Messages

11

Tangent Corner / Re: You know it's Monday when...

« on: December 26, 2008, 04:58:55 PM »

Wow, lucky you had a small soft part there. And you hit it in the best direction.
Could have been a lot worse.
Wish you good luck NEXT Mon. 
RC

Too true, and thanks! 

  So, why did the center drill come after the drill ?.

The center hole in this setup is just a rough clearance hole, drilled with a G81 and no centerdrill, it gets sized and counterbored from the other side in the next setup.
The centerdrill cycle is for a set of 8 holes around the center hole, drilled and tapped for 4-40 threaded inserts.
All of the interesting work goes on once it's flipped over and dropped into the other vise.

Tool changersCNC machines are great, but you still have to keep an eye out.

I love my job. Almost 15 years, and something new every day.

12

Tangent Corner / You know it's Monday when...

« on: December 25, 2008, 10:49:43 PM »

A drill chuck somehow manages to work it's way off the taper, remaining in the hole it's just drilled, and waits patiently for the next tool to slam into it.


Ah, well.
The drill chuck was fine, other than a few dings, all I lost was one end of a carbide centerdrill.
Haas VF-3, at work.

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors stalling, losing steps

« on: December 25, 2008, 10:09:59 PM »

Take a look at this thread on CNC Zone, about stepper resonance problems and building dampeners to cure it.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32284

I had the same troubles you describe, on a little Sherline running a Xylotex board and 269in/oz steppers, until I built dampeners like the ones described in that thread. My maximum rapid speeds jumped from 20 IPM, and 12 on Z-axis, to 60+ ipm on all three axis.

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Cutter Comp code and Examples

« on: December 25, 2008, 11:50:17 AM »

Hahaha, thank you!

Yes, I just shut my machine off, wife is dragging me out the door...but wait, I MUST download the new version first... 

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: New Cutter Comp code and Examples

« on: December 23, 2008, 12:42:04 AM »

Ah, well... even a new carbide endmill isn't exactly onsize. A little cutter diameter tweaking is nothing new, it's why we have tool offset and diameter tables.

Great work on these improvements!

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: MOTORS NOT TURNING !

« on: December 21, 2008, 08:30:46 PM »

I recently downloaded and tried the newest version of Mach 3, v3.042.020, and on the first install it would exactly the same thing; show position changes on the DRO, but without moving my machine.

I reinstalled the old version, and it worked fine, and after installing the new one a second time, it began working fine.

After viewing similar responses on here, I'd say that you should try reinstalling v3 over itself.

17

Mach Screens / Re: Haas Style screen?

« on: December 19, 2008, 11:00:45 PM »

Ha, nice graphics! I'll assume they're from the Haas website?
Too bad you don't have the Current Commands screen, it probably has the most useful information.

18

Mach Screens / Re: Haas Style screen?

« on: December 19, 2008, 09:17:55 PM »

Certainly! I'll grab some shots in the next few days, of both the older monochrome display and this year's new color screen.
The new one reminds me of Mach anyway. 

Here's a blurry shot of the older (pre-2008) control panel. Only the button style is different, the layout hasn't changed.

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Backlash - very slow movement with every change of direction - Normal?

« on: December 18, 2008, 10:28:10 PM »

Did you ever get this sorted out?
I recently had the same issues with Mach v3.042, whenever I'd move in any direction the machine would stop, wind out the backclash, stop again, and then resume movement.
I reinstalled the older version of Mach, and then the newest again, and the problem went away.

20

Mach Screens / Haas Style screen?

« on: December 17, 2008, 09:02:05 PM »

Has anyone made a screen set to emulate the layout of the Haas VMC's?