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Author Topic: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR  (Read 12621 times)

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Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« on: October 04, 2018, 06:08:52 AM »
Hi

I'm new to this forum and I'm trying to use the STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR. I'm quite new to CNCing and I'm spanish so excuse my ignorance and eventual language barrier.

I have a chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine with a JK02-M5 Breakout board, 2M542 Stepper Motors, and a Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer.
The Balls screws on my machine are "1204"
I work in metric units.

My first question is: in the section "leadscrew" of the STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR would "pitch" be 12 or 04? Same for "lead".
My 2nd question is: do I have to fill the lower section of the calculator and if so, how? (feed, Stepper RPM, Pulse/sec, Distance vs Steps)

Thanks a lot for your help

Cheers
Sono
Chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine
JK02-M5 Breakout board
2M542 Stepper Drivers
Nema 23 3A/425oz Stepper Motors
Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer
Windows 7

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2018, 06:31:36 AM »
Hi ,

I see the confusion.

'Pitch' is the distance between the crest of adjacent threads and 'Thread Starts' are the number of individual threads.
Basically the calculation provides the distance the carriage moves from one complete revolution of the screw and this is defined as the 'Lead'.

You do not have to complete the lower part of the calculator to obtain the Steps per Unit.

Once you have established the correct Steps per Unit they can be checked by using the Axis Calibration feature on the Settings page.

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2018, 06:41:54 AM »
Thanks for your fast reply Tweakie

So if I understand it correctly, if my Ballscrew is 12mm diameter and 4mm Pitch and it has one start, Lead (mm/rev) value on the file should be 4, right?

Cheers
Sono
Chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine
JK02-M5 Breakout board
2M542 Stepper Drivers
Nema 23 3A/425oz Stepper Motors
Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer
Windows 7

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2018, 08:23:17 AM »
Quote
So if I understand it correctly, if my Ballscrew is 12mm diameter and 4mm Pitch and it has one start, Lead (mm/rev) value on the file should be 4, right?

Correct  ;)

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2018, 12:34:25 PM »
Any recommendation or standard value, or any system to determine a good value for microsteps?
I want to use the machine mainly to cut PCBs...

Cheers
Sono
Chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine
JK02-M5 Breakout board
2M542 Stepper Drivers
Nema 23 3A/425oz Stepper Motors
Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer
Windows 7

Offline ZASto

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Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2018, 04:10:30 PM »
8 :)
Make no mistake between my personality and my attitude.
My personality is who I am.
My attitude depends on who you are.
Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2018, 06:20:52 PM »
8?
Chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine
JK02-M5 Breakout board
2M542 Stepper Drivers
Nema 23 3A/425oz Stepper Motors
Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer
Windows 7

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2018, 01:44:03 AM »
Hi Sono,

The most common microstep setting is 8 (or 1/8th).

The Gecko website has some excellent explanatory tutorials; https://www.geckodrive.com/support/step-motor-basics.html

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2018, 04:39:17 AM »
Oh I see. That would mean I should set the steppers' microswitches to 1600 microsteps and put the same value in Mach motor tuning, right?

Thanks
Chinese 3 axis 40x30 machine
JK02-M5 Breakout board
2M542 Stepper Drivers
Nema 23 3A/425oz Stepper Motors
Dell Optiplex 745 dedicated computer
Windows 7

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Help with STEPS PER UNIT CALCULATOR
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2018, 04:45:44 AM »
Oh I see. That would mean I should set the steppers' microswitches to 1600 microsteps and put the same value in Mach motor tuning, right?

Thanks


No.
Set the microsteps to 8

Tweakie.
PEACE