Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Strange X Axis Moves and Hot Keys in Mach3

« on: January 16, 2009, 11:31:58 PM »

I used Mach2 before and getting my feet wet with Mach3.  I have a new setup and have a couple very weird problems that I cannot understand.  Maybe someone can point me in the right direction?

1. The X axis on my system is not smooth when I use the up / down keys for moving in the Motor Tuning setup menu.  It's always the X axis and if I have confirmed it's nothing to do with the stepper motor as I have moved them around to different X, Y, Z outputs and even (believe it or not) changed out the main Xylotex board because I thought it was bad.  Nope, it wasn't bad.  I reinstalled the latest version of Mach 3 and still the same thing.  Also, I changed out the printer / LPT1 cord.

What happens in motor tuning is the X axis runs erratically and sounds like something is terribly wrong.  However when I run a G-Code program it then sounds normal.  This is driving me bonkers and curious if anyone has seen this before?  Or has any good suggestions?

2. This is probably a dumb question but I cannot get the Hot Keys to work.  I went into the Config and set them up, i.e. you push X and it gives it a number such as 88 or whatever.  When I go into the regular screen and then push X nothing happens.  What am I missing here?  I'm guessing there is some magical button or check mark here?  Could someone please point me to the right direction.  I could set this up (almost) in my sleep in Mach 2 but not getting Mach 3 just yet..

Thanks for your help and suggestions which hopefully don't include that I'm a stupid user!!

2

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 Setup Question and Estop

« on: December 24, 2006, 10:58:01 AM »

I've been a user of Mach2 for well over a year and decided to upgrade to Mach3.  I have Mach2 and Mach3 on the same computer.

I have spent hours and hours reading this forum and trying different setups but cannot get Mach3 to do anything.  First I had the Estop problem but changed that to Active Low so now I can control the software on my screen but the motors won't turn.

I've gone through the Motor Tuning and Ports Pins connections several times making sure my Mach2 and Mach3 port pins configs are the same. 

Also, I managed to setup something so when I push a hot key it will only step 0.010" per push.  Any idea what I did here?

I am using a Xylotex 3 axis board which is about 6 months old.  My computer is a Dell  using XP at 2.4 ghz.

Anyone have any ideas??  I'm certain my motors ports pins are correct.  I wonder if the Estop is what's the problem but it appears to work on my computer screen.

3

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Mach3 + Laser with TTL Inputs

« on: November 07, 2006, 05:47:02 PM »

On the internet there are a few people who are controlling CO2 Lasers with Mach2 / Mach3.   These laser power supplies have a 5+ volt TTL inputs which tell them when to turn on/off. 

Can anyone explain how they're sending these signals?  As an example when you move from one cut to another the laser needs to turn off and then back on. Otherwise all of your rapid movements would leave a visible laser mark.

All I can figure out is to cue off the Z axis movement which I know is wrong.  I was told that people may use the spindle for controlling the laser TTL inputs but not sure how that works?  I thought in spindle control it would just turn on when you hit start and run until the complete job was finished which wouldn't work for controlling a laser.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm wanting to buy my first laser and work it with Mach3 but can't figure out how to accomplish that one step on controlling the lasers TTL inputs..

4

General Mach Discussion / Laser Control using Mach 3 and what driver board?

« on: August 17, 2006, 11:19:27 PM »

 ???Hopefully someone in this forum knows the answer or can point me in the right direction.

I'm wanting to use a laser for engraving.  The power supply or laser driver module has TTL inputs that apparently will electronically modulate or change the amp level going to the laser.

1. On the Artsoft website it does mention the ability to control a laser but curious where that's located within the software and how it works?  Is anyone using this feature?
2. I've got a 3 Axis CNC setup right now on my router I plan to convert over to a laser engraver.  Is there something like a breakout board necessary to control a laser with TTL inputs via Mach2 / Mach3 or do I need to buy a new 3 axis driver board that is setup for additional outputs such as TTL?  Or is this completely seperate and it doesn't matter what 3 axis driver board I use?  And is there any recommendations on where to get this board (driver or breakout) / power supply / matching Nema 23 stepper motors if I do need to purchase a new board with TTL inputs / outputs?

Drum roll...  Anyone got some answers?   

5

General Mach Discussion / Corel Draw 12 or X3 Trace Question

« on: April 07, 2006, 11:13:34 AM »

Hopefully there's some fellow Corel users on this list that can give me some pointers about coverting DXF files to Mach2. 

I have the new Corel X3 Trace which is suppose to be one of the best if not the best programs now availabe for converting images into a centerline form and saved in a DXF format.  It is a slick program and works great compared to other stuff I've seen on the market.

When I import a DXF converted Corel file from their Trace X3 module into Mach2 it looks great on the screen.  But when I push the Generate G Code button for converstion it only converts a quadrant or specific area of the original DXF file.  Almost like it picks the bottom or center 1/3 of the image and only converts that part and ignores the rest of the image even though everything appears to have the exact same intensity or outline when on screen. 

I've converted other DXF file entries before using a previous version Corel Draw 9 with decent success especially with a few choice EPS formats but this one has me stumped.

I noticed the DXF entry MaxX and MaxY are much smaller than my DXF image.  It appears these are setup automatically when you bring in an image and for whatever reason they continue to be about 1/3 of these images. 

Are there any other Corel users that can point me to the possible culprit or is this a Mach2 DXF conversion problem?  FYI: I'm converting or trying to convert several of their clip art images which are in gray scale or already just b/w.   

6

LazyCam (Beta) / Lazy Cam Crash Problem

« on: March 29, 2006, 11:10:59 AM »

I downloaded Lazy Cam ver. 1.04.  I'm running Win XP on a 2.8 Ghz pentium and it's almost a brand new computer. 

I can open LazyCam but when I try to open any files like an JPG / BMG or CAD File it gives me an error and says the system must close.  Then of course it closes...    I've downloaded and  reloaded the software twice and rebooted my computer a couple times but the problem remains the same.

Any ideas?

The error says:  MachManip MFC Application.  MachManip MFC Appliation has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry for this inconvenciinece...  etc..

The error signature says:  AppName: lazycam.exe   AppVer: 1.0.0.1   ModName: lazycam.exe   ModVer: 1.0.0.1  Offset:  000247a5