Messages

21

General Mach Discussion / Need help with lathe ,

« on: March 31, 2014, 12:31:38 AM »

OK,

I am new, but with help from this site I am up and running on the mill. Sure, I have a long way to go, but I have made some small practise parts and am on my way, So thanks all.

Where I am having trouble now, is the lathe.
I am using Onecnc, and its not mine, but I can get access to it two or three times a week. I think I will buy it though, as I am liking the ease of use. (for the mill)
So as I am having issues on the lathe, I decided to keep it simple.

Now I realise there is no Mach 3 post in Onecnc Lathe Expert Xr5, but the mill works on either default or its Mach3 for the post.
I have tried ''default'' and ''Fanuc'' on the lathe, both as ''Tap'' and ''Text'' files, and all four do the same thing.

The round bar is 29.6mm  and the tool path simulation shows it pass over at 29.6mm, for a length of 100mm . I have tried to zero Z and X on the start edge of the bar, then ''cycle start''
It goes out to X38 Z4.2 and starts in so slow, that it feels like it will never get to the next line. I have not checked jog boxes or such, as I am really trying to work out why it will not go to the stock.
When it gets to line N200  it is about 80mm approx off the bar (have not meausered that exactly) when it then runs the Z-100 pass.
I tried then to instead of zeroing on edge of the stock, I told it it was Z0 and X29.6.
To save time, I edited line N190 at gave it a value of X30, and the end result was the same as the first. 
It is just a test, so not trying to cut anything. Here is the code.
Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

%
O0000
N10 (PART - )
N20 (FILE - G:\TEST LATHE.XFA)
N30 (AUTHOR - DEFAULT USER)
N40 (GROUP - TOOLPATH GROUP #1)
N50 (POSTED - MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014 12:13)
N60 (CREATED - MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014 09:23)
N70 (SYSTEM - ONECNC-XR5 LATHE PROFESSIONAL - VERSION 30.43)
N80 (NOTES - NONE)
N90 G00 G40
N100 G28 U0.
N110 G28 W0.
N120 (OD ROUGH RIGHT 85 DEG .8 TIP)
N130 T0101
N140 G99 G96 F0.8 S60
N150 G50 S2500
N160 M03
N170 G18
N180 G00 X38. Z4.2
N190 X35.6
N200 G01 X29.6 F0.8
N210 Z-0.8
N220 Z-100.8
N230 X38.
N240 G00 Z4.2
N250 (END TOOL)
N260 M09
N270 G28 U0.
N280 G28 W0.
N290 M05
N300 M30
%

22

General Mach Discussion / Re: tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 05:44:05 AM »

Thanks again.

23

General Mach Discussion / Re: tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 05:36:27 AM »

OH,

The program says MM.

OK, I will change that, thank you.
Sure I will be back. 

24

General Mach Discussion / Re: tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 05:26:47 AM »

OK thanks.

25

General Mach Discussion / Re: tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 05:14:55 AM »

Not sure where to find xml.
The file saved as tap.

I will find out how to upload here

26

General Mach Discussion / Re: tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 04:56:41 AM »

Draw in mm, cam in mm/post in mm, the machine should be configured in mm.
Don't mix units.

RICH

That is what I did. I start Mach 3, it is in MM. My drawing and post is in MM. It is stated above, that all are in MM.

I load the file, Mach 3 goes to inches! I tell it to go to MM.
But the tool path is way out of bounds.

Even if inches got in there somewhere, the current file is 15mm only, so if it became 15'', it still should fit on my table, but does not.

27

General Mach Discussion / tool path way out when loaded in Mach

« on: February 08, 2014, 04:41:57 AM »

OK, so I am really NEW.
Mr Hood, helped with my last question, and since then, 40 videos later as well, I am running good CAM software with Mach 3 post.

So to get my machine up and running, I designed a simple circle I want to do a facing operation on. I have max cut depth at 0, as I basically want to skim across the top to make sure all is well.

I am running the CAD program, and the CAM in MM.
So I designed one file where the circle was 151mm, and once uploaded into Mach, it is many times bigger than my table when I click that view.
I first suspected it may be in CM, so I went back and did the same file, but now in 15mm (just in case it is CM) and while smaller, same issue.
I do notice, that when I start Mach 3 in MM, and load the file, it goes to Inches. Then I type in G 21, and it goes back, but makes no difference to the massive work piece I have according to Mach 3.  A little frustrating in itself, as I started in MM, and expect it to stay in MM.
So even if it was 15'' for some unknown reason, it should still fit on my table.
So am at a loss here, looked for the issue, and not really finding anything of note.

It will end up being simple I am sure, but it is only easy if you know how.
Help!

28

General Mach Discussion / Re: Could use some help, please guys

« on: January 31, 2014, 05:36:47 AM »

Thanks Hood, I think it is clear now.
Working in NX9 right now to generate tool paths etc, and see how I go.

29

General Mach Discussion / Re: Could use some help, please guys

« on: January 31, 2014, 04:23:56 AM »

Mach needs G Code so you need to use some form of CAM to open your DXF then you need to tell the CAM what tools, feeds, speeds etc and then tell it the tool paths, the CAM will then produce the G Code.
LazyCAM is very basic and some people use it but there are many things it will not do, even in licensed version.
Hood

Ah, OK.
I was thinking Mach3 was in itself, a CAM program, and I did the tool paths there in the Mach 3 screen.

OK, so I guess all I really need to do, once I export the G-code file to Mach, is to then tell it where the material is in the offset screen, and the tool paths are already defined in which ever CAM software I used from your reply.

30

General Mach Discussion / Could use some help, please guys

« on: January 31, 2014, 01:06:48 AM »

So I have a mill and lathe set up in my garage, running Mach 3 and apparently the control is Mach 3 as well.
So when I ordered this (yes I am new to cnc) I just figured I could upload my files, then define tool paths etc.
OK, that did not happen.  Here is the problem.

I have files in IGS, IPT, of the parts I want to make. These were done for me, and I do not have the experience to just draw them new. They are fairly complicated.
I open one up for example , in Spaceclaim CAD, then save it as a DXF file, upload it to Mach 3, and the drawing does not show up. There is something there, with 40 or so lines of code that are bad, as it says so on the first line.
I load the same file into Lazy CAM, then output that to a .tap file, and try to load that, same type of problems.
I used a friends program to open an IPT file, he uses NX9, and tried to save as DXF, no go.

So why is this so hard? what am I doing wrong?
I looked for this issue in the history, online, etc, but nothing to help me out, can I find. I know this is not the first or second time it has been asked, but please help me out here, I really need to get these machines working.
I am considering spending a large amount of money to purchase Onecnc xr5 with Mach 3 post to make it a little simpler, but right now, I need to make Mach 3 work for me, to get going.