Messages

751

General Mach Discussion / Re: USB Camera

« on: April 01, 2008, 02:25:47 PM »

Mach 3 already has the routine for the camera installed in "Plug In Control"

The basis of this is that a suitable camera can be mounted on the lathe, chuck, milling head etc i.e. any suitable place on your machine and focus on another place - i.e. mounted in the milling chuck and looking down on the workpiece. The software already has a set of crosshairs electronically engraved on the camera output.

The downside is that it doesn't always work, - especially with the modern USB camera working under Windows drivers.

The cameras usually need USB 2.

They seem to be alright if the camera has a disc with a set of drivers in that you can manipulate, but some, running on the internal Windows drivers  - all Mach 3 says is unable to open the camera driver.

752

General Mach Discussion / Re: Milling machine

« on: April 01, 2008, 09:19:24 AM »

Try putting the sheet on the German forum and asking someone to translate it.

753

General Mach Discussion / Re: Adjusting Z Depth while cutting a file -or- What is FeedHold?

« on: April 01, 2008, 09:15:15 AM »

If you look further down the main page of posts, you will find a post on just this subject last week or so ago.

There the problem was thickness of workpiece - but it comes to the same thing.

Hood - I found the torch height control you were on about - it is on Config/Mill Options.

754

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Pulse Rates per axis

« on: April 01, 2008, 09:04:28 AM »

I have a similar problem.

Because of the gearing I need 48,000 pulses per inch, and I cannot reliably drive the main shaft on the lathe faster than 4 inches per minute. As you say above that the motor(s) start to sound awful and they will not run at much above 6 ins per minte. I have fiddled with acceleration - slowing it down so the motor(s) have more time to accelerate, quickening it up in case there is a "sticky" patch they need to get through - all to no avail.

In the end I have put it down to mechanical problems - e.g. the drive shaft does not go through the centre of my table, therefore the pull exerted will be lopsided - my cross slide has a central shaft and I can get up to 6 to 7 reliably on that. In the end it does not make much difference to the work I do, because the lathe is only 2feet long, and most of the work is done around the chuck.

I am going to try some ball screws soon - to get rid of some of the backlash - but it might help the speed.

As Hood said - you might have difficulties with your computer - this you can test by taking a motor off the machine and running it on the workbench. See if you can get above the speeds you are quoting - at least then you will have an idea where the trouble lies.

755

General Mach Discussion / Re: Milling machine

« on: March 30, 2008, 04:55:37 PM »

So did it work???

Are you saying that you don't know the numbers of the pins that are controlling your spindle, or that you do not know if the spindle is actually controlled by your board.

What driver board are you using to control the axis motors on your system, someone must know !!!

756

General Mach Discussion / Re: Win a Free Smooth Stepper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

« on: March 30, 2008, 04:45:20 PM »

Brett

DOES IT WORK

Lets have a bit of a run down on it, and a bit of a report. I know a lot of people are interested with LPT1's becoming almost extinct on new computers.

757

General Mach Discussion / Re: help with torch relay!

« on: March 30, 2008, 04:39:12 PM »

I thought the torch wasn't suposed to go out until after the Olympics .

Have you checked the pin number driving the relay. Does Mach 3 turn it off at the right time.

I have a feeling it must do. because you say if you disconnect a wire, the relay drops out. Have you wired it up as a "push botton" circuit - i.e. there is a second contact on the relay hlding it on, until a different relay opens the circuit.

Have you a wiring diagram of your circuit for the torch

758

General Mach Discussion / Re: Toroidal transformers vs standard IE

« on: March 29, 2008, 06:43:03 AM »

I think we are getting a bit "wrong way round" here.  The motor does not produce current, it draws current from the supply, via the drives. The voltage input to the motor determines how much current it draws.

As far as I understand, it is normal to run stepper motors, exceeding the rated voltage by up to 20 times.

I can see the 4.8v motor performing well, but, if the drives have some current limitation on, set it at the maximum 7 amps otherwise you might damage the drive - if the motor tries to draw its full current.

As far as the other motor is concerned, using the rule about over voltage, it would appear to need a voltage in excess of 600 - 700 to operate satisfactorily. I cannot see it drawing sufficient current at 54volts to trouble the drives, but what performance you will get is a bit of a mystery

759

General Mach Discussion / Re: Backlash compensation for a rotary axis ?

« on: March 29, 2008, 06:21:48 AM »

Nice job, Greg.

I can see where you are going now.

As far as backlash is concerned, I don't know if Andrews program keeps the axis as a rotary axis or converts it to a linear one.

If it keeps it as a rotary axis, then I cannot see you having any trouble with backlash compensation, since it clearly auto compensates for the diameter you are working at. The "thrust" of the tool will be taken by the gearbox, and if it reverses to "write" the other way, backlash comes on first and takes up the movement.

I wish I could get down to 4 thou of backlash - I dare not tell you how much my lathe has ( I am working on it, with new ball type leadscrews on the horizon) but I find Mach 3 compensation both accurate and reliable (although to listen to it working is sometimes a bit concerting. I was cutting brass handrails - a pole with a ball at the top and centre and half ball at the bottom - something you cold not do manually - as the z axis came to the ball, the x axis had to come out and back, describing the arc. When it changed direction at the apex, you could not see any distortion in the brass. This, I thought, was excellent.

Best of luck.

760

General Mach Discussion / Re: Milling machine

« on: March 29, 2008, 05:25:29 AM »

Some of this you may have done - but I will have to start at the begining.

Your machine is controlled by a computer, via the printer cable, which has 25 wires in it. For interest the printer wire is actually three addresses in the computer. One address - pins 2 - 9 - are outputs, normally (but not necessarily) used to control the axis of your mill. The second address  - pins 1,14, 16 and 17 - are also outputs and control such functions as spindle motor, coolant etc. The third address - pins 10 - 13 and 15 - are input wires which take information in to the computer.

Mach 3 can be configured to use these pins for various functions.

Your spindle is configured thus - go to spindle set up, untick disable spindle relays and enter an output pin number for M3 and M4. Go back to outputs and under those output numbers, enter the pin numbers that are connected to your spindle control system ( If you have one fitted to the mill)

If your machine is set up, then M3 should start the spindle clockwise, M4 starts it counter clockwise and M5 turns it off.