Messages

11

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Galil vs Vital

« on: November 04, 2019, 10:45:24 AM »

Craig,

Many thanks, I shall heed your advice.
Your comments indicate that you do this sort of thing for a living or that you have experience with many machines.

12

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Galil vs Vital

« on: November 04, 2019, 08:34:37 AM »

Craig,

Thanks again.  As I said you have widened my horizons towards other and probably better solutions which I will consider without rush.

You are right, it is doubtful that I would be on this forum if I had a high end budget.

The reason that I would need a 64 bit computer is to use the Galil library files if I stayed with the original plan.  They are supposed to work on 32 bit machines but do not. I know Mach4 itself will run on 32 bit and even with Win XP.  When I asked about dedicated control panels I was thinking about the lower end offerings at around $1000 which o/p step and direction data.  Would those signals feed directly into the new servo drives or is an Ethernet SmoothStepper and a MB03 breakout board still required?

13

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Galil vs Vital

« on: November 04, 2019, 04:21:42 AM »

Craig,

Firstly, let me thank you for the time that you have spent on this.

If I need to feed these new controllers with +/- 10 V surely I would still need something like the Galil card to supply that.  The +/- 10 V is a velocity signal. So if the position loop is closed in the controller how does it know where to stop, if it is not sent a position signal.

I must admit that I had a bit of tunnel vision and did not really consider changing the motors.  I have had the mill for 10/12 years which had been owned by a friend since new.  It came fitted with an Anilam Crusader CNC from new.  It came to me with a complete spare set of motors, drivers and slides.  However, the controller was way outdated and not user friendly.  So my initial motivation was to replace the controller and that is what I focused on, changing the "good" stuff was not considered. 

At the time there did not seem to be many options open to me and I settled on the Galil and Mach3.  The Mach4/Galil plugin was not available then.  I never liked Mach3 and recently it gave me a lot of hassle so I am revisiting the idea of using mach4 with the recommended higher spec card.  Again I only considered the controller side.  However, your comments have widened my horizon somewhat.

If I replace the motors and drivers, as you suggest, then is a PC based system the best way to control them?  Would I not be better off getting an all in one controller/user-interface panel?  To stay with a PC system I would want to make a switch panel, including an MPG and  speed and feed controls to get away from constant mouse usage, then there are mach licences etc.  I would need to replace my 32 bit computer with a 64 bit machine to run the Galil libraries etc.  Without those cash and time expenses it would not be too onerous to go for a complete controller panel.

For a giggle I attach a pic of the old Anilam controller.

14

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Galil vs Vital

« on: November 03, 2019, 03:14:37 PM »

Don't those still need +/- 10v to control them?

15

Mach4 General Discussion / Galil vs Vital

« on: November 02, 2019, 07:26:58 AM »

I have a mill with DC PM motors with tachos and linear glass slides.  The velocity loop is closed between motors and drive amplifiers which take the usual +/- 10 V velocity signals.  The position loop needs to be closed in the controller.
Currently I am running a Galil 2143 card and mach3, but I want to change to Mach4.  To take full advantage of the capabilities I need to change to a Galil 4143 or 4040 card, which is not cheap.

I have just been made aware ot the Vital Systems options, so I am looking for feedback on both options Galil or Vital?  Or suggestions as to other compatible controllers.

16

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 and Galil plugin

« on: February 14, 2019, 05:28:33 PM »

Understood.

17

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 and Galil plugin

« on: February 14, 2019, 03:23:04 AM »

Steve,

I am willing to be a guinea pig and test it.  If it works everybody is happy and if it doesn't then I will have only lost a bit of time.
If it works then whether it is supported would be of no concern.

18

General Mach Discussion / Spindle question with Mach3/Galil

« on: February 11, 2019, 04:55:10 PM »

It is documented that for spindle control one can connect a spindle quadrature signal + index.
My question is: Is it sufficient to only use a single channel + index?  That is use channel A & I  rather than A, B & I
The primary purpose of a quadrature signal is to get both position and direction, however I am not interested in direction so the B channel is unnecessary theoretically but whether that applies in practice depends on the Mach3/Galil/plugin requirements and that is what I don't know.  I have a single spindle pulse string already and I do not want to change that for full quadrature unless I really have to.

A related question.  I have read that Mach3 only uses a single spindle index pulse to set the feed for threading.  If you use multiple pulses/rev, and tell mach3 how many, will it adjust the threading feed multiple times per spindle rev?  If not, is there any reason not to trick it like;
Say we have 4 pulses/rev and specify a 0.25 mm pitch thread, will we get a 1 mm pitch thread?
For the record I want to make some accurate pitch threads and adjusting feed once per rev seems very coarse.

Thanks in advance for knowledgeable replies.

19

Mach4 General Discussion / mach4 and Galil plugin

« on: February 11, 2019, 10:23:07 AM »

Steve,

Quotes from what seems like a dead thread.

<<
Quote from: smurph on April 20, 2017, 08:44:46 PM
Tony,

Unfortunately, there is no demo version of the Mach 4 plugin.  I will see if I can implement that.

Nice work on that variable J head!  You managed to get rid of all the noisy parts quite nicely.    i have replaced so many of those bushings i lost count.  I much prefer a pulley J head because of the noise those things will start making.  And they will get noisy pretty damned fast.  Just watch the spindle bearings and make sure they don't heat too much at those speeds!

Steve
end quote>>

Steve,

It has been a while since I have checked in to the forum.  I see that much progress has occurred with the Mach4 Galil plugin, but that the DMC 2143 has not been tested yet.  I am still willing to do this if you can release a demo version of the plugin.  You will understand that I am unwilling to buy the plugin until I am sure that it will work.

20

Galil / Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)

« on: February 05, 2019, 05:48:08 PM »

Tony,

Unfortunately, there is no demo version of the Mach 4 plugin.  I will see if I can implement that.

Nice work on that variable J head!  You managed to get rid of all the noisy parts quite nicely.    i have replaced so many of those bushings i lost count.  I much prefer a pulley J head because of the noise those things will start making.  And they will get noisy pretty damned fast.  Just watch the spindle bearings and make sure they don't heat too much at those speeds!

Steve

Steve,

It has been a while since I have checked in to the forum.  I see that much progress has occurred with the Mach4 Galil plugin, but that the DMC 2143 has not been tested yet.  I am still willing to do this if you can release a demo version of the plugin.  You will understand that I am unwilling to buy the plugin until I am sure that it will work.