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Topics - menglor

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1
I am hoping someone can help me understand what some of my settings in mach 3 need to be.


The information I have about the ball screw is :
    “The screws are metric 5mm pitch which works out to 5.08TPI.”

Motors:

NEMA 23 Frame,
KL23H2100-50-8B 570 oz In.
Hybrid Stepper Motor
1.8° /200 Steps Per Rev.
5 Amps Current ( Bipolar Parallel),
8-wire, Bi-polar or Unipolar 1/4" dual shaft
Driver:
    Microstepping Driver Microstepping Driver
      KL6050

The formula as I understand it :
  Steps per rev (200) x microstep (?????) x TPI (5.08) =  steps per inch


I cant seem to figure out or understand how to find out the actual steps, since the driver only has a ¼ or 1/8 switch selection.

Confused. Any help appreciated

2
Problems understanding why my X and Y are coords dont = mill ?


So this morning I decided I wanted to play a bit on the mill, I am still thttp://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/board,1.0.htmlrying to learn Cam, Cad and CnC so please forgive if this is an obvious duh moment!


So, I am in BobCam,  I make a box (120mm x 60mm) ,  I put a pocket in the box (100mm x 50mm) , I export to Gcode.


I open it up in Mach3 , I home the machine, then I Zero the work piece. and then I click start.


it seems to plunge into the work piece about 3mm (as it should), then it cuts the Y axis. iy goes from 0 to 48 (ish)
then it starts to travel to X 97  but I dont want it too,  I want it too move about 10mm over, then travel to 0 on the Y.

Kind of like you see in the picture.


But as I am typing this, it looks like its trying to up to 90 and start from right and come back?

So its starting to look more and more like I still havent figured out my zero'ing problems. which historically is always been my problems with all my posts.





3
Hey Gang!

So I have a question I am hoping a few people can help with!

So Currently I have a G540 Gecko controller and I am running Windows XP in 32bit (4gigs of ram) because I read somewhere that the 64bit version of windows has some issues with printer drivers and what not.

SO!  I am doing some early investigation about what I need to do to move up to Windows 7 or 8 in 64bit mode.

So the obvious first question is, am I going to need to upgrade the Controller?

1 – Will Mach 4 support a printer port version for 64bit  or is it more complex then that?

2 – Will I need to upgrade my Controller to a USB version?

2.b – If I have to upgrade to USB to be able to use a 64bit OS, will Mach3 work? Or will I need to wait for Mach4?


I understand not everyone is in the know of all this, but if ANYONE has knowledge or even tidbits of information  Please feel free to post a link or help..

Thanks,

Most Appreciated!

4
Ok, So I am posting this from work, and I want to add that I will be posting a video later so you can actually see my problem.

So first of all, I am not even sure where to post this thread, so if it needs to be moved please do so, but I figured its all over the place, so General was the place to start.

So I am a newb at this, but I think I am far enough a long that I shouldnt be running into this, and I am hoping its obvious to someone.
I cant tell if the problem is in BobCad or in mach 3, or maybe in the post processor.

the Short version is:

I draw a box in bob cad,  I make a recess in the block and run a simulation and everything looks perfect on Screen. I "post and Save" the Gcode in bobCad, open it in MAch 3, and everything loads fine. but when I switch to the Tool View,  I see the box I made, but the recess toolpath is about 10-20mm beside the stock.




The long version:  (I was following this as a guide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Es52fJ1js)

- Open a new project in BobCad.

- draw a 100mm x 100mm  block  (centered)
- Draw a 50mm x 50mm Block.
- translated the part to  x,y zero.
   highlighted all of the pieces,  and then clicked on the piece to zero it.

- next I picked stock geometry and shift selected the outside box.
- next I selected the tool path and selected pocketing
- I select the geometry
- Click Finish

- I click compute toolpath.
- I click Verify

once I am here everything seems to work visually.

so I click Post and save and store the file on the HD.

So now when I head over to mach3,  I open it and move over to the tab and look at the work. I see a purple box, and a toolpath thats over to the right of the stock where its going to build the pocket.

and thats where I am confused. I dont understand where it all got confused.  I have tried it 2 different ways , once with the centering, and once with just leaving it as is.

and in both cases it appears this way.

I should mention that everything is set up for Metric, so there is a chance that something is getting screwed up, but OH GOD, I dont want to re-confirgure everything for  SAE


I hope to post the video tonight, of me running through the process, but I figured maybe someone might know the problem without seeing the video.

5
So, I am just starting out,  the only real decision I have made so far is to purchase Mach3 and converted my Sieg x2 to CnC

I decided it would be more cost effective to play in Wax, because I can soften the learning curve, so I made up a bunch of bricks to mill.

so in the PAN where I melted the wax, it wicked as it was drying, so it made my bricks a LOT uneven, so my first CNC project is to True up these wax bricks.

The stock is   40 x 40 x 150 mm   ( about 1 x 1 x 7 inches)

What I want to do , is park it in the vise, and basically make a multi pass cut.

So, using FeatureCAM,  I made a 50 x 50 x 200 stock, and then put a 40 x 40 x 140 pocket in the design.

Exported it to to Gcode. and then  brought it into Mach3, and thats where everything went weird on me.

I am only running the demo version, but I found some really nice training video's on how to use it,  but its not working out for me, so I am hoping some of you guys can shed some light on software that might accomplish the same thing.

