Messages

2581

General Mach Discussion / Re: Floating torch head, how?

« on: February 01, 2014, 06:29:27 AM »

Thanks overloaded, I hadn't searched from the home page before, just this page, my bad.

I now have some research to do regarding the G31 code and I believe my switch is wired to an input connected to the "probe" input in mach?

This means I can keep my "home all" to zero the z axis to the top limit switch, this is what I would like to do.

I see I need to switch to a THC post processor in sheetcam and edit it to insert the G31 codes??

Am I on the right path now??

2582

General Mach Discussion / Re: Floating torch head, how?

« on: January 31, 2014, 04:31:26 PM »

Well I've found some gcode that goes into sheetcsm  to be run before a cut is made, but I can't find any info on the switch?

Is it just another limit switch?

I would have thought that this would have just caused an e-stop though so I maybe wrong there.

If it's a separate signal coming in through the BOB, then how is it related to the g-code so it knows when it's hit to lift the torch back up??


Dave

2583

General Mach Discussion / Floating torch head, how?

« on: January 31, 2014, 01:26:12 PM »

Looking ahead with my plasma table build, I'm trying to find out how a floating z head works with mach3?

If I understand it correctly, there is a switch on the head slide that holds the torch, when the cycle is started, the head drops until the switch opens, then raises until it closes, then raises a preset amount more and zeroes the Z DRO. The cut then starts as normal.

Is that correct?

If so, where is the input fed into mach software and does it actually reset the Z DRO??

Any tips appreciated.

2584

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with soft limits please...

« on: January 31, 2014, 01:19:54 PM »

Got it sussed now, the biggest problem was that the slow-zone was way too small, bumping it up to 50mm got it all working nicely.

The z-axis threw me a bit off course as it's all negative number but once I figured out what was happening it all clicked.

A small vid of her running...
http://www.davekearley.co.uk/LinkPics/CNCVID1.mp4

Thanks for the tips.

2585

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with soft limits please...

« on: January 30, 2014, 04:27:26 PM »

Auto zero does work when I do a home-all, will double check in the morning,

2586

General Mach Discussion / Help with soft limits please...

« on: January 30, 2014, 02:23:51 PM »

Now I've finally got my table running, no plasma yet, just setting up, I am trying to figure out soft limits in mach as it's a bit to easy to jog into the limit switches.

I have an envelope of 650x650mm so I set my minimums to 0 & 0 and my maximums to 650 with a 10mm slow zone but it didn't seem to work, have I set the soft limits correctly??

Also, when I tried to re-run a previously working test code, I get a G54 error.

This is all new to me so I thought it best to ask.

Also, on a plasma table, is Z0 torch up or torch down?
My preference is for Z0 to be with the tip touching the machine table.

2587

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma torch settings via spindle....

« on: January 30, 2014, 01:13:41 PM »

The beast lives

wired it all all together today, just temporary lash-up for testing without the torch.

after a little debugging and tweaking motor steps and speeds, it is now running very nicely as a pen plotter

better than expected, very fast and accurate so far but will be testing for lost steps tomorrow if I get a chance.

are there any figures to aim for I.e.acceleration G's or mm/sec etc, never having run a CNC anything, it's hard to know what to aim for.

2588

General Mach Discussion / Re: E-STop & Limits Wiring...

« on: January 30, 2014, 01:12:59 PM »

The beast lives

wired it all all together today, just temporary lash-up for testing without the torch.

after a little debugging and tweaking motor steps and speeds, it is now running very nicely as a pen plotter

better than expected, very fast and accurate so far but will be testing for lost steps tomorrow if I get a chance.

are there any figures to aim for I.e.acceleration G's or mm/sec etc, never having run a CNC anything, it's hard to know what to aim for.

2589

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma torch settings via spindle....

« on: January 30, 2014, 03:16:18 AM »

FIXED!

There was a little post i found on a google search.

There is a tick box - "Max CL Mode Enabled", this was checked, unchecking solved the issue


Happy days, thanks for the help.

2590

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma torch settings via spindle....

« on: January 29, 2014, 12:58:36 PM »

If by that you mean active high/low then yes I have tried.

The machine is at work so I will have to upload the file tomorrow.

Dave