Topics

51

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 not reading g-code properly?? Help Please....

« on: May 01, 2016, 05:32:47 AM »

Wasted a lot of valuable time on this

I need to cut four arcs - open lines so no offsets or lead-ins etc.

The code tests perfect in Sheetcam simulation but when loaded into the plasma/mach3 it only cuts four very sort lines, maybe 5mm long?

I have attached the code file below but I am not upto reading I/J arcs yet.
 
Does this code cut long 120degree arc or short 5mm lines please??

Mach is V067

52

General Mach Discussion / Z Acceleration

« on: April 18, 2016, 05:24:42 AM »

Does G28.1 use z acceleration value or not?

I still have an annoying issue with my Z stalling when doing G28.1 but its fine at all other times.

53

General Mach Discussion / Work offsets 101 ;)

« on: April 11, 2016, 03:44:35 PM »

Is there a way to have Mach set G54 at the end of each job?

My reason -

I have a production part, uses a small fixture that is always mounted in the same place on my mini-mill so it seems setting G55 as my work offset makes sense.

AFIK Mach always uses G54 as the default work offset, which is fine, but once i run my parts (which call G55 at the start of the code) it will remain in G55 so forgetting call G54 again will create a mess??

So, is there a way to default back to G54 after each run so it reverts to a safe condition for other jobs??

Of course, if I'm going about this backwards then please let me know but this makes sense to me so far

54

General Mach Discussion / 2010 Screen-Set go to zero

« on: April 03, 2016, 01:11:09 PM »

On the excellent 2010 scree-set goto zero's button, is it possible to edit the commands ?

I find it does Z first which can be dodgy with fixtures etc in the way, would be good to lift Z then move the X & Y

55

General Mach Discussion / Difference between plasma and mill...

« on: March 21, 2016, 03:22:41 AM »

I've built a CNC plasma table and also built a CNC mini-mill and I'm trying to find out the facts behind the way they work.

On the plasma, much effort and expense is used in trying to get massive acceleration figures and speeds to match the material being cut to the power in use, failure to match acceleration causes rounded corners and also Mach3 seems to skip bits of shape just to maintain speed - this seems accepted behaviour in the plasma world. Failure to match speed just gives poor cuts.

On the mill, speeds are a little lower but nothing is said about acceleration or bits of shape being left out - whats the point of a CNC mill that does not follow the shape code after all?

Is there a difference here - Does Mach3 'know' it's a plasma or a mill? Both seem to run the same CV settings.

56

General Mach Discussion / PWM output...

« on: March 20, 2016, 12:30:53 PM »

Is there an adjustment for the PWM output from Mach3?

I've got my Huanyang 2.2kw VFD running on the 0-10v signal from my BOB and the speed on the VFD shows correct at 24000 rpm when commanded by Mach3, this also tallies with the speed take by a hand-held laser tacho.

However, at lower speeds it's off and generally runs lower than commanded.

Is there an adjustment for this?

57

General Mach Discussion / Limits - Am i being too smart ;)

« on: March 12, 2016, 11:02:59 AM »

Finally got round to testing my new mill build, all motion is 100% which was most pleasing

Then I got too big for my boots and tried fitting a limit switch, using inductive sensors this time, NO type.

My brilliant idea was to use one sensor on the moving part of the axis and have two adjustable targets, all good so far;)

Got that lot fitted and set X+, X- and X-Home all to one input (this was the smart bit I thought)

But....

The limits work but I cannot jog off of either end - it just shows "Limit switch triggered" immediately after pressing Reset, and the home works but immediately throws a limit fault after homing.

So...

Am I correct in now thinking that I am indeed a twat and you must have TWO sensors or have I missed something simple??

These sensors seem to not flip on or off - they flicker a little as the target gets near - is this normal??

58

General Mach Discussion / Pictures to GCode?

« on: March 04, 2016, 07:37:00 AM »

Looking for the best way  to get a picture into code for engraving?

I have no idea but is that what LazyCam does?

I did try it last night but not very intuitive I think?

59

General Mach Discussion / UC100 and PC specs

« on: March 02, 2016, 04:38:12 AM »

Am i right believing that if I'm using a UC100 motion controller that I could use a slightly lower power pc to run Mach3??

Also, with a UC100, do i still need the parallel port configured in settings??

Ta

60

General Mach Discussion / SheetCam And ToolChange ?

« on: February 20, 2016, 12:46:50 PM »

Hi all,

I'm building a small CNC mill and trying to figure out how to program sheetcam to tell Mach3 I want to change from a roughing tool to a finish tool?

I have a toolpath set in SC and it all looks good, I've left a finishing allowance etc.

I presume I need to program a code snippet to tell Mach3 I want to do a manual tool change as the tool holder is a collet and all tools will be referenced to zero every change so i'm not using the tool table etc. - all entries are zero in the TT

Then I presume I need to create another operation in SC to run the finish pass on the new tool???

Of course I may be totally wrong here

If right, what code tells Mach to stop and wait for run start?