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Messages - Mike VT

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21
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 05:44:58 PM »
You are dead on.  M8 just don't go no matter what.  Steve Jobs would roll in the grave.  Not that I am an Apple fan, but the man understood and defined out of box experience.


22
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 05:24:21 PM »
Damn Hood,
I just crossed the .1 of 1% of your total post count.  Yeah baby....

23
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 05:22:03 PM »
As Stirling stated in another post.
Tis What Tis....

24
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 04:57:22 PM »
Exactly.

Heres another funny issue.  So coolant is enabled in Mach.  Output 2 on CsLabs.  M8 and M9 control it.

I edited the M8 script and Put in this.
Message "Coolant working"

Simple.  From the Script Editor, I run it and the message "Coolant working" shows on screen and the coolant turns on.  Note I did not have code in M8 to actually turn on the output.  Mach took care of that secretly (and continuously).  Now, I enter M8 in the mdi, coolant comes on but it does not show the message "Coolant working" which means its not running the M8 macro.

My guess, Mach ignored the M8 macro and focused on turning on and off the correct output because it was configured to handle coolant secretly. 

If Mach is doing this, the moral of story is be very careful with outputs that you told Mach to handle.  All those extra inputs and outputs are really unknown to mach and can be controlled.  Until someone tells me I screwed up on this test, I will de-configure coolant and just handle this with M8 script.  Will also help with communication overhead as mach won't be turning on coolant every 100ms or so.

25
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 03:55:04 PM »
I follow you completely.

Thanks for the quick overview as the soft buttons and actual hard switches are next on my list.  Thanks, this will be a good jump start.

26
General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« on: August 13, 2016, 03:45:06 PM »
I get that.  Kinda how I got started and probably thought the same thing.  Years later, a big shop and always looking for a deal on another machine tool.

27
General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« on: August 13, 2016, 03:13:04 PM »
Ahh.  Makes perfect since.

Have you done much engraving.  I would love to make my own face plates using anodize aluminum.  I currently purchase them.  They are all custom and I spend probably 10k a year on them.  Love the work they do but hate the lead time.  Always wondered how to in-fill the engraving.  Have you done this?

28
General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed
« on: August 13, 2016, 03:09:59 PM »
Yep, GETOEMLED(13).  That was a typo.  And yes, I enabled the coolant option.

This is not a huge issue except I have things I want to do that are not quite norm for a mill.  In the PLC world, this is easy because it scans the entire program and I am in control of the entire program.  Don't really even need to ask as the only way it could be ON is if I turned it on.

In mach, this is very different.  Coolant function being perfect example.  Mach has control once that option is turned on.  No big deal, just have to deal with that.  So the main idea in this case was to avoid having to turn on and off coolant in the g-code program.  It would have been no big deal to just have my CAM software always add the coolant function before and after tool changes.  And then of course edit program if I didn't really want it on.  Would very much so like to avoid this.

On my machine, I will have an air gun, vacuum, and atleast 3 independant coolant nozzles (6 would be great).  I cut a lot of plastic parts and the chips can be overwelming at times.  Thus the shop vac that is just a suction tube mounted just like the coolant nozzles.  This allows me to suck the chips out as I'm cutting or to make a pass with no tool and clean out pockets and so on.  But 99 percent of the time, if coolant or vac or air gun (or all) was ON before a toolchange, its gonna be ON after the tool change.  But I don't want any of them ON during the tool change (Coolant and compressed air blowing into carosel while its open).  Thus the need to know if they were ON before the change was requested.  I could always just turn them all OFF and require myself to turn the right one back on in the GCode program.  Wheres the fun in that.  I have a programmable controller at my disposal.

Point being, I'm learning how to use MACH.  But with CSLabs hardware, I have a ton of I/O that I want to get real creative with.  I can think of a bunch of cool things that could be done with the extra I/O.

As for using the UserLeds and matching them to particular outputs.  This would allow them to be turned ON or Off, and also just be monitored from any script.  Unless I'm missing something.  A UserLed would stay ON when the script is finished.  And then could be looked at and/or changed later by any other script.  Just have to always do the two step.  Set the UserLed and set the output.

29
General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« on: August 13, 2016, 12:54:45 PM »
Looks very nice Dave.
What is the aux spindle for?

30
General Mach Discussion / Re: Haas VF1 Conversion
« on: August 13, 2016, 12:18:38 PM »
I get it.  Respect your Type.
Thanks

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