Messages

3601

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Controller and drivers

« on: October 05, 2018, 09:31:05 PM »

Hi,
they all work but they are expensive.

The Hicon is $600. You have not established the case that requires such a board. The UC300, the ESS or the 57CNC are all capable
and way cheaper, $150-$200. You will need BoBs for the UC300 and ESS, C10 BoBs are $23 each, you might get away with one but
are unlikely to require more than two.

The servo you linked to is only 100W. Why go so small? For the same money you could get 400W-750W DMM's.

There is nothing wrong with Schiender....its just expensive for what you get.

Consider:
Mach4                                          $200
ESS                                              $190
2 x C10 BoBs                                 $46
3 x DYN4 220V DMM drives             $654       ($218 each)
3 x 400W DST 200V DMM servos     $441      ($147 each)

Total                                             $1531

Compared to:
Mach4                                           $200
Hicon                                            $695
3 x LXM28                                     $928     (250 GBP each converted to USD at 1.31 without VAT)
3 x BCH2MB0133                           $880     (224 GBP each converted to USD at 1.31 without VAT)

Total                                            $2703

There are considerations like how much you have to import, DMM for instance is Canadian, ESS is US. How VAT works I'm not sure,
in New Zealand we Have GST which I believe is similar and the bottom line is that I have to pay the GST on any import. It does not
affect a comparison though....its just a flat rate.

The DMM/ESS/C10 is over $1000 cheaper.....that buys a fair swag of oxy-acet and/or material.

Craig

3602

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Controller and drivers

« on: October 05, 2018, 02:46:24 PM »

Hi,
DMM have a good reputation:
http://www.dmm-tech.com/

Delta is made in Taiwan and is good. Note there are a range of models, choose with care...they are all good quality:
https://www.deltaww.com/Products/CategoryListT1.aspx?CID=060201&PID=ALL&hl=en-US

Craig

3603

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Need help with M6 Macro, translating from Mach3 to Mach4

« on: October 03, 2018, 02:18:23 PM »

Hi,
I am digesting what you have said.

When you first turn Mach on it has no idea where the turret is. It will have to step through all the positions in turn UNTIL
it receives an index signal, ie tool 0.

What I propose is that we write a macro/function that advances the turret one position. It will be used not only to home
but later on as you which to advance to a given tool number within the M6 macro.

Given that this function will be called frequently it should be as efficient and fast as we can make it. Thus we wish to test:
IF the turret is ON (output1 is active) then activate output 2, ie advance one position UNTIL input 2 goes active.
IF the turret is not ON then turn it on and wait until input 2 goes active, ie the turret is accurately located at the current tool position THEN activate output 2,
ie advance the turret UNTIL input 2 goes active, ie the turret has advanced to the next consecutive tool position.

Does that sound right?

If you think that's feasible I will try a little code tonight after work.

Craig

3604

General Mach Discussion / Re: JP-1635A driver for A axis or rotary

« on: September 30, 2018, 01:39:13 PM »

Hi,
so the X, Y and Z axes are moving?

If so plug the A axis into one of them (X,Y or Z). That should prove whether the driver is OK.
Try plugging the X axis driver into the A axis port. It should tell you if the control box is producing pulses on the A axis.

Craig

3605

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 profile set to MM but current position in Inches?

« on: September 30, 2018, 02:25:15 AM »

Hi,
I think you are mistaken.

Irrespective of the units you have selected and more importantly what Mach4 regards as the units if you have set you x axis motor to 10,000
then if you issue a MDI command move one unit to the right then Mach and your controller will issue 10,000 pluses.
Your motor will turn and the axis mechanicals will move the axis. It may be that it moves a few mm or maybe a few hundred mm. Of course ideally
given that you are wanting to use mm units then you hope that it will move 1mm. If however your motor tuning is wildly out it may mean that it
moves 25mm, ie close  to an inch. This would mistakenly lead you to believe that the machine is in inches not mm.

We need to confirm your tuning settings.

I understand you are using regular two phase steppers?
What have you set for the microstepping regime on your stepper drives?
What pitch is your ballscrew?
What, if any, is the gear/belt reduction between the stepper and the ballscrew?

Craig

3606

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 profile set to MM but current position in Inches?

« on: September 30, 2018, 01:33:42 AM »

Hi,

And the DRO say's MM but still measuring Inches

What evidence do you have that leads you to this conclusion?

Craig

3607

General Mach Discussion / Re: JP-1635A driver for A axis or rotary

« on: September 30, 2018, 12:04:04 AM »

Hi,
I'm sorry but your reply seems hoplessly confused!

Try answering all the questions...one at a time. I still don't know if you are using a parallel port, I suspect so from your reply,
but I shouldn't have to guess.
You haven't told me anything about your BoB....how about a model and some pictures.

Forget the spindle, the VFD, limits and home switches, until you get the axes to move they are just a distraction.
Current settings and microstepping are going to be important....but not yet. If you can't get the motors to work at all
who cares about microstepping?

Craig

3608

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 profile set to MM but current position in Inches?

« on: September 29, 2018, 11:52:02 PM »

Hi,
not sure I can help directly but may be able to narrow it down a bit.

You say the you have changed the units in the General Configuation Page to  metric....in both places?

When you start Mach4 you will see the units labels in the DRO's, per the attachec pic.
If you open the Screen Editor and click on a DRO and look at the properties you find both the units and the labels for those units.
Can you confirm they are correct?

The last item is that Mach can use either metric or inch units to do a job. When you set Mach up you chose your setup or native
units, like you I chose metric. You use those units to tune your motors and set limits/soft limits etc.

When you do a Gcode job however you can chose either by issuing a G20 or a G21. Thus if you were given some Gcode in inch units
MDI G21 THEN run the code. If you then want to run one of your own jobs MDI G21 to switch it back into metric.

Try these ideas out and let us know how you get on.

Craig

3609

General Mach Discussion / Re: JP-1635A driver for A axis or rotary

« on: September 29, 2018, 11:35:17 PM »

Hi,
do any of the axes move?

You'll have to tell us more about your machine.
What PC are you using?
What OS is installed, 32 or 64 bit?
Are you using a parallel port or an external motion controller?
What BoB or motion controller are you using?

Craig

3610

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: September 29, 2018, 05:16:00 PM »

Hi,
if you are going to use a parallel port:
1) You must use a 32 bit Windows OS, Windows 7 or earlier
2) You should not use a laptop...the powersaving features of a laptop interfere with the smooth running of the parallel port driver, it does work but often
    not well
3) A separate video card is highly recommended...integrated video does work but the demand it places on the CPU will screw with the timing of the
    parallel port driver.

If you are going to use an external motion controller like a SmoothStepper or UC300 then ALL of those restrictions are either off or relaxed:
1) You can use any Windows OS 32 or 64 bit including Windows 10
2) You can use a laptop, the critical timing is done by the SmoothStepper/UC300
3) It is still recommended that you have a video card, it just make the PC run faster but is not necessary.

Craig