Messages

3801

General Mach Discussion / Re: Importing A Chinese Machine......Roger Webb/Pacific Tooling - CNC Router

« on: August 20, 2018, 07:06:53 AM »

Hi,
my apologies if I've offended you.

If they sold an equivalent machine to what I bought, I would have bought through them. But they don't and other locally made machines were way out of my price range.

So the price was too good to be true....there is a saying about that.

Yes, I've learned a hard lesson but I don't believe that I, or any others in my situation,

And there will be others whom end up in exactly this situation because they wish to believe that high quality can be supplied at low cost.......how
would you characterize that idea?

Craig

3802

General Mach Discussion / Re: CS Labs CSMIO/P-A

« on: August 20, 2018, 02:48:56 AM »

Hi,
hey.....six days....you could in the meantime buy your missus flowers, a night out on the town, cook her a romantic dinner....and have just
enough brownie points to get that spindle servo! LOL

Craig

3803

General Mach Discussion / Re: How fast can you send G90 and get accurate feedback on the current XYZ position

« on: August 20, 2018, 02:42:32 AM »

Hi,
try Mach4 its about five times faster.

You're up against the fact that Windows and therefore Mach is not a real time system. Even if you could induce Mach to read a signal at a faster rate
Windows will take its own time, and if you don't like it....tough. Windows it not and has never had any pretensions as a realtime system.

Do you strictly need Mach? The reason I ask is that if you don't require the trajectory versatility that Mach and Gcode offer could you not use a microcontroller?
If I understand your application you require your machine to advance in one axis at a given speed while you record the Z depth at the same time.
I presume you end up with a file of data points (x,z).

Craig

3804

General Mach Discussion / Re: How fast can you send G90 and get accurate feedback on the current XYZ position

« on: August 19, 2018, 03:03:49 PM »

Hi,

So no way to match up Mach's position with this sensor then

Yes that can be done, but t is not as straightforward as you assume. I assume from
your reply that you cannot attach a linear scale? That would be the most direct and accurate solution.

Note G90 is a positioning mode, not a motion code. If you want to travel at max axis speed you use G0 or if you wish to travel at the current feedspeed,F,
then use G1.

You could issue a series of commands moving 0.01 say each time and measure/record the Z distance between each move. The speed at which that would happen
is dependent on the acceleration capability of the axis.

Craig

3805

General Mach Discussion / Re: CS Labs CSMIO/P-A

« on: August 19, 2018, 02:52:41 PM »

Hi,
do yourself a favour, get the cable and use the software. Programming through the panel is a joke.

Craig

3806

General Mach Discussion / Re: How fast can you send G90 and get accurate feedback on the current XYZ position

« on: August 19, 2018, 02:44:17 PM »

Hi,

how accurate would be the position reported back to Mach3 in that time frame?

Mach is not a feedback control system. So you can send it a given distance, it will move that distance within the limits
of accuracy of the machine. The DRO will show the distance you programmed, not necessarily the distance actually
traveled.

You could attach a linear scale to the axis and have Mach monitor that. Mach3 would read a linear scale at the macro pump rate,
about 40 times a second. Mach4 would read it at the PLC rate, about 200 times a second.

3807

General Mach Discussion / Re: Importing A Chinese Machine......Roger Webb/Pacific Tooling - CNC Router

« on: August 19, 2018, 05:09:01 AM »

Hi,
you are right, there are many things that the Chinese do exceptionally well.

The one that comes to mind is solar panels. One Chinese company makes over 80% of the world market and nobody can
get within a bulls roar of matching them.

As you say they make a great job of cell phones and all sorts of other stuff IF its being made under licence.....its just their copy
stuff which is junk.

Interesting you should mention trains. The New Zealand rail outfit bought a whole bunch of Chinese locomotives and had a nightmare run
ever since. Those Kiwis are dumb bastards! Wasting all that money just to buy rubbish! Brakes that fail....wheel bearings that collapse....full
of asbestos lagging...the list goes on. I'd quite happily jail the Chinese who sold them but I'd execute the dumb Kiwi bastards who bought them!

Craig

3808

General Mach Discussion / Re: Importing A Chinese Machine......Roger Webb/Pacific Tooling - CNC Router

« on: August 19, 2018, 04:33:58 AM »

Hi,
you raise some very interesting ideas.

I do not think its fair to throw criticism to buyers

We know that the Chinese will often cut corners to make a sale and yet we still buy it!
No one likes the thought that we are being duped....but we are.....and given the anecdotal evidence that we have at our disposal
we are willingly and wantonly ignoring that evidence and claiming 'we've been ripped off' and ignoring the reality 'we are being stupid'.

You quite rightly point out that the Chinese, like people everywhere, are just trying to secure better lives for themselves. And like
people everywhere only a small portion will indulge in deceitful business practices.

When I was a youngster through the 60s until the 80s Japan was a rampantly growing economy and we had a name for products they made 'Jap Crap',
and it was. Over a matter of a very few years Japan became a by-word for manufacturing excellence. I suspect China will do the same but at this time
Western customers are buying their rubbish. Where is the incentive to change while they can find willing customers for their existing
products?

Craig

3809

General Mach Discussion / Re: Importing A Chinese Machine......Roger Webb/Pacific Tooling - CNC Router

« on: August 19, 2018, 01:12:44 AM »

Hi,
I'm Kiwi and we have a free trade agreement with China. I know Australia does also but whether the agreement is identical
or similar is more than I can say.

There is a marking on a lot of Chinese made equipment 'CCC', and it is for the purposes of electrical regulations in NZ sufficient
to rely on the manufacturer complying with domestic Chinese regulations.

I work for a electrical company that service and sell welding equipment. I'm in the service side and see a lot of Chinese made welders.
To be fair most of them are pretty reasonable with respect to wiring and earthing. There are some glaring exceptions as well.
It seems that the Chinese are not particularly careful about following their own regulations let alone any others. While some manufacturers
do follow some sort of rules others just plain lie and fraudulently apply standards markings to which they are not entitled.
We have had occasion to refuse to even touch a piece of equipment even if it has standards markings, dangerous is dangerous and we
want nothing to do with that sort of stuff.

The gold standard in both New Zealand and Australia is the European CE standard. It will cost a local manufacturer many thousands of dollars
to have a piece of equipment inspected by a certifying laboratory. Assuming they are happy with it you will be issued a certificate of compliance
and PROVIDED you follow EXACTLY the same design you may produce those units an label them as CE compliant. If you change anything
about the design you are supposed to have it recertified, at great expense.

It is not suprising therefore that manufacturers whom have spent tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands certifying and re-certifying
their products over the production lifecycle protect that status vigorously and charge their customers for that privilege.

The machines which are subject of this thread are very much larger and more expensive than the norm for hobby machines made in China and
much talked about on the forum. I get the general sense that Chinese made machines are mechanically pretty fair but the electronics and software
is anywhere between rubbish and pirated.

I have asked 'if you threw away the electrics/electronics and software of your intended Chinese made purchase would the price still be compelling
for the mechanical components and assemblies left?' Apparently many think so but when it turns up they don't throw the junky stuff away and then
complain when is doesn't work as advertised.

There is a great deal of criticism leveled at Chinese manufacturers who make shonky stuff but what about those people who buy it?

Craig

3810

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: input output

« on: August 19, 2018, 12:17:49 AM »

Hi,
to my knowledge its not possible to alter the blink rate on the fly. I think its fixed....see the attached pic.

If you use this LED scheme it is activated by a signal of your choice, for instance ISIG_INPUT15. If you control that input by
a combination of external signals and/or Lua logic you can control the LED.

Craig