Messages

4301

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: "Screenset 2010"-like tool and zero macros?

« on: June 14, 2018, 05:25:28 AM »

Hi,
have you had a look at the Offsets Tab? It might be possible to snafu various bits of code attached to the buttons.

Craig

4302

General Mach Discussion / Re: Issue with new computer.

« on: June 13, 2018, 08:42:47 PM »

Hi,
I recall in recent times a number of posts that outlined that recent Windows 7 updates caused issues such as you have described
and not dissimilar to the recent Windows 10 saga.

Is it possible to wind back some or all of those updates?

Have you considered an external controller like a UC100 (and not the knock-off version doing the rounds at the moment) or
a SmoothStepper? They allow a great deal of flexibility with respect to OS and PC.

Craig

4303

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 Spindle Speed Control

« on: June 13, 2018, 04:48:33 PM »

Hi,

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,37534.msg256651.html#msg256651

Craig

4304

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 13, 2018, 04:42:26 PM »

Hi,
the smoothstepper should be any amount fast enough. Despite having a kernel speed of only 25kHz
even that would put the max speed at:

(25,000 / 200) * 60 =7500 mm/min,  ie plenty fast.

Is it possible that you have some setting within the Clearpath which limits the speed? What model?

Craig

4305

General Mach Discussion / Re: z axis issues

« on: June 13, 2018, 03:15:01 PM »

Hi,
it sounds more like you are losing steps. Try a Gcode file like this:

G0 Z0
Z50
Z0
Z50
Z0
Z50
Z0
Z50
Z0
Z50
Z0

Does it end up where it started? It should.

Craig

4306

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pulse per turn

« on: June 13, 2018, 02:37:25 PM »

Hi,
not quite. You have obviously set the microstep per full step to 8, resulting in 1600 pulses required to turn the motor one turn.
With the gear reduction:
1600 X 21 = 33600 pulses per rev of the gear reducer output shaft or:
33600 / 360 = 93.333 pulses per degree.

I think your confusion is about microstepping. Without any microstepping your motor is 200 pulse/rev. If you apply an 8 microstep per full step regime
then you need 8 pulses to achieve what one pulse used to do, so no longer 200 pulse/rev but 1600 pulse/rev.

Craig

4307

General Mach Discussion / Re: VFD HELP

« on: June 13, 2018, 03:31:38 AM »

Hi,
I have a Delta Model B VFD. It, like almost all VFDs has several programmable digital outputs. These outputs, depending on the manufacturer can tell you current say, or temperature and
various other parameters. There is one available output on my VFD that produces a pulse every revolution, ie an index pulse, or rather a synthesized index pulse.
I've never used it so I cant tell you whether it is sufficientlty accurate to use for rigid tapping say but it certainly is good enough for Mach to use to work out how fast the spindle is going.

The top end of my highspeed spindle (24000 rpm max) is enclosed so I can't readily attach a pulse generator and I don't want to take the top off it. I paid big bucks for a German made one
and I do NOT want to bugger it up!

Mach, or more technically correctly your ESS, measures the time between index pulses and then calculates how many rpm. Mach can display that figure and it is a VERY accurate measure of
the actual speed of the spindle.

I seldom find that I need a really accurate spindle speed, within  5-10% is adequate for most things, rigid tapping however is a specialized procedure and requires an accurate measurement.
My highspeed spindle is very low torque and so I don't even try to use it for rigid tapping, consequently I don't really care about accurate speed. If however you are interested or have a specific need
then you may want to think about attaching a pulse generator to your spindle. If its not practical maybe your VFD has a synthesized index signal as mine does.

Can you post the manual for your drive?

Craig

4308

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 13, 2018, 03:08:33 AM »

Hi,
well that narrows things down and starts to look like a more mysterious problem.

Clearly you have the steps per unit right for otherwise your X50 move would not have moved 50mm.

Could it be that your controller can't produce pulses fast enough to go at your maximum desired speed?

Are you using a parallel port and if so what kernel frequency have you set? What are your Step per Unit values?
With those numbers we can work out what the potential best speed the controller can drive your machine, maybe its out of whack somehow.

Craig

4309

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis rapid speed control

« on: June 13, 2018, 02:56:09 AM »

Hi,
this is your machine....you will probably have to find these things out.

I don't know whether you are the sort of person who buys a car and proceeds to learn as much about that car and ALL its workings or whether you just drive
it and take it to the garage when you've got a problem with it.

With hobby CNC the choices are somewhat more limited, there is no such thing as a CNC workshop, or at least there is but they are very specialized and cost a fortune
that all but excludes you from getting help. Therefore you will have to learn to do it yourself.

I'm always of the opinion that the value of a hobby is related to how much you learn in the pursuit of the hobby. It may well be your learning curve is about the specifics
of your machine so that you can diagnose and correct the faults.

Craig

4310

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Re: Ethernet smoothstepper and touch plate setup issues.

« on: June 13, 2018, 02:45:13 AM »

Hi,
I downloaded the manual and had another look, the reason that you required a 100Ohm pull up resistor is because of the input LED and current limit resistor attached to the input.
See the attached pic from the manual.

The good news it that the 100Ohm resistor is not required because of a faulty device. I have given you a bum steer there...sorry. Given that you are only talking one pin having 50mA flowing
continuously probably wont hurt but would be more of an issue if you had several pins sucking away at that level. If you felt inclined and could trace out the tracks and components on the
board you could open circuit either the resistor of the LED. Thereafter a 1kOhm pull up resistor would be adequate.

Craig