Topics

21

Tangent Corner / Looking for ideas / advice, i think :)

« on: January 05, 2018, 08:59:08 AM »

Hi all,

many of you will know me from the Mach3 forum, many of you have helped guide me through building various CNC machines etc over the years, thanks 

My day-job of some 25 years is coming to an end soon  Before that job I have had two others but all in the same trade (printing/die-cutting) I have naff all qualifications on paper, no degrees, no HND's , no Masters etc

I run my own business part-time as a hobby, the idea was to build it up as a retirement supplement - I have a CNC plasma cutter, CNC mill and a small lathe plus welding kit and small-part powder-coating. I make hanging basket brackets, fire-pits and anything else i can think of to try and bring some cash. It works but not well enough to live on as I'm only 54 and its a fair way to retirement yet.

I really enjoy building machines, have made several at the day-job, PLC control, pneumatic drive and they have all been successful for what they needed to do. These were made before i discovered CNC so I can only guess they would have been far better if built now I also like making stuff in metal, really enjoy control electronics, panel-building/wiring and associated tomfoolery

Now, my main point - I'm trying to find out if there is anything I can make in a pretty comprehensive workshop, that can be sold for a reasonable return?? Thinking stuff like pre-built CNC control cabinets, CNC kits, small machines??

I know i will have to get another job and that prospect after being continuously employed for 39 years is scaring me sh1tless i must say But if i can boost my own income on something useful, it may mean only needing a part-time job stacking shelves etc!

I realise its a bit of a cheek asking this sort of question on a forum with so many likeminded people but maybe there is a hole in a market i can fill??

Any suggestions?

22

General Mach Discussion / Driver watchdog?

« on: January 03, 2018, 05:05:43 AM »

Had an oddity pop up on my plasma table yesterday,

made 5 or 6 cuts perfectly then stopped and screen message said "Driver watchdog triggered"

I just reset and started up again and all was ok, is this a sign of pending trouble or just a blip???

23

General Mach Discussion / M6 Macro tweaking

« on: December 31, 2017, 04:55:46 AM »

Hi all,

not been inside my Bridgeport conversion for a while, decided to add knee movement for tool length compensation so i can retain full Z axis travel.

A very helpful guy has forwarded me a lot of info (thanks) on how he made it work but it was a long time back and exact detail is vague, he had it working on a replacement for the G43 call using a macro titled M843 which was called along with the tool offset parameter so M843 P10 for tool 10 etc.

It seems possible that a better way might be to embed the knee movement code into my M6Start macro - this macro already knows what tool is being called. Tool length compensation would be turned OFF as the machine would think all tools are one length because the knee has moved to compensate.

I was trying to get acquainted with macros again and pulled my M6Start apart - I have attached it below, as far as i can see it contains loads of redundant code? It was cut down from the 2010 screenset code, IIRC all it does is move Z to machine zero??

The rest seems superfluous no??

If someone could scan it and let me know I can get going, of course if there is a better way then do let me know
Thanks

24

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 on a laser cutter...

« on: March 13, 2017, 02:10:38 PM »

I have got a laser cutter on the way

No intention of a refit (yet) but just wondering how Mach plays with a laser cutter -

Is it fast enough?
Does it do PWM power control?
Is it better than the built-in controllers found on eBay laser cutters?
Anyone running a 50-60W laser on Mach3?

Just thinking

25

CS-Lab / IP-A and Servo drives, voltage matching...

« on: November 01, 2016, 09:18:13 AM »

Is it possible for some kind soul to explain if I have any issue here or not please...

I have 3000rpm AC servo motors and they are controlled by 10-0-10v from the IP-A as normal.

However, I have my motor tuning velocity set to 3000mm/min as its not a very big mill and pretty old.

With the lead-screws I have (inch) they are 5.08mm/rev and I have 2:1 belt reduction so I think the motor will never do more than 1181rpm ((3000/5.08)*2)

Does this matter or am i ok here - I'm finding confusing info about motor tuning and matching the control signal to the speed etc.

I cant change the belt drive reduction but I have found the setting parameter for the drives that reduces the motor speed per input volt.

Thanks

26

General Mach Discussion / Just when you think you are finally getting there....

« on: October 23, 2016, 04:50:53 AM »

It kicks you in the wotsits again....

I thought i'd try engraving on the bridgeport conversion today, got a little job coming up, knocked up a simple job - just the word 'Test' in V-Carve, 2mm deep 30deg 0.2mm tool.

Worked fine on my mini-mill before.

Every time it hits line N2230 i get the damn ePid fault and everything stops.

I tried 50% feed-rate, no change.

The motion seems very harsh, its lots of little moves but the machine shakes when it does it.

Acceleration too high? It's currently set on 400mm/s/s and speed is 3500mm/min and seems pretty low i think??

I have 0.05mm backlash comp set at 10% speed.

Its been working well up to now.

Any ideas???

27

General Mach Discussion / Advanced research.... ;)

« on: October 18, 2016, 10:19:28 AM »

Just looking ahead at present....

I see i can read the spindle angle on the CSMIO-ENC module with GetInput(84) which returns a value of 0-3600 (angle x 10)

Is there a way, using this info, to get the spindle to park in one position every time?

Easy with a servo as the controller has a "Park angle" built in but I only have a lowly VFD to play with

Just playing;)

28

General Mach Discussion / Display of analogue input?

« on: October 16, 2016, 08:24:06 AM »

This is what i have....

CSMIO-Ip/A with spare analogue input 0-10v
VFD with analogue output programmed to show motor power in kW ranging from 0 to 150% as a 0-10v signal
Mach3

What i was thinking of is...

Adding a DRO to the screen that shows spindle power, either as kW or as % from 0 to 100% etc

Not important - just a bell or whistle but you know how it goes

So, is this possible? I am unsure as to the method of connecting the input signal to the DRO, the electrical side seems pretty well matched so thats easy.

Maybe a brain?

29

General Mach Discussion / Fusion360 post processors - anyone here know about editing ??

« on: October 13, 2016, 08:13:36 AM »

Trying to find someone to help edit my post processor for fusion 360, its in JavaScript and makes about as much sense as a chocolate teapot.

I have spent hours on this trying to blind edit it but keep hitting a wall.

Fusion / autodesk forums not giving me any reply since yesterday.

If yes i can post up exactly the issue....

30

General Mach Discussion / Backlash...

« on: September 28, 2016, 01:32:51 PM »

I'm just at the final stages of testing on my high speed spindle attachment for my Bridgeport, running cut tests now.

Would backlash make holes smaller or bigger?

The holes are 3.1mm being cut with a 2mm single flute endmill and are coming up a little tight.

They are ok on the other machine so my guesses backlash?