see how it works I took it to good use on a 1/2Inch steel plate. The unit is rated for a maximum of 5/8... so 1/2 inch is well in the realm. After 10 inches the unit shut of because of overheating and the overheat light lit up. After one hour waiting (fan running in unit) we called it a day. This morning I plugged it in again, and the light was still on. The unit is shot during the first 10 minutes of use. Seems to be a piece of .......
Monday I'll call service and send it back in for repair... let's see how long that will take. Can;t use the garage now till it's back as my project cannot be moved till the cutting is done. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Lemo

79

Tangent Corner / Re: Which Plasma Torch

« on: September 10, 2007, 09:13:10 AM »

I bought a Miller X-treme last week. Sweet! That's all I can say. It does not use the high frequency pilot starter. That makes it cooperate with CNC controllers/drives/motors/encoders. It cut's like butter. The only thing... I have to buy a bigger compressor. I only own a small pancake compressor for a nailgun. And after cutting a 4 ft width of 20 gauge sheet metal the poor thing is out of breath and the Miller switches off because of low pressure. Cut quality as far as I could observe in the time I played with it is spectacular. Now I will build a small outrigger for the taig mill so I can use that to cut some holes into sheet metal for my controller board. I plan to cut the holes for the printer port connector and a few other odd shaped holes with it. The quality of the edge is finish quality. No burr, no waste. I'm very happy with the purchase. I got the neat package including the blue case (very sturdy!) with the cable ties and three consumable kit's for less than 1200$ at Ebay including shipping and handling. The unit is SMALL and light. Little beast... looks tiny and chops anything up in sight. Now I am off to make that Taig attachment. I'll use the spindle relay to trigger the nozzle. Let's see what happens. Due to the surprisingly small amount of heat generated I'll encase the relatively small cutting area with an  acrylic top and a sheet metal pan. I'll attach a blower that will suck all that oxidized iron straight out of that box into my backyard... Hmmmmm... honey... the Tomatoes taste funny...
Lemo

80

General Mach Discussion / Re: Your thoughts on best tuning technique for servo's (mostly software question)?

« on: September 09, 2007, 02:03:56 PM »

I recommend this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller
and then that:
http://www.geckodrive.com/photos/G340_REV-4_MANUAL.pdf
That should cover it.
Cheers
Lemo