Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 always hesitates in arcs and circles

« on: September 11, 2017, 07:49:01 PM »

Hi ,


I have something that has been bothering me for months now.

When I am milling splines and circular movements like helix ramping my spindle always moves kind of like in shocks and not in a smooth movement which leaves marks on the finished parts, also it slows the process time. It is like when he mills splines after every line of g3 code the spindle pauses for half a second to continue the next movement. It drives me crazy.

In settings i have read ahead 200 lines on, so why doesn't he know what the next movement is going to be.

(Servo motors, leadshine drivers, )

I really hope someone has an answer to this, or is this an inherent problem with mach3 that a smooth movement in helix ramping without hesitations isn't possible? Cause than I have to look for another system. But I like mach3 so I hope there is a solutions to this.

Thanks in advance all of you

2

General Mach Discussion / Connect 2 toolsetters? 1 fixed and 1 to set workpiece height

« on: August 13, 2017, 05:12:39 PM »

Hello,

Is it possible in mach3 to connect 2 different tool height setters? I want to set one tool height setters fixed on my tablebed and use another tool height setter to find the height of the workpiece.

I would program a macro to calculate the height difference after a tool change so that after a tool change I can just use the fixed tool height setter to zero out the new tool in comparison to the previous tool.

I can find the probe settings in mach3. So the moveable toolsetter is not the problem to connect. It is the fixed on I am looking to connect.

Any help on this? Anybody wrote a macro like this already?

Thanks

Stephane

3

General Mach Discussion / Machine servos stop but mach3 keeps running movements as machine is moving.

« on: August 13, 2017, 04:52:38 PM »

Hi,

The title might be a little awkward. This is my problem. Sometimes my machine hangs, meaning the Y motors stop turning but mach3 keeps moving the coordinates, which is kind of a problem cause my zero point is lost and I need to throw away the piece I am making.

Servo motors are closed loop, but sadly enough it seems that Mach3 is completely unaware when the motors stop . So my question is , is there a solution for this.

Secondly, does mach4 take feedback of the motor positions?

Thirdly, are there controllers that are able to keep track of servo motor/driver positions (linuxcnc or edingcnc?)

Thx for any help.

Regards,

Stephane

4

SmoothStepper USB / Warp9 smoothstepper or XHC smoothstepper

« on: January 21, 2017, 09:47:40 AM »

Hi everyone,


I was wondering if someone had experience with these boards? Which one is performing better? Is the ESS plugin the extra that makes it better than xhc motion controllers?

I am looking into a new board and smoother motion of my machine at higher fees rates.

Thx,

Stephane

5

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / what cad/cam for 4 axis machine (3 axis and Rotary attachment)

« on: September 12, 2016, 08:13:13 PM »

Hello mach3 users,

I have a question. For several months now i have been working with mach3 and solidcam but i am having an issue now.

I want to start using my Rotary attachment but i have no clue what cad/cam software would allow me to import stl from solidworks so i can make my gcode for turn-milling table legs?

Who is willing to put me on my way, i would be most grateful.

Thanks,

Stephane

6

General Mach Discussion / Determing THe X and Y direction of the workpiece so it can be in any direction

« on: November 10, 2015, 09:01:03 AM »

Hi all,


I have a question, does mach3 support the possibility to determine the edges of the workpiece so it can itself determine the X direction and the Y direction to work on rather than the machines X and Y fixed directions.

I have seen other machines who will touch an edge of a workpiece on 2 different points like 50 cm apart and thus the machine knows that this is the X axis and than they touch the other side of the workpiece on 2 different locations and thus that is set as the Y direction.

Than they load in the Gcode and the machine does it job taking into account that the workpiece is not 100% parrallel with the X and Y direction of the machine.

This means you can put a plate not parallel to X and Y on the table and still get the machine to work as if it was perfectly parrallel.

I think it should be able as this is like a problem everybody would face, so i hope this has a simple answer to it and i really hope mach3 is able to do this.

THanks for any help,

Stephane

7

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Rotate the WCS around the Y axis

« on: October 26, 2015, 06:04:25 PM »

Hello everyone,

I am breaking my head here.

I want to rotate the entire coordinate system around the Y axis. Like the righthand XYZ and than turn 90 degrees CCW. This is to mill side pockets. I have a rotary on the spindle so the rotary is turning parallel to the Y axis.

How do i implement this in Gcode. I was looking at G68 but that only allows me to rotate in the XY plane and i want to be drilling in the YZ plane.

I think a lot of people have this problem though, as i need to figure this out so i can implement in postprocessor.

Basically i would like to know if there is Gcode that will make this easier, rather than having to calculate every single position of the machine to drill the side pockets ( taking into account that X becomes Z and thus headbreakers ) . As it needs to calculate based upon another coordinate system set in the Cam software, this will be different everytime depending on the piece. Very difficult to get the correct coordinates.

Any help pleassseeee THX

8

General Mach Discussion / I am at a loss. please help

« on: October 23, 2015, 10:36:15 AM »

Hello everyone, since shortly I am part of the mach3 milling community and happy about this. 

Now my problem is following. Someone is writing me a postprocessor but his english is the worst ever. So he asks me for the following.

"For your Mach3 need parameters indexed. It should set the parameters for indexed.
I need example NC.Program - From supplier Mach3 get."

Does anyone understand what the hell he would like me to send him, cause I don't have a clue.

Postpro is for solidcam. And it seems he programmed for simultaneously which ment I couldn't set 3 coordinate systems to side drill with a rotary attachment on the spindle. So he needs to change it to indexed. Whatever that may mean... . anyway this is what he send me, so please help what do I sooooo

Thanks for your help.

Stephane