- I am looking for something that possibly is a one stop solution, but it doesnt have to be.

- I would like it to be somewhat intuitive.

- it should work well with Mach 3 with little or no re-work.

- Since I am Canadian, I kind of like using Metric.

- Really nice tutorials on Youtube would be nice.

I have looked through about the first 4 pages of this forum, and I dont see anything that stands out, maybe I should look deeper while waiting.



6
General Mach Discussion / Need help understanding some of my settings.
« on: October 14, 2013, 01:03:17 AM »
So the long version of my problem is, I am trying to test my environment to prove I have it configured right.

I have Demo version of featureCam (I found some really awesome instructional videos on youtube from the University of Wisconsin)
I have a Licensed copy of Mach3  
I basically want to Surface a block of Wax to prove I can control the CnC and work from there.
I wont go into the problems I have with Feature Cam just yet, I think my problems are specific to my setup.


I downloaded 540BVFD.xml from someplace, and started hacking to make it work, but I found that I think I changed too many things, so I started fresh today, I created a new Profile.

In Config-> Ports & Pins -> Motor Outputs :
- I have  Y,Y,Z enabled.
- Pins and Dir Pins set according to my Gecko board.
- Dir Low Active and Step Low are all (red X's)
- Step Port and Dir Port all set to 1's

When I have this configuration setup, I find I have the following problems.
- X axis is reversed
- Z axis is Reversed
- Y axis is Fine.
- and When I do a "Ref All Home" the Z axis homes to the bottom.

I found, that if I change the following:
- In Config -> homing and Limits.
 I was able to reverse the X axis, Z axis, and Home Neg the Z Axis.

And after doing this, the hardware performs as I expect it should.

Question #1,   is this the right way?
Question #2,  Why do I have 2 axis reversed?

I also noticed, after looking at my previous profile, I could mess around with the direction of the Z and X axis, by setting DIR LowActive in Config-> Ports & Pins -> Motor Outputs.

Question #3,  which setting is the better one to get it behaving properly?


One of the problems I ran into in Feature Cam, is when I loaded my Gcode, my X,Y tried to home to the X+, and that's what caused me to investigate my settings.
(I am also having a problem where when I import my Gcode from FeatureCam, there is a discrepency of size, the mill will travel 100mm, when I tell it too, but the gcode is doing something else.(but I am not ready to tackle this problem till I know the environment is working.)

7
General Mach Discussion / Problems with "ref all home"
« on: October 06, 2013, 01:28:33 PM »
Hi, I been working on this for days now, and I am loosing my mind.

I know this is going to be something so simple and stupig but I cant figure it out.

in short,

- when I hit the "ref all home" button.  the Z axis traveling down slowly (as I assume it should)
- I hit Escape to ignore that axis, and want to move on to the X or the Y, but what is happening, is after hiitting the ESCAPE the first time, the whole thing stops moving, it never moves on to the Next axis.

In the online video, "homing, limits and offsets" the person doing the video shows how its showing his Y in reverse, hits escape, and the X is in reverse.  he never mentions anything about the Z.

so, for me, I am perplexed, its only the z that is moving.

anyone please,  put me out of my misery!

8
General Mach Discussion / Looking for the Moron's guide to CnC
« on: October 04, 2013, 07:55:39 AM »
Hey gang,

I am sure this isnt really the place to post this but, it kind of is.

What I am looking for is a site, a guide, multiple sites, multile guides,  stuff you found that helped you ...

I am looking for a start to finish, newb / intro  here is what you need to do to get from design to chips.

I have seen a similar video for a plasma cutter, (i will post it later)  I am looking to share other information.

who knows maybe we can get something stickied if we collect enough information.


I am reading tons, watching tons of video's and learning curve could be  bit easier if I could find it faster.

that said I am loving this stuff.

post your tidbits, maybe even suggest "a'ha" moments you had.

ie:
 -how to zero.
- how to make the letter Z on a block of ...
- what software got you to ....
...

Thanks

9
General Mach Discussion / Question about the Scale of my DRO.
« on: October 03, 2013, 10:07:03 AM »
Good day,

I have question that I cant seem to find anywhere, I am sure its something I am doing, but You guys are the people to ask :D

so, I am trying to set my soft limits, (in metric) and I suspect my bed can move about 1000mm left or right..

but when I do so, my DRO says its moved 4.19

I suspect that the scale is wrong, or its using imperial to measure.

I am pretty sure its moving about 7-10 inches, but I am pretty overwhelmed with all the options, I was hoping you guys could help me out here.

10
Good day all,

I been lurking for a while, even fixed a few problems using the forums, but This one has me kind of stumped.

I still havent cut anything yet, I am done my conversion, and I installed my limit stops, but after watching one of the video's, I think I want to change it.

I was half hoping someone here has done it, or can point me down the right path.

My hardware:
 - X2 Clone
 - G540 Gecko controller and 3axis steppers
 - cnc Fusion x2 kit.

So basically, I have wired up my mill using 6 limit switches all in series in a NC State, so if any trip, the whole thing stops.  and that more or less works.

But after watching one of the video's,  I got the impression I might get better control and better zero'ing capability if I wired up the switches independently.

But as far as I can tell, I believe the Gecko only has 4 inputs (at least that I can tell) and I need 6 to do it properly.

is it better to wire up the 6 switches independently? or can I achieve this zero'ing capability differently?




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