Messages

2181

General Mach Discussion / Re: What is my current feedrate?

« on: December 28, 2015, 01:02:16 PM »

Les always put a F1 feedrate in there becasue at one time Mach3 could startup with a Zero feedrate . It is just a preventive measure that was never removed from the post.

And rememeber these post were created by Candcnc for the most part. Dave is just starting to work out his OWN system for Plasma cutting.

I think you will find that the G28.1 has it's own preset feedrate which is a % of rapid .

Also because the CandCNC units use signal multiplexing it can cause problems controlling pins from a macro . ( Been there)

(;-) TP

I had guessed there was a possible zero feed rate thing or else it would not have been a 1 but something more.

I can't find any reference on how a G28.1 is controlled, all the printed stuff i have read just says it uses "the current feed rate" until i presume it gets to the value in the Z parameter (3 in my case) when it is supposed to slow down more, I think there is a value in SheetCam for that (plunge safety distance possibly)

the multiplexing issue was the reason for my falling out with CandCNC, I had the torch mis-fire problem and they refused to tell me how to de-multiplex the signal, instead, after many weeks, tried to get me to buy a new THC! In the end a kind person prodded me in the right direction and the pcb was marked with the correct jumper position, took 5 minutes and has not missed a beat since.

2182

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 28, 2015, 10:36:11 AM »

Hi Dave,
I think these are to individual pins. Parallel is a moot point.

D'oh! I was only going on what was written

2183

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 28, 2015, 10:23:56 AM »

All parallel AND N/C can't work, sorry.

The only time that circuit could function is when ALL the switches were opened at one time.

2184

General Mach Discussion / Re: What is my current feedrate?

« on: December 28, 2015, 07:58:59 AM »

Ha, lol, square-circle  Yes its a test file i use when trying out new cut parameters or materials, its just a 65mm square with a circle within it - good for dimensional checks, holes, divots, angularity etc.

The F1 is hard-coded into the post-processor, no idea why some sort of basic default maybe.

The post is for a CandCNC THC unit - the M22 codes (i think) flush a previous S command into the serial port and then to THC for cut parameter control.

The M98 is connected to my thread yesterday working on a new probing method, I have moved the G28.1 and other stuff to a subroutine called by the M98, looks like this...
#15239=1
G04 P0.5
G28.1 Z3.000   
G92 Z0.000 
#15239=0                 
G00 Z#15045
G92 Z0.000
M99
%

The #15239 var is monitored by a brain to control a cylinder.

I had not noticed the feed-rate comment there, TBH i never read them really, only the tip size one which reminds me to fit 30A consumables or 45A ones for the job. I think the feed-rate comment comes from the first F call which would have been 4100 for this test (45A on 3mm mild)

Tweakie - even 6 default is not what happens - that would be 6mm/min and my G28.1 starts at 15mm up so it would take nearly three minutes to hit the surface! In reality I would guess it's more like 1300mm/min which is my Z axis top speed

2185

General Mach Discussion / Re: What is my current feedrate?

« on: December 28, 2015, 05:29:47 AM »

I thought that but a feed rate of 1 would be unbearably slow no??

When it does the G28.1 it certainly moves faster than 1

2186

General Mach Discussion / What is my current feedrate?

« on: December 28, 2015, 05:15:53 AM »

Here is the top section of one of my code files, trying to figure out when it reaches N0240 M98 (HeightSense.tap) it does a G28.1 Z3.00, G28.1 in the guide says it moves at current feed-rate but what is my current feed-rate

Also, what does this line do N0050 F1 ?

Just trying to gain a deeper understanding of stuff.

