Messages

61

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP - DELL OPTIPLEX 520 - SIGNAL QUALITY - other pc's

« on: April 30, 2008, 11:01:35 AM »

sid,
  I was waiting for somebody to suggest dumping the small form factor(I believe that the optiplex is small form?), because I  struggled for a year with a compaq "evo" (means "evil" ), before trying a full sized desktop(dell dimension8200) and boy-what a huge difference it made.
  This change instantly gave me rapids of 80 ipm's  with no lost steps,compared to only 11 ipm's before.. only difference, full sized desktop.(Just like Art suggests from the very beginning, but I was too cheap to spend any money on a good stable desktop computer!
  I know very little about video cards and the like, but your optiplex could be un-fixable. I hope you have success with your efforts, though,

  Good Luck!

  Glenn

62

General Mach Discussion / Re: Drilling holes using Lazy cam

« on: April 26, 2008, 06:37:34 PM »

Hi JonnyElectronny,
  Just go up to the free wizards at the top of Mach3
and choose from a few different styles of drilling programs...
All you do is fill in where, how deep and the shape of hole pattern. Works great, unless you have other applications
such as a weird shape.

Give it a go!
Glenn

63

General Mach Discussion / Re: c10 breakout board rev 8

« on: April 19, 2008, 06:21:02 PM »

Hi Brian,
  If you are wanting to know if it works, then, yes it works. I bought one a couple of
months ago, and replaced a breakout board that was passive,( non-powered)-and the new one works
much better,(the motors sound like they are finally getting all of the information at full strength- if that is even
possible?)I'm not electrically trained, but I fought the old bob for over a year- just to save a buck or two,
and now wish I would have just gotten this board sooner! A good board is a good investment.
Glenn

64

General Mach Discussion / Re: FREE 2D CAD (Solid edge)

« on: April 16, 2008, 07:01:49 PM »

Kristin D,
  I always love anticipating a package from ups/ usps!! It's like
Christmas when it  arrives! It sounds like you know way more about
computers/electronics than I,  and with this forums' assistance  I was 
able to assemble a router from bits and pieces and it almost works, I'm sure
yours will be up and running in no time!
 
Benny,

  Solid edge works as a cad program and it converts nicely with a dxf file to LC (just like
you said it would). As a test I drew an outline using straight lines and fillets...no freehand
drawing, Lazy Cam still can't handle converting these into g-code.
 THANKS Benny for turning us on to this free CAD program!

 Cheers,
  Glenn
 

65

General Mach Discussion / Re: FREE 2D CAD (Solid edge)

« on: April 15, 2008, 08:50:24 PM »

Yes Kristin,
  It was so slow last night that I had to cancel half way through
just to put my computer, kids and myself to bed...Benny, I will try it again soon.
Kristin ,  Did you ever get your computer problems sorted with a more
powerful tower?

Glenn

66

General Mach Discussion / Re: FREE 2D CAD (Solid edge)

« on: April 14, 2008, 10:45:52 PM »

 Benny,I'm trying it!
  Thanks,
Glenn

67

General Mach Discussion / Re: FREE 2D CAD (Solid edge)

« on: April 14, 2008, 09:04:16 PM »

Hi Benny,
  Will this produce G-Code for M3?
Thanks, Glenn

68

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rapid movement problem

« on: April 08, 2008, 10:46:18 PM »

Chris64,
 Good that you got rid of quicktime, that should help,

it is common that the buffer load is 12-14% during G-code,
at least my laptop does the same thing, and it can run Mach.
Hope this helps!
Glenn

69

General Mach Discussion / Re: First post, LPT and limit questions

« on: April 08, 2008, 10:31:15 PM »

Hi Kristin,
  1 gig pentium 4 should get you going, My Dell  laptop is 996mh
pentium 3, and it almost always works... the graphics are too slow,
 and it is slowww when Lazycam is processing a new g-code ,so
if you have an old dell dimension desktop with 1.6gh or higher pentium 4
you should be good to go. My desktop  dell is very stable.
  Good Luck,
    Glenn

70

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: METAL INLAYING

« on: April 08, 2008, 09:22:23 PM »

Rich,
  Very, Very informative!...How fortunate the purveyors of Mach3,  that
we have an open classroom to practically any machining operation imaginable,
whether it be fine metal work such as yours Rich, or lathe work from Hood,
electronics from Chip, milling from Brian and Brett,...the list of unselfish  experts
who regularly share their knowledge with total strangers such as myself, is to say the least,
a rarity in this tough world we live in.
  Art, did you have any idea a few years ago what " band of brothers" you were assembling
when your brainchild hit the net? Sheer genius!!
  Many Thanks to all regular contributors (too numerous to even count!) Who give me and others
with less skills and knowledge (I'm speaking of myself  ) the helping hand to jump into a very
 complicated, but rewarding field!
  Rich, beautiful inlays!
Thanks, Glenn