Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / X axis consistently off on one toolpath

« on: November 24, 2015, 04:23:25 PM »

Hi all.

I have a quick question.

I have a particular guitar fretboard toolpath I have been working on and whenever the CNC cuts it out, I have one axis consistently off by about 1/32"
Now here is the part that I don't understand: On one side of the fretboard, it is 1/32" too small. On the other side, it is fine.

What would this mean? I don't think that would be lost steps because it always shows up on the one side of the guitar fretboard.
I have checked and rechecked my toolpath and it SHOULD cut the fretboard perfectly equal on both sides.


Any ideas what is going on?

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 CNC cutting 1/32" too far in both X and Y axis

« on: November 10, 2014, 09:29:00 PM »

If I command it to move, say 3.0", it will move that amount and the DRO's read 3.0". Not 3.03125"
The XML is the one from my old computer.

What does debounce settings do?

I have run the PP test and the computer has a great signal. Very straight with very little to no interruption.

How would I check to see if my X and Y are losing steps at rapids to --?

13

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 CNC cutting 1/32" too far in both X and Y axis

« on: November 10, 2014, 03:16:02 PM »

Hey everyone.

My old XP computer died out on me the other day and I had to upgrade to a new one running Windows 7, 32 bit.

Back story:
I run a lot of the same parts on my spoil board. It is filled with indexing pins and bolts to attach guitar blanks. I am using my CNCs home position as my work zero. I just bring the Z axis down to locate where the top of the wood is and set it. All my programs are made with the home zero of the machine being the location point. It has worked many times before switching to this new computer.  My machine calibrates by moving to it's home position (X0, Y0, Z0) and hitting a couple of limit switches. This is what tells it where it is.


The problem:
Today I noticed the Y axis and X axis cut almost 1/32" too far (equally). I could tell this because I could see new cut marks in my spoil board. This spoil board has many old cuts in it from running the same guitar neck from the old computer. Taking measurements from an old guitar neck and comparing it to the newly cut one shows everything off 1/32" on one side of the new guitar neck.


I have no clue why this is happening.

Any suggestions?

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 20, 2014, 09:59:37 PM »

Anyone have any ideas what may be causing my issue?

I don't know where to go from here.

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 18, 2014, 10:31:07 AM »

Hey guys.

I cleaned the box out with compressed air. As well, I checked to see if the fan is working and it is definitely blowing air into the box and onto those stepper controllers.

I had a theory the other day while at home. My thoughts were that the stepper controller furtherest from the fan (closest to the E switch) was probably the Y axis. That would explain it not getting enough air cooling by the fan because the stepper controller in front of it would block air flow. Upon checking today, I can see this is not the case. The middle stepper controller is the Y axis. I have attached a picture of the Axis layout.

Any other thoughts? I am afraid to run any material until I figure this out.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 16, 2014, 10:26:42 AM »

Well, it looks to me like the existing fan is more than adequate to do the job so I don't think adding another fan would serve any useful purpose. I assume that the board closest to the fan is your Z axis and the two slo-syn's are your X an Y ??

Tweakie.

I think you are correct Tweakie. The one closest to the fan controls the Z and the slo-syns are for X and Y (I will check to confirm this though)

Good point DoubleTrouble - is the existing fan operating correctly and efficiently ??

Tweakie.

DoubleTrouble, Tweakie, I will check Monday to see if the fan is working adequately enough. I will report back then.

I will also give the box a good shot of compressed air.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 15, 2014, 12:43:44 PM »

I took a picture of my controller box. What parts in here need to be cooled? Are the stepper driver chips in the slo-syn translator motor drives (on the right)?. Or are they on the board closest to the fan, the microstepping system (on the left)?

As you can see, only one fan is in the box. How would I wire in a PAPST fan?
Sorry for my inexperience. Just learning the tech side of it all now.

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 15, 2014, 11:19:09 AM »

Tweakie, I apologize for my lack of knowledge but what does a stepper motor driver chip look like? Where would it be located in my control box? Would there be a stepper motor driver chip for each AXIS?

I also wanted to state another thing. My router is a Porter Cable 75182. It does not have a ground in the power cable. Just two prong. Would this cause an issue? (Though the Y positioning problem has only happened twice and when I want to, I can not recreate the issue on cue)

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 15, 2014, 08:52:51 AM »

Hello Tweakie.

I can try that. The controller box is held in a cabinet. I will pull it out of the cabinet and hopefully that will dissipate some of the heat. If it still gets hot, I will look at pointing another PAPST fan at the stepper controllers.

How cool should the whole controller box be? I take it the box shouldn't get hot at all, correct?

20

General Mach Discussion / Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 14, 2014, 08:25:02 PM »

Hello everyone.

I am new here. I have read through these forums MANY times but today I ran into an issue that I could no longer deal with.
I will try and keep this short and to the point.

My CNC is a Techno Isel 040 H830 with stepper motors. I am using the latest version of Mach 3.
I was running a guitar body today and after completing one toolpath, the CNC started the next toolpath 1" too far to the right. I have only had this problem once before. I was cutting out a guitar headstock shape and the CNC was too far in the Y+ axis by roughly 1". This has never happened to any other AXIS.


Upon reading through some forum posts, my issues are very similar to this post (I am pretty sure my Mach 3 is legit though):
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,23270.0.html

If memory serves me, the DRO and Toolpath showed the travel was in position. When is reality (looking at the guitar body on the table), it was not.
If I remember correctly as well, the first time I had this issue the CNC had been running all day. This was the case this time as well. I felt the stepper motors today and they were quite warm to the touch. The controller felt warm as well (not as hot as the steppers).

I posted an image of the damaged area. The start of the neck pocket was supposed to be left by about 1"!


This problem has only happened twice but I would like to rectify the issue before destroying any more material.
I hope you all can help!

Thanks.