Messages

351

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 and Galill DMC 4133 on lathe

« on: January 10, 2019, 09:07:32 PM »

Come on down sometime.

352

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Where should I paste this script?

« on: January 10, 2019, 05:09:43 PM »

What exactly are you doing?  As long as your code doesn't have a "B" axis move you shouldn't have to worry about it. 

Is this for a manual rotation?

353

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 and Galill DMC 4133 on lathe

« on: January 10, 2019, 01:56:44 PM »

We have 3 lathes running Mach4; 2 of which are flat bed lathes.  I chose the HiCON Integra from Vital Systems as my motion controller.  I'm using that on several machines in the shop with excellent results.

One of the lathes we have is an old LeBlond that was a manual lathe, we stripped the old drive stuff off of it and added ball screws to the X and Z axis.  I added handwheels on the carriage because it is over 60" long.  All works very well. 

I don't have a tool changer on this lathe, but I have one on another lathe that is working great with Mach4 and the HiCON Integra.

354

Mach4 General Discussion / SFM and Chip Load Calculator

« on: January 08, 2019, 07:21:50 PM »

Just for fun.
Got this idea from our Haas controller; it has a chip load and SFM Calculator right on the controller.
I put the SFM and Chip Load DROs in the Spindle Box in Mach4 on my screenset.

Setup:
You need to make 2 DROs; one for Chipload and one for SFM.  Place them wherever you like.
   Chipload DRO named:  droChipload
   SFM DRO named:  droSFM
You need to make a user field in the tool table for the number of flutes on your endmill.
User Field Setup.
   Type:  Float
   Named:  Flutes

Place this code in the PLC Script.

--Calculate SFM and Feed per Tooth
local inst = mc.mcGetInstance()
local Tool = mc.mcToolGetCurrent(inst)
local ToolDiameter = mc.mcToolGetData(inst, mc.MTOOL_MILL_DIA, Tool);
local RPM = mc.mcSpindleGetTrueRPM(inst)
local SFM = RPM * ToolDiameter* 3.14159/12
SFM = math.floor(SFM)
scr.SetProperty('droSFM', 'Value', tostring(SFM));
--Calculate feed per tooth.
local NumberOfFlutes = mc.mcToolGetDataExDbl(inst, Tool, "Flutes")
local FRO = mc.mcCntlGetFRO(inst)
local CurrentFeed = mc.mcCntlGetPoundVar(inst, 4109)
local Feedrate = (CurrentFeed * (FRO/100))

if NumberOfFlutes > 0 then --If the current tool doesn't have the flutes box filled in.  Ignore the feed per tooth.
    if RPM > 0 then
       local FeedPerTooth = ((Feedrate / RPM) / NumberOfFlutes)
       scr.SetProperty('droChipload', 'Value', tostring(FeedPerTooth));
    else
       scr.SetProperty('droChipload', 'Value', tostring(0.0000));
     end
else
    scr.SetProperty('droChipload', 'Value', tostring(0.0000));
end

355

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Coolant Toogle Problems

« on: January 07, 2019, 11:21:38 AM »

Stuart.  Not a bad way to do it, only I have all my power coming on at once from a button on the front of the machine.
This turns everything on at the same time.  Because of this, the relay switch I have works well.
Another way you could do it, and it sounds like something you have implemented, would be to use a charge pump.  That way until mach and the ESS are communicating the charge pump relay is open, then the relay could power the rest of the machine.

356

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Coolant Toogle Problems

« on: January 07, 2019, 09:10:17 AM »

As far as the ESS goes.  I've got several here in the shop and anytime Mach is not opened all of my outputs are turned on; I don't know why, but it happens and I deal with it.  I added a toggle switch to turn my relays off.
As far as the EStop signals.
Like I mentioned earlier, put it in the signal library.  Instead of it being an input# for the signal, find the E Stop Signal ID and put it there.

[mc.ISIG_EMERGENCY] = function (state)
    if (state == 1) then
              --Conditions
    end
 end, 

357

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Coolant Toogle Problems

« on: January 04, 2019, 10:45:27 AM »

Change this...

[mc.ISIG_INPUT7] = function (state)
if (state == 0) then

to this   Change the condition:  State == 1

[mc.ISIG_INPUT7] = function (state)
if (state == 1) then

358

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Coolant Toogle Problems

« on: January 04, 2019, 08:28:06 AM »

Hang on,
If you close Mach4 does the coolant turn on?   
And when you open Mach4, does the coolant stay on until the program has fully loaded?

359

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 tool change

« on: January 04, 2019, 08:25:35 AM »

If you are using the stock tool change, it will require you to press cycle start to complete the tool change and then it will update the current tool dro.   Do some tests in mdi.
Also, are you turning on the tool height offsets?  G43 H T (T is current tool number)

360

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: get and set the G54 ,G55..

« on: January 03, 2019, 06:49:03 PM »

Did some more testing.
This is acting strange.
If you watch the status bar above the message bar; changing #4014 will update the Current Work Offset on the status bar, but it doesn't seem to change the core.
I set X offset for G54 to 1.00 G55 to 2.00 etc... and changed #4014 to 540, 550, 560, etc.. just to test all offsets, it won't update the position, it only changes what is displayed in the status bar.
So, I'm not really sure why you're able to change this and it update the status bar but not what Mach actually sees.