Messages

171

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 executing commands not issued

« on: April 15, 2014, 08:49:14 AM »

1. Are the moves "Not Issued" or are they "Not Expected From Your Software" ?
2. Do you have a Debug Mode which allows you to generate G-Code files that can be checked?

 - Nick

172

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Rohm Air Pistol Valve Cap

« on: April 15, 2014, 07:18:48 AM »

The left hand of the two is a phoshor bronze replacement for the plated brass original on the right.



The two problems with the original are
(i) only 2 turns of thread engagement into a cast zinc body of a 12mm OD holding against 800psi
(ii) the product is now obsolete rendering all parts low stock or unobtainable.

My replacement uses the full thread depth in the frame giving better engagement on a previously partially stripped thread (& so scrapped target pistol) than OEM, to achieve full thread depth a mechanically retained, off the shelf O ring replaces the OEM plastic seal.
The whole job is milled, apart from polishing ;-)

 - Nick
P.S. A big thanks to a great forum for the help and support that's helped me to get from no experience of CNC to here in around 12 months  

173

General Mach Discussion / Re: System with only X and C axis and fixed tool point

« on: April 15, 2014, 06:42:19 AM »

Can it be done yes.

I've somehow missed the solution to this, we're talking about a horizontal table for profiling 2.5D parts, it is interesting as it could increase the profiling envelope of a small mill with the use of a rotary table with a stepper!
Which post in the linked thread gives details of config for using a horizontal rotary, one horizontal linear axis and Z?

Ta,
Nick

174

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 executing commands not issued

« on: April 13, 2014, 02:36:37 PM »

Any thoughts on what causes this to occur?

Asked to guess based on no other info I'd say your PC

175

General Mach Discussion / Re: Gcode to zero Z axis during run

« on: April 13, 2014, 02:33:41 PM »

Can you not just use work Offsets to deal with the different thickness, or are you feeding random work thicknesses in for the same job?

176

General Mach Discussion / Re: System with only X and C axis and fixed tool point

« on: April 13, 2014, 01:14:49 PM »

You're really asking about CAM functionality, to expect CNC software to do the trasnform is a little optimistic ;-)
A decent CAM system will allow you to define your machine configuration, ask the players in your budget if their software will deal with this configuration and choose from the ones that will,

 - Nick

177

General Mach Discussion / Re: G-Code streaming VIA USB

« on: April 11, 2014, 06:24:09 PM »

In my head... a USB interface is easier to use then the bulky DB25 and also makes it easier to deploy almost any cheap laptop on the market.
The EPP ( Enhanced Parallel Port ) is the main drawback and with the prices of other "mach" specific hardware isn't so DIY friendly.

That's total rubbish and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of why Mach3 uses the parallel port, what it does with it and what a USB device needs to do to replicate that function - timing between different axes is critical - parallel data transfer permits this.

USB data transfer is fast but it doesn't deal well with timing and any USB hardware on the other end has to deal with this, you'd have to write the software to do it and the toys you're referring to just don't have the processing power to deal with the required data and timing for even a decent size of desktop machine running at reasonable speeds.

The Smooth Stepper can do the job because it's dedicated hardware & firmware that can't be programmed to do a myriad of pointless entertaining things, some knowlege of the history of computing (including the Apollo navigational computers, Space Shuttle computers) would help comprehension of what dedicated systems can do with modest processing power.

I find this attitude typical of the bottom end of the current breed of "Hackers" and "Makers" who can't do things manually and have little enough knowlege of the way things work at the lowest level to think they can assemble their dream of a quick, easy fix if they only connect the right set of high level systems together.

Heads up,
It ain't so ;-)

178

General Mach Discussion / Re: G-Code streaming VIA USB

« on: April 11, 2014, 05:51:09 PM »

All in all it becomes a bandwidth war...
Who can more more data and faster!

No it doesn't, Mach 3 can already run faster through a parallel port than most machines require.

179

General Mach Discussion / Re: G-Code streaming VIA USB

« on: April 10, 2014, 02:06:13 PM »

In my mind Mach3 / Mach4 is nothing more than software over "metal"

I've seen all the words before but not in this order. Can someone enlighten me as to what this is supposed to mean?

In my mind Mach3 / Mach4 is nothing more than software over "metal"

I've seen all the words before but not in this order. Can someone enlighten me as to what this is supposed to mean?

I think it implies that it's not as good as the stuff people are making slightly lumpy plastic models with, let's see 'em make stuff in Stainless Steel and Titanium like my poor old mill with it's Mach3/parallel port driven system does ;-)

180

General Mach Discussion / Re: G-Code streaming VIA USB

« on: April 10, 2014, 11:52:36 AM »

Hi John,
In my mind Mach3 / Mach4 is nothing more than software over "metal"

But it works! Why fix it when it ain't broke ?

I'm from a PLC, Z80 and PIC Chip programming background and think the toys of which you speak are OK but very limited in their capacity and capability, partly by what's done in making them accessible to those that would never get their heads around Ladder Logic, Statement List or Assembler programming.
JMTP,
Nick