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mach 4 plasma with thc
« on: August 10, 2018, 06:37:27 AM »
has there been any progress on a mach 4 plasma screen a bata any thing
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2018, 04:52:18 PM »
Hi,
that would best be answered by NFS.

What is it that you think a dedicated Plasma screen would offer that say wx4.set does not?

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2018, 06:09:34 PM »
Torch hight control
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2018, 06:14:53 PM »
Hi,
torch height control is a process which requires realtime (read really fast) response, ie it is limited to a hardware
controller. Mach just cannot communicate fast enough for good torch height control.

If Mach could be tweaked so that its there-and-back-again communication loop is less than a few milliseconds
it might work...as it stands...no.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2018, 07:28:54 PM »
yes that's the rummer I hear why NFS has not reliced a plasma with thc.  yet they need a controller builder to build the thc in to the controller  ..   I run a vitalsystem hicon with there arch pro screen  the controller processes the thc it runs in real time  .  others are using a thc that does its own motor control of the z  like a proma sd
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2018, 07:32:54 PM »
but yet NFS has a mach 4 plasma screen they working on ??  they made it work in mach 3 also people seam happy with that I never used mach 3 so I cant comment how the thc worked
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2018, 07:57:28 PM »
Hi,

Quote
they made it work in mach 3
No, thats not quite correct. THC in Mach3 is enacted by the motion controller just as it is in Mach4, and Mach3's parallel port
qualifies as a realtime  motion controller and  can do THC.

Mach4 has a parallel port ( called Darwin) but it DOES NOT support THC and according to Art (the guy who wrote it)
will not ever do so.

There was some talk about NFS releasing a 'quasi' THC function which exploited a secondary Z axis motor piggy backed
onto a regular Z axis. It would be limited by there there-and-back-again communication loop but would work in most
circumstances. The advantage to the Mach community is that the controller hardware support required, and there
is still some support required, would be much easier to achieve and therefore more manufacturers would offer it.

Are there shortcomings with the THC functionality of your HiCon contrller? I had been led to believe that they are very
good.....if so why bother with lesser solutions?

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2018, 09:44:30 AM »
no the hicon works very well its not cheap . the down fall is all the settings have to be entered. on the screen.  so there is no putting it in cam. so its not automatic saved in a file with the cut tools..  there is another oem plasma table builder ..true cut . they have a mach4 controller using a warp9 ess what they did is wright a screen that allows you to save the thc settings you pull it up it gives the settings to manualy put in the thc .. there thc is a separate unit they built that controls the z motor driver when the thc is on .. I would suspect will see more of that type unit being made and sold as a separate unit . that takes thc out of the pc .. right know we only have the proma sd and the nuron that's what mach motion uses.  along with an oem hicon .for there plasma..   most plasma users say they will never use mach 4 because it just doesn't have the resoulition in the corners and circles. when cutting at higher ipm it slows down .  well I say I don't see any of that. mabe they did not use the right motor size i pretty happy with the mach 4 setup I have with the hicon controller. I talked a few others in to getting one also. I going to make a fiew more mach 4 plasma vidieos for my youtube site koollakes. my build is on there just been busy this year with biz . im no programmer. I just figured it be nice if NFS had a plasma screen if they cant do thc then setup to work with a proma sd type unit .    

the rest of the plasma world is pushing Linux command cnc.. and flash cut with there usb pc system and there soft ware ..  all the others are using mach 3 still  
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2018, 02:19:18 PM »
Hi,

Quote
so its not automatic saved in a file with the cut tools..

If you can read the numbers of the HiCon THC screen  you can write the code to have them stored in the .ini file and have the
.ini file repopulate the screen at start up. Or you could alternately save the numbers in registers and check <persistent> so that
the register is saved.

Quote
so there is no putting it in cam

Does your CAM allow you to pass variables like that? It would be simple enough to write a macro which reads a block of data within a Gcode
file placed there by the CAM program and use that data to populate the registers used above.

Quote
most plasma users say they will never use mach 4 because it just doesn't have the resoulition in the corners and circles. when cutting at higher ipm it slows down

Mach4 has the resolution, what is happening there is the CV settings causing a reduction in speed at corners. You can adjust CV or even turn it off. The
ability of a machine to maintain speed through a direction change is determined by the acceleration and rigidity of the machine. Mach can drive it as fast
as you like, its the machine that sets the limit. CV setting are Machs attempt to moderate or mitigate the consequences of lack of acceleration.

Quote
the rest of the plasma world is pushing Linux command cnc..

That because Linux CNC is free. If a company can afford to hire one or two software experts then they can turn out a great program using Linux CNC as a base to
start from. Unless you have that expertise you can't do the same. One of the strengths of Mach4 is that it can be customized without being a computer
expert, or at least as expert as you are required to be to delve into Linux CNC as customize it.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: mach 4 plasma with thc
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2018, 03:49:58 AM »
I should have decribed what I ment buy saving settings  in sheet cam there are hundreds of tool settings  they all use the hypertherm book setting for steel thickness settings.  they are a lot based on metal thickness and metal type  since the hicon does not use them from sheet cam I have to enter the settings depending on the metal I cut and the amps I use on the torch its not realy that big a deal I getting use to it I been running I about a year now 

I should have said constant velocity not resoulition  . others were trying to tell me mach 4 does not have the cv as Linux  well I can draw things at 600 ipm  like a large detailed rose lots of inside corners
of course I cant cut that fast unless I cut thin sheet metal at 80 amps  so you would not need that speed except for the rapids my table dosnt slow down on corners it stays constant I just figured it was the controller and he motors and gearing that were right .

I did see a mach 4 plasma video brian baker posted stating he using a thc proma  with up down inputs to the mach 4 program  I assume some one found a way to make thc work  he does not state what controller he is using  and never answers questions