Messages

651

General Mach Discussion / Re: Switched the direction of my Y Axis....HELPPPPP!!!

« on: May 02, 2008, 01:45:10 PM »

If you are at the machine now try going into Config/Ports and Pins/Motor Outputs. Check the "dir" pin of the Y axis. If the "active low column " is red, click it to green, if it is green, click it to red. This will change the direction of the motor - although I am at a loss to understand how it happened.

I have no idea about the "shuttle mode" I do not use it - but I remember seeing something about it in the video tutorials. It is in one of the earlier ones - getting started or something like that.

Perhaps someone else can tell you - any offers !!!

652

General Mach Discussion / Re: Conversational programation of mach3 lathe

« on: May 02, 2008, 01:35:40 PM »

That's great - about the biggest jump forward I've taken for a long time.

Are you saying that G70 and G71 are implemented in Mach 3.  I take it you start the job with the tool set to the bar stock diameter.

It beats my effort into a cocked hat.

653

General Mach Discussion / Re: Switched the direction of my Y Axis....HELPPPPP!!!

« on: May 02, 2008, 12:53:25 PM »

I don't know what you are calling the "pop out screen" and neither do I know what you call your "controller"

Is the axis working correctly if you give it GCode commands. Is the fault just when you jog - give us a clue

Pressing every button on a screen, hoping to rectify a fault is not a very good method of approach.

 

654

General Mach Discussion / Re: Macro Code

« on: May 02, 2008, 06:11:16 AM »

You have probably found the answer when you say that your program trips a limit switch, which aborts the program and stops everything moving. As far as I understand, that is what it is supposed to do - it is an emergency stop.

However - and I might have said this earlier, or elsewhere, recently - switches are bi-functional. You must turn off the LIMIT switch function before you hit the switch. It will then act as a home switch - which allows you to hit it without stopping the whole show.

I don't know how you do this from a Macro- I've been looking through my notes without any luck as yet.

I would try your program, but switch the LIMITS off first - leave the homes on if you are using that part of the program - and see if it runs correctly then. At least we will know what we are looking for then.

655

General Mach Discussion / Re: Conversational programation of mach3 lathe

« on: May 02, 2008, 05:14:12 AM »

I am interested in this. I have just used Solidworks to do a part, but when I look at the GCode, I can remove big chunks of it and get the same result. This was for the mill, and the lathe is even simpler to program manually.

When you say you have used Fanuc roughing - how does it work - i.e. what does it do. It must clearly have a start radius and a finish radius for the workpiece, and, I assume you can specify the depth of cut - but how does it follow the profile i.e. how do you tell the machine what the finished profile is?

Given all that I can write a macro for roughing. I have one or too now, but they are limited to simple bar stock. If I knew how the profiles were described that would help.

Here is one for the axles I mentioned above. It roughs a bar down to a size, and puts a finished diameter on - two different diameters - for making railway axles.
It is in inches - although it only makes a difference to the depth of cut - set at 20 thou. I could have put a larger depth of cut, or even another variable in to specify the depth of cut (which would satisfy both imperial and metric users.)

The macro - named M301 - requires several user DROs - which I have put on the manual page of Mach3 Turn. It can be called from within a GCode program or just run as a standalone by entering M301 manually. X0 is the centreline of the lathe, Z0 is the business end of the workpiece.User DRO's are persistant, and return when the computer is restarted - so check each time before you use. Download to your Macro folder.

Please try it. BE CAREFUL, HOWEVER -  This particular version has not been tested. I am in the process of putting new limits on my lathe, and this version is on my office computer. I write them here, and then transfer them to my workshop computer, where any last minute bugs are ironed out.

656

General Mach Discussion / Re: New - First Question - X - Y - Z - Touch Off Plate - Screen and Script Request

« on: May 01, 2008, 06:47:12 AM »

Here is a VB script you can try. I used the script from the other forum as a basis.

It takes information from the tool table, so your tool must be entered there, and selected as the current tool.

It basically touches a plate on the left of the tool, a plate in front of the tool and then touches the top of the work piece (or plate)
It sets the DRO's to zero + the tool diameter then moves the tool away a short distance.

