Messages

321

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 02, 2018, 09:02:22 AM »

 - common earth to the PC of course.

I disagree here I would NOT common anything to the PC - just let the parallel port operate the opto-isolators on the BOB inputs under their own power, the BOB should not care how or where the opto LED's get their juice only that they go on and off correctly (3.3v/5v etc) The BOB circuitry should have its own PSU.

Don't forget PC's are rarely earthed - they usually float just above supply earth/ground by a small resistor in the PSU, grounding the PC case is a death-wish on a plasma machine I know this is not plasma BUT what goes good for the worst process in CNC (plasma) is generally bullet-proof for anything else so it's a sound example.

Isolation from PC to machine is vital - this is why they fit opto-isolators on BOB's

322

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probing - what would i need?

« on: April 02, 2018, 08:53:24 AM »

I already have the 2010 screen set and the probing section looks ok but I can add to it as needed I think.

Not 100% what i actually want, but having seen a load of videos, I am not sure why i am still jogging about manually and setting my co-ords when the machine can do it for me with just a tiny input and a button press

What I would like is to fit a probe, tell it what corner or hole I want set my ref to, press GO and let it sort it all out for me - XYZ all ref'd.
Also if i wanted to centre on a part I would tell it the rough width of said part, plonk the probe over it and go again - it would probe both edges, and set DRO to mid point.
So on.

Next I need to probe all my tools - I use the tool table 100% so all the tools for the current job need measuring and referencing to my probe - this is where I am fumbling about - I can see the work detection being easy with an insulated probe connected to my existing probe input, what I can't see is how i ref the tools to the probe???

I know its all possible but...

323

General Mach Discussion / Re: Importing A Chinese Machine......Roger Webb/Pacific Tooling - CNC Router

« on: April 02, 2018, 03:36:20 AM »

Nice report there.

The golden rules when importing from China - Once it leaves China, you are on your own regarding warranty, support, service etc. Regard ANY machine as a DIY kit that will need to be stripped, cleaned of swarf and rewired to your codes - they know nothing and care less.

I ordered a 80W laser from China on the 'bay, it arrive damaged and was refunded money so I could source the broken parts myself and fix it myself! It also was not grounded electrically and the whole power wiring setup was done with wire a couple sizes too small for the power, the E-Stop button melted and needed replacing later as well. They covered it with ISO, DIN, VDE, CE stickers - all are meaningless except the CE which does mean China Export and not "Conformité Européene"

I was aware of the DIY aspect and happy to fix, the machine now runs well, but so many others are not and sadly are not capable of doing the work so they get stung.

China sucks.

324

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 02, 2018, 03:17:29 AM »

Just a FWIW, it really, really, really is not a good idea to export power from the PC - it likes to live in its own little world inside its steel box A decent 5v 1A SM PSU is a couple of ££ at most, you should have the BOB and drivers powered by that and use the PP to run the opto-couplers on the BOB inputs alone, no need for a USB then, USB sucks.

It does sound like you have issues with the DIR signals and if you do then you will have issues with the STEP signals too which could = your problems.

I had a bad BOB, a good one too, it would work fine on a 9v battery (built in 5v regulator) but not a PSU - tore my hair out for weeks on my first plasma with this, in the end they replaced it and away we went - this was from a good UK supplier, not eBay etc, it was not a cheap BOB - just shows that even good stuff can be bad out of the box.

The fact you have ordered a 'scope shows serious intent here, but if it were me, I would likely have binned the bob and started again on a different make - it really is the king-pin in the system.

Can you not go ethernet UC300eth etc?

Ethernet rocks for machine control as its noise immune and reliable.

325

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 01, 2018, 04:22:33 PM »

Sounds like there is still some work to do there

Even with ball-screws, belt connection is common and helps a lot with resonance issues etc, it also allows you to easily adjust ratio up/down without major alteration.

326

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probing - what would i need?

« on: April 01, 2018, 04:16:05 PM »

The 2010 screenset has what looks like a pretty comprehensive probing screen - its all macro driven so tweaking it should be simple.

Ok, I'm still in the mud here re the probe - the machine is currently connected to 0v as i use a touch plate on the high-speed setup as that cannot use the tool table. in that setup, the plate is live and the tool grounds it when contact is made - I believe this is pretty much standard touch plate probing?

Now, on the Bridgeport setup, I will have the probe as an insulated device that is connected to my probe input, and touching the workpiece will will ground it = same result and all OK.

However, when i probe a tool length - what will it do - the tool is grounded already so there is no circuit???

327

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: April 01, 2018, 09:13:35 AM »

Nice, thanks

I'll note that if we get to Mk2

328

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: April 01, 2018, 08:49:38 AM »

easier to mess about with until I know exactly what i want, thats all.

not good messing about in the cab i think, also easy to put it all to one side if i need to run the mill.

329

General Mach Discussion / Re: Problem with MACH3 and first peck drill cycle

« on: April 01, 2018, 08:38:09 AM »

How are you reducing it??

330

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probing - what would i need?

« on: April 01, 2018, 08:36:53 AM »

Thanks Rich,

Yes a custom screen would be good.

I'm trying to figure out how it all plays - currently I have the off-machine setter that reads the heights of all tools including the Haimer probe and then sends that data to the tool table (one at a time)

Now, if I use a probe in the spindle - this would set Z,X,Y when it contacts the work in whatever direction?

So, how are tool lengths set - do i also need a touch-plate as well??

Not sure what the whole picture is here??