Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Height Following

« on: October 17, 2008, 02:17:55 PM »

we only use one sensor as you can see in the picture in this thread
it works fine on our lasers , we can hold the height position to within 6 - 8um

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach2 inconsistent motor drive pulses

« on: October 15, 2008, 04:07:29 AM »

whats the difference in the trace before and after the Opto ?
you may need faster opto's etc ,

what current do you have available from your power supply

see if you can trace through the signal from the parrell port and see if it gets mixed up along the way either by the opto's which would be my first suspect or the buffer ,

have u got pullups either side of your buffer chip ?
if you have your circuit available post it and i'll take a look

Dave

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Height Following

« on: October 14, 2008, 02:41:04 PM »

we use Linear Displacement Transducers ( LVDT )
made by solartron meterology

one model although an old one which is still available from RS
which with a 12v dc input gives  a + - 9v dc output with 0v at centre of travel
RS 646-482  , but be aware they are expensive !

14

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Software for process compensation moves

« on: September 05, 2008, 03:51:49 AM »

which verision of mach3 are you using ? , Mach has support for compensation moves G41 G42 etc

most current cam software packages support G41 G42 , can you post more information of your problem and perhaps attach gcode test file ,  comment the line you have a problem with etc

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Boxford 160 TCL - running as is?

« on: August 28, 2008, 03:35:34 AM »

the one thing to check is that you have the port set to 1 for LPT1 , and did you reboot after installing Mach3
the port driver needs to be installed , and the pc needs a reboot for this to succeed correctly

are you using any Enable pins to your stepper drivers
if you attach your xml config file , no doubt someone will check it , just in case 

 

16

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: can someone tell what the letter H and D stand for

« on: August 22, 2008, 03:12:31 AM »

D = Cutter diameter/radius offset
H = Tool length offset


 

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Difference between STEP and DIR

« on: August 19, 2008, 03:25:54 AM »

I think i understand that you are loosing position when reversing direction at a high speed , please correct if we are wrong etc

this could be a number of problems and may well be difficult to trace , although i would guess depending on your servo drives that they are matched , that it may be the opto's not switching fast enough , it may be you need better opto's fitted , this would need investigation further with a scope , along with motor tuning .

you are also getting into the area of high tolerance parts such as your ballscrews and bearings , are they better than 0.0004 ?
and can they take the stresses of changing direction at speed ,both radial and axial directions , and are they preloaded correctly .

work your way through everything mechanicaly first , as any inaccuracys will add up along the way
 

18

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Free virtual com port for testing plug-ins

« on: August 18, 2008, 03:09:23 PM »

interesting link Jeff , looks promising and should save a lot of work in the long run

19

Finished Plugins for Download / Re: 6 Axis Modbus (Serial or TCP) Jog, Analog, and Jog function Plugin..

« on: August 01, 2008, 11:49:15 AM »

Looking forward to a tutorial also

Dave

20

Finished Screens / Re: Ultimate Screen Mill/Lathe/Plasma (TouchScreen and/or Mouse and/or keyboard)

« on: July 29, 2008, 03:22:43 AM »

Nice Jason ,

ok iv'e looked on the site , can't find anything related to the screen ! , am i blind or missing something

Dave