Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 on a laser cutter...

« on: August 30, 2018, 11:45:52 PM »

Hi Tweakie, I'm actually planning ahead with my 2nd cnc build to be fitted with a laser to cut 5mm thick wood, maybe plastic slightly bit thicker and a 40 watt laser soundss to be a decent size for my application. Although I would still to do some more research about this, would you mind telling me what type of laser you have and maybe where you bought it from? The thing is that I'm not a fan of co2 lasers because they relatively bulky and delicate, as opposed to the diode types.
Thanks
Marting

12

General Mach Discussion / Jogging axis with Joypad

« on: August 26, 2018, 09:21:15 AM »

Hi Guys,
Is there anyone who's having / had problems with jogging his cnc with a joypad, having a UC300ETH-5LPT ethernet motion controller and running on Mach3?

I'm currently setting up my new build and have been strugling to get my axis moving with a joypad but to no avail. I already have ShuttleRU STM32 pendant installed but prefer to jog the CNC with a joypad for the simple reason that it is much more convenient.

I have tried several ways to get this working, including a fresh system setup to switch from win7 64 bit to 32 bit and niether this was not successful. I then started mach 3 without being connected to the CNC (UC300ETH-5LPT disconnected) and could be able to move the axis with the joypad. As soon as I reconnect the LAN cable, switch on the cnc and restart the system, the joypad is becames non functional again.

I'm not sure if there is some sort of impediment by the motion controller to inhibt the joypad from functioning.

My current setup is made as follows:
Cnc software: Mach3
CNC Driver: UC300ETH-5LPT ethernet motion controller, DG4S-08020 servo drive
Jogging : ShuttleRU STM32 pendant (currently functional) / USB Joypad (most prefered to use but not functional - for more details here http://gmb.nl/item.aspx?id=8763 ).
Operating system: win7
Thanks for your time.

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 15, 2018, 07:47:51 AM »

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 15, 2018, 06:43:54 AM »

I know exactly what you mean but for now I've got plans for this cnc and need it to be up and running in the shortest time possible, so I suppose I have to do with what I have for now at least until it has generated enought to think about getting it Ac servos.
Thanks
Marting

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 15, 2018, 05:02:09 AM »

Yep, just had a look at the literature and understand what needs to be done, also I'll have alook at the Ehternet SmoothStepper from Warp9 you mentioned as an alternative in case I'm not happy with the results.
Marting

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 15, 2018, 04:45:25 AM »

Ho, I see! Definately didn't know that and coming to think of it this makes sense. I'll have a look at UC300 literature then and see what i find. Thanks for the eye opener Craig! Dunno what novices like me do without guys like you on the forum!
Thanks
Marting

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 15, 2018, 02:08:37 AM »

I'm using DG4S-160 35 servo drives and can vary the voltage between 65 and 90V DC. The encoders are fitted on the motors and so that gets me close to 100Khz, then I have to set Mach3 to that frequency and try these settings our as soon as I get the pulleys in place and see what happens.
Thanks guys for the support, I'll post the results later on next week.
Marting

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 14, 2018, 12:26:01 PM »

I have to admit, I am now having doubts if I'm doing this right.

Craig - Here is how i am doing the calculations 3200rpm ÷ 60sec ÷ 2 gear ratio x 500 encoder cpr = 53000Hz. Regarding the ac servos these are out of my budget at the moment.

Gerry - I have set the steps per unit on Mach3 to 100 and the maximum velocity I could achieve was about 12000 but the rpm resulting on the servo motors are nowhere near to what Mach3 is set to do. How can i set steps per unit other than those that reflect the actual pulses?

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 14, 2018, 06:18:10 AM »

Hi Craig, thanks for your feedback. I'm using a 500ppr encoders, gearing down ratio 2:1 and 10mm pitch ball screws. This setup should give me a repeatable accuracy of 0.01mm (i.e. per encoder count) With the servos I got the pulses from the encoders should result to 53KHz,  which is in range of Mach3 frequency output. Also I'm using a UC300-5LPT USB motion controller from CNCDrives, so as far as I can see, speed shouldn't be an issue to setup but apparently this is indicating otherwise.
I guess I'll have to put the servos in place and see in reality if there would be an issue or not.

Regarding the servo data, yes I too assumed that it must have been a misprint, precisely as you are saying.
Thanks
Marting

20

General Mach Discussion / Setting new cnc router build to achieve max servo speed

« on: April 13, 2018, 01:01:18 PM »

Hi folks, I'm in the second CNC build and about to start setting my servos from kelling inc type KL34-180-90 which runs at 3200rpm (off load) and would like to utilise it's full potential to achieve max travel speed. According to calculation these should result in16 meters per min (or 266mm /sec). I know that this will be reduced with the load of the gantry weight and friction, but would be happy if I get close to 200mm/sec.
My question is how could I reach my goal as preliminary tests / settings on Mach3 are showing that this is far away from this target. I have also experienced this too with my first build 10 years ago, but way that time I was happy with the results even though the servos run at 6000rpm! Any suggestions On how to go about this?
Thanks
Marting