If you take the plate(s) off, and type G0 X0Y0Z0 it should put the tool on the bottom left hand corner of the work, at the work level as a basis for starting work (although I am not necessarily saying that is where you should start from.

Be careful - I have not tested it

Download it then rename it with a macro number in the macro file of Mach3 e.g. M201

I have only given it 1 inch movement in any direction, therefore you should jog to with 1 inch of your touchplates before using it. Type in M201 and away you go.

657

General Mach Discussion / Re: New - First Question - X - Y - Z - Touch Off Plate - Screen and Script Request

« on: May 01, 2008, 04:21:40 AM »

Yes - the touch off plate has everybody fired up - and is a great thing  but if we are not careful it will lead to lazy machining.

All tool offsets can be entered in the tool table, and if you are approaching CNC in a professional way, all your tools are entered in here first.

I can appreciate that, unless you have some locking mechanism on your tool changer, then tool depth will vary, but diameter is constant and should be in the tool table. You can then use one of the many offset calls to put your tool in the right place.

It would only be a small addition to the script to then pull the diameter from the tool table, zero the DRO and add the diameter on each touch.

I will have a look at it and see if I can come up with anything - including your DROs for the diameter.

658

General Mach Discussion / Re: Conversational programation of mach3 lathe

« on: May 01, 2008, 04:01:31 AM »

Yes - but where , then do you get into the realms of full scale CAD - CAM.

I do not mind posting my Macros as I write them, which can rough down, and then finish, such as axles and things on the lathe, given various parameters to start with. I would like one for the mill to cut out letters from plastic sheet - which is my next project.

We could perhaps - and someone will tell me there already is - a part of this forum where we can lodge small macro's for other people to use if they wish - it would be a great help getting started - and something for prople to build on.

659

General Mach Discussion / Re: Reset - I was wrong

« on: May 01, 2008, 03:42:30 AM »

Ken - I have been following this and appreciate your problems.

I run several macros on my machine - all interlinked to DRO's etc. I can put info in a DRO and the script reads and writes to them without a problem.

I do not bother with Screen4 - but write the program from the VB script editor on Mach (either Mill or Lathe).

When I have written these, I save them in the Macro file in the Mach folder, under the Code M(***)(three figure number) as per the instructions in the VB script editor. I can then either include them in a GCode program, or type M*** into the machine to execute immediately.

Can I suggest that you do this with your VB script and try that method. If the script is saved in the Macro file like this it should execute correctly.

If you then want to call the Macro on a button, there is only one line of script in the button window - calling the Macro number.

I am re-fitting my limits and homing switches with laser detectors this week, so, if you can post your script for us to have a look at, I don't mind putting it on my machine and seeing what happens. It sounds a useful piece of script anyway, and I could see with a User DRO or two thrown in, it could be used in all sorts of situations when setting up.

660

General Mach Discussion / Re: Conversational programation of mach3 lathe

« on: April 30, 2008, 01:12:46 PM »

I do not understand what you mean by conversational programation.

Zarzul mentions wizards - so I assume you mean short programs to do small turning jobs.

Yes - I had a lathe, CNC ready - but coukd not, as I used to on my manual lathe, sit down and do anything.

I thought about the jobs I did on my lathe.

1. I turn down a piece of bar to a smaller radius for a certain lemgth.
2. I make axles for my railway which means turning 30 mm bar down to 25mm (to fit the wheel) and 17 mm (to fit the bearing).

Both were the same job - so I wrote a Visual Basic Script - which took 20 thous (1/2mm) cuts down to the right diameter for a given length. This is macro M201, the metric version is M301.

I put additional user DRO's on a page of the Turn Screens - Start radius, First Radius, First Length, Second radius and Second length
which the program can access.

I can now fill in the DRO's and call M201 and the machine goes ahead and cuts it. I have done a similar one to round the end of a bar - given the diameter. M202 or M302.

These Macros - as well as being used on their own, can be called up in GCode programs.

If that IS NOT what you mean, then YES - Mach 3 can also have a conversation - The Vis Basic command is "Speak" - but you do need a conversational prigram in the computer already.