Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 09:07:55 AM

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Soxfan963

Pages: « 1 2 3 »
11
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 19, 2017, 04:09:48 PM »
Mauri, I kind of ran out of $$ toward the end of my build so just to get running, I put a dewalt palm router in as the spindle. (maybe this is the entire problem), but it was a cheap way to get running, or so I thought... 

Your spindle speed is slower than I would have thought!  17K RPM??

HSS cutters so far BTW... 


12
Mach4 General Discussion / Strange Touch utility problem
« on: May 19, 2017, 03:42:39 PM »
I've had this issue since setting up my machine. Here's what's going on...

Running M4 v 2.3233.  Using the Touch Touch off UI with a puck and alligator clip.

The first time I attempt to run the touch function, the bit comes down, makes contact with the puck and retracts 1" as I have set in the UI. My touch off puck measures .763" so the program sets the bit height to 1.763. Perfect, right?  I hit cycle start, the carriage moves to its starting point, but the Z height is now 1" too high and therefor never gets down to the stock.  I stop the program, rewind the code, and go through the bit setting process again, only this time the Touch Off UI sets the bit height to .763. I now have to click on that field, type 1.763, hit enter, and now it will run correctly.

What the hell is going on here?

13
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 19, 2017, 03:14:01 PM »
Thanks for your reply Rich. I appreciate your knowledge of this subject. I think I understand the basics of what you're getting at here and I'm still working my way through the diagnosis of my problem. 

Here's where I'm at currently...

-The machine works as expected while "Air cutting" as Stuart calls it at every reasonable speed (I havent tested past 25FPM as I can't see ever running a program that fast).
-I can cut a part out of MDF at about 10FPM with my spindle speed at about 24,000 (the dewalt router that I have mounted in there is 16k to 27k RPM so that's about 4.5 out of 6 on the variable speed dial.) The cut sounds smooth at a depth of 3/16-1/4" with a 1/4" spiral mill)
-In hardwoods like birch or maple, (same cutter/depth of cut) the speed can't exceed 8fpm and the spindle speed needs to slow down a little more (around 20k-22k rpm - maybe a 4 on the router dial). if while it's cutting I increase the spindle speed it will stop.

So this gets me wondering... what are common feed rates/cutting depths? Obviously it is dependent on wood density, bit size/type, sharpness etc, but what's reasonable?

Let's take this scenario:
Hard maple, Brand new 1/4" up spiral flat end mill. What's your feed rate, spindle speed, and depth of cut?

14
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 15, 2017, 08:48:32 PM »
Also, If I run the machine at a VERY slow feed rate, it runs fine. only as I speed it up do I run into problems....  

15
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 15, 2017, 08:31:54 PM »
Frustrated....  So I bought ferrite suppressors and placed them on all cables as suggested ($15.00 no big deal).  Problem didn't go away.  I decided to seperate the spindle cable from the rest of the cable bundle and plug it into another outlet. It seemed as if the problem went away.  the router cut as expected for about 2 minutes and stopped again...  Started over, cut for about 15 seconds and stopped.  What the hell am I missing???

Mauri, what do you mean by "cables should be twisted"?

16
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 13, 2017, 08:27:15 AM »
so what cabling needs a suppressor?  the router power cord?  the ethernet cable to the laptop? all the wires running to the control box?  where is the interference coming from?

Thanks for all the help!

17
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 12, 2017, 09:16:35 PM »
thanks Mauri, I'll give it a shot. 

18
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 11, 2017, 07:43:03 PM »
By electrical noise do you mean vibration?  My set up is a handheld router without the base mounted in a 1-1/2 thick plywood spindle mount that I made with the CNC.  Could this be the problem?  should I make a new one out of aluminum?

What else could be causing this problem?

 The rest of the set up is as follows:
-Home made machine made from extruded aluminum (8020 parts).
-Control board is a C10 with a Ethernet smooth stepper.
-Toshiba laptop running windows 10 64 bit with 8 GB Ram.
Mach 4 Hobby version 2.0.3233




19
Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 stops while running program
« on: May 01, 2017, 08:22:25 PM »
I've been successfully running Mach 4 (v2.0.3233) for a few months. A recent problem has come up. My router stopped in the middle of running a program and Mach 4 seemed to just stop responding. I had to shut down Mach 4 and start it back up just to be able to jog the bit out of the part.  I ran the program again and it stopped in a different place.  If I run the program up out of the wood, it completes the program. Put it back down into the wood, It stops somewhere in the middle of the program...

Any ideas??

20
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Help with my profile
« on: January 22, 2017, 10:50:54 PM »
so it turns out the idiot who soldered the limit switch connections inside the case (me) did a crappy job and one of the connections on the Z limit switch was broken.  soldered it back on there and voila!  works perfectly....  Thanks for the advice DazTheGas. I did make those upgrades and things seem to be smoother and I like the wx4 screenset better too..


Pages: « 1 2 3 »