N0010 (Filename: 65mm Square Circledxf.tap)
N0020 (Post processor: DTHC-HYT-TAP-rev11B With Pauses.scpost)
N0030 (Date: 26/12/2015)
N0040 G21 (Units: Metric)
N0050 F1
N0060 G53 G90 G40
N0070 (Part: 65mm Square Circledxf)
N0080 (Tool number: 106  Distance between Touch-offs: 0  Feedrate: 4100)
N0090 (Preset Volts: 106)  (Suggested Tip Size: 45 ) (DTHC Delay: 1.5 sec )
N0100 (Min Cut Length for DTHC ON : 75 units )
N0110 S900  (Global DTHC ON/OFF is ON )
N0120 M22
N0130 S10 (Turn off DTHC at the beginning)
N0140 M22
N0150 S3106 (Preset Volts set to 106 Volts)
N0160 M22
N0170 S515 (DTHC Delay set to 1.5 Seconds)
N0180 M22
N0190 M09 (Turn off extract fan)
N0200 M00 (Paused: Check the DTHC Settings - Hit RUN to continue)
N0210 G00 X36.000 Y17.475 Z15.000
N0220 M900 (Check for Z active)
N0230 M08 (Turn on extract fan)
N0240 M98 (HeightSense.tap)

2187

General Mach Discussion / Re: Custom plasma probing code?

« on: December 28, 2015, 04:02:08 AM »

Thanks TP,

I will double-check the screen editor for the used DRO's as suggested just to make sure.

I have no idea why that M900 was there as there was no M900 macro so i guess it was just skipped by Mach. For the most part the CandCNC stuff works well, I won't recommend them anymore due to an issue I had previously which they did not help me out with satisfactorily and even tried to extract more money from me to replace stuff that was not faulty.

Anyway, i think what i have in place now is an improvement and when I add the new hardware it may be better or not but at least how it is now makes making changes far easier.

2188

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 28, 2015, 03:54:53 AM »

Ok, looked through the manual, watched the video on homing and can't find where I tell mach3 to back off from the homing switches by x amount...

Anyone have any ideas?

You don't, this feature is programmed in.
When you have a home/limit switch set correctly and issue a home command on that axis, the axis should move towards that switch at a rate you set on homing/limits, when it hits the switch the switch opens and mach stops movement, reverses and moves away until the switch closes again, thats it as far as i understand things.

When you said earlier your axis was hitting the frame before the switch does seem to indicate a very poor build/design as that should never happen, glad you got that sorted.

As for positioning the work, at switch on I home my table to set machine co-ords to zero on x/y as z is not homed on a plasma. Then I place my material wherever and align the cutter with the corner of it and zero my work co-ords, now my machine knows where its axes end and also where my material lies. In my Cam software I have an image of that sheet and I place the parts to cut exactly where I want them, as the sheet gets used up, I just remove the cut operation from previous parts but leave the part on the sheet so i can see where material has been removed previously.

It sounds long-winded but in reality it means I can use my material more effectively by keeping part-used sheets for smaller jobs and fill in the gaps when needed later, all the sheets are numbered as are the cut files to match, all the jobs are placed relative to the corner of the sheet which i use to set my work zero - 0/0.

I have no idea what cam solution you run but with your fixed strips of wood this method might work nicely for you too probably. I can take a part-used sheet off and reset the entire machine, replace the sheet and continue using it very easily as long as i set the work co-ords accurately.

2189

General Mach Discussion / Re: Custom plasma probing code?

« on: December 27, 2015, 03:32:03 PM »

Sorted it, couple more hours of reading and testing and it works perfectly if you use the pass-thru option and don't do any comparative ops on the signals.

input1)
         )  -->Pass-thru--> AND --> output
input2)

2190

General Mach Discussion / Re: Custom plasma probing code?

« on: December 27, 2015, 11:35:44 AM »

Ok need more help here

been messing with the brain, i want to activate output3 only if #var15239 is = 1 AND the run led is on i.e. not loading code etc.

I have tried many variations and nothing seems to work here, I had two inputs - #15239 & LED804 then a >0 comparator on each then an AND then the output3 but this does nothing at all.

Any brain guru's around??

Can't be that complicated surely?