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Author Topic: Mach3 and mill set up  (Read 4717 times)

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Mach3 and mill set up
« on: March 20, 2006, 12:22:18 PM »
Is there a "correct" process for setting up Mach3 with a mill in respect of table travel direction?

Initially I set my table travel directions to match the arrow keys on the computer e.g. arrow left pointing table travels to the left.
This was done with the default settings in Mach3 and the hard wiring to the motors. The only difference is that my motor drivers require the ouput pulse to be "active low" to get them working so the pulses are effectively inverted from waht is normal I believe.

When I did a Reference all home the tables travelled in the wrong direction so I used "reverse" in Mach 3 to corrrect that and the tables did their refereance home OK.

Now the tables travel opposite to the arrows of course.

The interesting point to me is that when observing the cross hairs they move in the same direction as the arrow keys but opposit to the table movemnt. So the spatial awarnes is that the cross hairs represent the tool travelling to the work rather than the work travelling to the tool.

Would this all come about through an inverted pulse to the motor drivers?
Re: Mach3 and mill set up
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2006, 07:05:47 PM »
I don't know what you have for a machine but you have to think that the Tool moves and the Table is NOT moving! If you would like to setup the axis just run a test program and see if the axis is inverted...
To change the homing direction there is a Home Neg. check box.

Hope that is a little help
Brian
Fixing problems one post at a time ;)

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Re: Mach3 and mill set up
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2006, 10:31:50 AM »
I guess that is exactly what I have ...... the cross hairs represent the tool travelling to the work and match the direction of the arrow keys.

providing you do not look at the table when jogging then confusion is unlikely, but if the attention in the brain cell goes absent then instinct pushes the arrow button for the direction you want the table to travel.

I suppose with a gantry machine where the work is stationary and the tool moves it works fine but for an engineering mill where the tables move beneath a fixed position quill then the spatial difference can become a headache!

Thanks for the response anyway.

Alan
Re: Mach3 and mill set up
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2006, 11:49:05 AM »
Alan,
 I have setup 6 VMC's so far and all of them I consider the tool moving.  There has been no regrets or problems in the brain (on that issue!) but when I purchased a new Johnford VMC it was all in relation to the table movement! Thanks a lot Fanuc for the confusion!

Tom