Messages

1181

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: axis commanded over soft min

« on: May 09, 2021, 04:03:55 AM »

Hi,
when SoftLimits are operational if Mach detects a move that would carry the controlled point beyond the
programmed limits then it will fault....that is what its supposed to do.

You can disable SoftLimits or better still you can program them to be effective. Note in order that the programmed
limits are effective and repeatable the machine must be Homed or Referenced....and with proper home switches...none
of this 'Home in Place' rubbish. Do you have Home switches and do you use them with a <RefAll> for instance?

Craig

1182

General Mach Discussion / Re: help for choosing control board for lathe cnc

« on: May 08, 2021, 12:06:49 PM »

Hi,
I don't know for sure but I don't think the 57CNC supports encoder lathe threading.

The Ethernet SmoothStepper does.

Mach4 has up to six coordinated axes (with up to four slaves on each axis) and up six to Out-of-Band axes, again with up to four slaves
an each.

Craig

1183

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Uc300

« on: May 03, 2021, 12:54:39 AM »

Hi,

I'm about to order the controller you suggested, would you go for the USB or Ethernet?

Warp9TD have not manufactured USB connected motion boards for some years, the only current manufactured boards are
Ethernet connected, which is good news because Ethernet connection results in lower latency and much greater noise immunity.

Craig

1184

General Mach Discussion / Re: Scale

« on: May 03, 2021, 12:49:27 AM »

Hi,
I think the RoadRunner Gcode sample program is in inch measurements. If your machine is set to metric
units the RoadRunner comes out tiny.

Try A G20 at the top of the code, and then run it.

Craig

1185

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: setting spindle speed feedback (mach4 + interface xhcmk6 m4 usb motion card)

« on: May 01, 2021, 12:02:45 AM »

Hi,

I use mach4 and the XHC MK6 M4 USB MOTION CARD interface

You're the first person I've ever heard of who uses that board. I don't think you can use the Mach4GUI, the plugin does not allow for it,
you are constrained to wxMach. Good luck.

Craig

1186

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switches issue

« on: April 26, 2021, 03:02:29 AM »

Hi,

how do i set up limits only so it can move back.

If Mach detects a limit event, ie one of the limit switches it Estops....it DOES NOT MOVE BACK, in fact the only way to get it to move AT ALL is to
manually use 'Limit Override' and jog it off the limit switch.

Craig

1187

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switches issue

« on: April 25, 2021, 02:56:44 AM »

Hi,
you are confusing limit and home switching.

When Mach is in 'Homing' mode it will travel until the home switch activates and then backup until it deactivates.
When it is not in Homing mode then the switch is treated as a limit and Mach Estops immediately, no if's,
no but's, it just stops....and that is what its supposed to do.

I have always recommended having separate home and limits switches, so that would be six limit switches, two for
each axis, and three home switches, for a total of nine switches. Most people think that's too much bother....but then you
have this issue. You decide.

Craig

1188

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: surface map

« on: April 23, 2021, 07:42:41 PM »

Hi,
my machine PC has an much earlier build of Mach4 (3481) which predates Surface Wizard.

When I tested Surface Wizard I used my laptop which at that time I had been keeping up-to-date with Mach4 builds.
I  hooked it to my motion controller (ESS) and tested out Surface Wizard. This was some 18 months-two years ago
when Surface Wizard was first released. I do not remember the details well enough to answer your questions.

What I did determine at that time was that I could use Surface Wizard for the purpose of flattening PCBs but it was a poor
second choice to Autoleveller that I had already been using for four years. As a consequence I saw no need to update my machine PC
with the latest Mach4 build....there was nothing in it that I required....and that remains the case today. The early build of Mach4
does everything I need of it.....so why bother? In fact I've not bothered and the last time I hooked my machine PC to the internet was
to download and install the build (3481) that it has on it now, which I would guess is three-four years old now. I've made many hundreds
of PCBs and other parts since then. I'm now making PCBs daily and for work purposes and I have no intention of fiddling with anything
that may upset that work-flow.

The next time my machine PC gets taken out-of-service is when I commission my new build mill. It is much bigger, faster, more powerful and
many many times more rigid. In particular I'm using 750W AC servos and they fly, my G0's are 25m/min, and G1's are 15m/min.
I anticipate that my new-build mill will be commissioned over the next two months.

At that time I will update my Mach4 build.

Craig

1189

General Mach Discussion / Re: spindle speed control

« on: April 23, 2021, 05:57:50 PM »

Hi,

so theres no more speed to it.

That spindle is a brushed DC motor using permanent field magnets. The top speed is determined by the BackEMF of the motor
which is a fundamental property of the motor's physical construction, field strength and number of turns on the armature.

The only way you can make that spindle go faster is to use a higher voltage, and probably run the risk of damaging it due to
excess currents at start-up and/or shut-down. Additionally that spindle uses single row ball bearings in the 60 series. They are
not known for their highspeed/low runout properties. Almost all highspeed spindles use angular contact bearings and all good spindles
use P4/ABEC-7 grade angular contact bearing matched pairs.

If you need/want more spindle speed then you should look on EBay where there are hundreds of asynchronous spindles up to 24000 rpm
with VFDs of up to 400Hz. Chinese manufactuerers compete on price and we as consumers benefit because of the low prices offered.
Quality is a somewhat larger question......but most users report pretty good results.

Craig

1190

General Mach Discussion / Re: MPG issue

« on: April 23, 2021, 05:41:17 PM »

Hi,

well if im honest the best motion controller ive used is the mega cheap bit sensor usb 4 axis module, they just work with no issues,

Well that's a very good recommendation however I'm bound to say that not so many people share that opinion. It must be conceded however
that the price is VERY compelling.

As you may have noted I use Mach4 and there is no Chinese manufacturer producing (credible) Mach4 ready boards. I am perforce required
to select from those US and European manufacturers whom have taken the effort to make one. Of those I believe the ESS is the best in terms of overall
performance verses price. CNCDrive products have a slight edge in price compared to the ESS but miss out on several important realtime support
features, and it must be said that CNCDrive's support is less than stellar by comparison to others in the same market including Warp9TD.

I guess we should celebrate the fact that with Mach3/Mach4 we have a choice of motion control products....and with that choice comes a wide variety
of opinion with respect to each products advantages/disadvantages. Diversity of opinion is a very good thing.

Craig