Messages

1761

Mach Screens / 2010 Screen-set Tool-change routine...

« on: May 11, 2016, 11:36:03 AM »

TWO PART QUERY...

Part 1...

I'm using the excellent 2010 screen-set on my mini-mill and so far it's been amazing, however after watching  the tool-change routine a few times I notice something a little odd maybe?

My routine is...

Ref machine,
Load material,
Set X & Y home,
install 1st tool,
Run Initial tool-change routine - the tool probes the work, touches the plate, re-probes, rapids to clearance plane, rapids to fixed plate position, probes etc  - this all works fine.

Then when it comes to the next tool change, the G-code calls M06 Txx and the head goes to my tool change position which is 0,0,0 in machine co-ords so front, left and high up.

I change the tool and press cycle start, it then rapids over to the fixed plate position but proceeds to probe from Z0 (high up) to plate surface instead of what I think it should do which is rapid down to clearance plane and then start probing.

Just a minor point but it takes a fair while to move down at probe speed

Is this an error or something I have set wrong somewhere??

Part 2...

After running one job on say 5mm plate and three tool-changes, say the next job is on 3mm plate and two tool-changes, do I just use the "simple auto zero" button or the "initial zero" button??

Thanks

1762

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 11, 2016, 03:28:05 AM »

I guess a CNC bridgeport is better than nothing but i really like the idea of having a donor to fix up at my own pace - taking the BP down for any length of time would usually bring in a flurry of jobs needing it, sods law.

My issue would be where to put it while fixing and finding one to buy without dropping loads of cash, don't forget this is still a hobby business not a job-shop. I plonk it in the garden under a gazebo maybe

I'll keep looking but it's probably a pipe-dream at present.

It's surprising how little i use the lathe now so wouldn't be my third choice for cnc

1763

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 10, 2016, 02:24:04 PM »

Seems the way it goes, when i got the BP i paid £500, a year later and they were up to over £1000, now they are way more, for a decent item. Getting a donor would be useful as it means i can keep the BP running while fixing/converting the donor, no idea where to put it though

Will keep an eye on the 'bay

1764

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 10, 2016, 01:58:22 PM »

Thanks guys, results from various forums seem to concur - some say its ok, some say waste of money buy a donor CNC and fix.

It was just a thought really, I will be watching the listings for old cnc stuff and carrying on dreaming in the meantime

In its defence, the Bridgeport is my favourite machine, the things I've done on it have been amazing but have also been bitten by its flexibility as well.

1765

General Mach Discussion / Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 10, 2016, 10:13:32 AM »

Anyone here converted a manual Bridgeport mill to CNC?

After building my plasma table and my mini-mill, both of which are working lovely, I WANT MORE CNC 

The old Bridgeport is looking for some love but is it worth it?

It would need a ball-screw conversion kit, these are available, plus I am guessing servo drives on X, Y and Z so I have encoder display, the knee doesn't seem to get driven on the few vids i have watched so far.

On the plus side, its already driven via a VFD  and i could likely recoup some cash by selling the working power feeds and new DRO i fitted last year.

1766

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controlling THC?

« on: May 10, 2016, 02:26:36 AM »

My preference is to blow the hole then get down ASAP, every time, I would rather control pierce with pierce delay as its controllable.

In an ideal world the change from pierce to cut would be instant i think.

1767

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controlling THC?

« on: May 09, 2016, 03:57:22 PM »

I'm currently plunging at 2400mm/min this is the max rate I have set in motor tuning for the Z axis.

I don't think I have ever read a recommended rate, the only recommendations I have seen are ' as fast as possible' as a very slow plunge will increase pierce time and cause divots.

I have my M03 macro set to ActivateSignal instead of DoSpinCW as it operates faster, also my THC ArcOk current is set to a low value so it triggers as soon as possible.

1768

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controlling THC?

« on: May 09, 2016, 02:41:10 PM »

Or cutting very thin sheet where a slow Z will not track in time as the sheet warps etc.

In use, i never adjust mine, just set and forget.

1769

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controlling THC?

« on: May 09, 2016, 02:27:27 PM »

What Rob said.

I tried it with insane Z speeds, makes little difference on my setup, so backed it off to around 1700mm/min i think my THC rate is around 20%

1770

General Mach Discussion / Re: Physical buttons for plasma

« on: May 09, 2016, 09:00:55 AM »

Yes, the pneumatic fired switch/probe was my brainchild but modified and developed with the help of a few on here It does actually work very very well, I can get IHS on the thinnest metal without distortion as the switch triggers on about 10gm I think it was. The rest is just a little 25mm stroke cylinder, a valve and the switch plus some macro code to do the IHS - this takes the routine away from SheetCam and makes any changes to the switch offset a one-step alteration - it just uses the switch offset value on the settings screen

Here's a vid of it working... https://youtu.be/FV6WpuQjFE0


I was wondering about the current-sense method not being delicate enough, it only seems to appear on the big toys that spend all day hacking thick plate.