Messages

481

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 home switch question

« on: June 14, 2014, 12:28:30 AM »

Jim,
What exactly do you need the home switches for? Typically they are needed on machine with auto tool changers or if you are running jobs that take days and you want to turn the machine off each night.  Otherwise you don't really need them.  My limits are wired just to keep from crashing against the ends and damaging the machine. They actually turn off the DC to drives without any connection to Mach 3 and are in series with the E-stop and an electrically held contactor with a reset button.  However I did connect them to the Mach 3 inputs and can home to them if I hold in the reset button so they don't trip off the power during homing.  All that  said though, I don't actually home to them. I just pick up XYZ on my part and set all the DROs to zero and go to work.

482

General Mach Discussion / Re: Engraving Spindle.

« on: June 14, 2014, 12:20:34 AM »

Tweakie,
You are talking about a small spindle, but those motors go to over 5KW continuos power ratings!  So if you don't mind a power supply that has to put out 200 amps DC it would work pretty well I would think. Welder anyone?

483

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Why does Mach 3 need a tool length?

« on: June 14, 2014, 12:12:01 AM »

Learn,
I am trying to understand what you mean.  Are you using work offsets like G54 for each tool?

The purpose of tool length is to let use a number of tools at every work offset location.  So if you had 5 tools and four vises all holding the same part you'd set 5 tool lengths and four work offests so you could machine at each location using all five tools.

Please explain further.

484

General Mach Discussion / Re: phase converter error when I stop spindle <<HELP

« on: May 17, 2014, 06:11:27 PM »

Most VFDs show an error code an the manual will tell you what the error code means. If your spindle slows down real fast it may be regenerating and cause an over voltage condition if it doesn't have a braking resistor.  That can be fixed by reducing the deceleration rate.

485

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Vise for wood carving

« on: May 16, 2014, 07:20:10 PM »

You realize if you post a picture in a public forum like this you will no longer be able to pursue a patent as it is already in the public domain.  However you can still make and sell them but so can anyone else. I have 4 patents and have gotten royalties from two of them through licenses. However I never met anyone else personally that has made money on their patents.  The deck is really stacked against small patent holders. I think someone will only only copy your idea to sell if the market for it is very large. However if you idea is useful people may buy it from you, and you could potentially make some money.  I am currently making parts for a product I patented, then couldn't afford to make them or renew the patent.  However I now have a home built CNC and can easily make the parts so I am going to try selling some.  If it doesn't sell no harm no foul.

486

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tips for Homing/Alignment Recovery after Mach3 Errors

« on: April 22, 2014, 02:25:57 PM »

Matt,
Home switches that are not accurate are useless, and accurate ones properly installed are a lot of work and expensive. You might consider mounting adhesive tape scales along each axis for gross positioning, combined with a dial and pointer on the screws for fine positioning.  This will easily get you to sub 0.001 accuracy for a restart.

487

General Mach Discussion / Re: Testing salvaged AC servos

« on: April 22, 2014, 02:13:44 PM »

All of that extra stuff is about electrical noise issues and protecting the drives from potential problems. As I understand it you just want to know if they work. Use a pair of 5 amp fuses on the input voltage to limit a fault that may already exist from doing any more than a pop. If they work you'll want to do a lot more homework about what you application really needs.  You are unlikely to do any damage to the motors or drives.

Oh yeah, and wear gloves and don't touch live wires with your bare hands, nose, tongue, or other body parts which shall remain unnamed!

488

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tips for Homing/Alignment Recovery after Mach3 Errors

« on: April 20, 2014, 09:52:40 PM »

Nick,
That's quite good repeatability, the last ones I had were +-0.010"

489

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tips for Homing/Alignment Recovery after Mach3 Errors

« on: April 19, 2014, 08:49:01 PM »

How good are your home switches?  I ask because the last machine I had with them they were only useful to set soft limits which would stop the machine without losing position. However they did not repeat well. If you lost position and homed you could be quite a few thousands away from where you were before.  My defense became a Post It Note, with the three axis dial readings written down when I zeroed the program.  I could easily jog to those positions accurately and zero everything.

490

General Mach Discussion / Re: Tips for Homing/Alignment Recovery after Mach3 Errors

« on: April 18, 2014, 07:01:21 PM »

I wouldn't call Mach 3 finicky.  I am pretty impressed with how stable it has been for me. I haven't had a rebootable crash so far.