Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 02:17:23 PM

Author Topic: 3d Probing on Granite slabs  (Read 17897 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #30 on: March 01, 2019, 03:07:18 AM »
Hi to everybody! I will make something like double post.
First, to Craig about the car and the cnc mill. Yes I need both for my work and I make some money thanks to them.

Second about the switch, I bought one omron switch, and going to make something like Craig sketched in the beginning of the tread.  Then I will try with autolleveler and see what is going to happen.
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #31 on: March 01, 2019, 03:35:54 AM »
Hi,
kool! This is a simple and cheap way to try it out. Having used Autoleveller I am confident that you could use it
to advantage, and even better, for next to no expense.

Should it prove otherwise or for any other reason you chose to try Mach4 then do yourself a favour and get yourself a decent
US or European external motion controller and be prepared to spend a few hundred on it.

Mach4 was and is intended to be complemented with such a controller. Mach4 has progressed to the point where it matches or in
some cases well exceeds Mach3. It is easier to transition from Mach3 to Mach4 than it used to be but is still far from trivial.
You would be commended to download Mach4 and run it in Demo mode, for free, until you are ready.

If you have not used an external controller before it will cause quite some confusion as to how they work together
and where one hands off to another. Thereafter however the Gcode and operation of Mach4 is very similar to Mach3.
The second learning curve is if and/or when you want to start modifying Mach4 to some specific need of your own.
It is very capable of such modification but is a steep learning curve. Fortunately 99% of Mach4 operations require no
such modification at all.

Let us know how you get on with Autoleveller.

Craig

'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #32 on: March 01, 2019, 03:37:33 AM »
Second post.
So look what a friend gave me.

https://www.keyence.com/products/sensor/fiber-optic/fs/models/fs2-60/index.jsp?search_dl=1

He told me that this is some scanning device from a 3 axis cnc from Italian company Marmo meccanica.
It is a digitizer in his opinion, but the machine is unknown, he bought from an auction and there was no more information about the device and the machine.
There is something I found in another company portfolio and attached a picture.

My question is - has someone seen and used something like this on his CNC? Is is possible to adapt something like this to Mach with third party software? I am just curious. 
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #33 on: March 01, 2019, 03:39:49 AM »
here are the pictures
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #34 on: March 01, 2019, 04:21:15 AM »
Hi,
the first picture declares the device is a go-nogo unit for tracing the outline of a template.

I don't think therefore that you could call it a scanner in the sense that it can produce a 3D point cloud.
In fact I don't think it can measure distance at all, therefore it might be able to assist in scanning an object or template
that would allow a 2D outline of the object to be produced but not its Z height.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #35 on: March 03, 2019, 08:00:26 AM »
Again thank you Craig, for helping the noobs like me. Until I am ready to do some tests of my probe, which will be next week, I want to ask an off topic question.

A friend of mine is building different kinds of machines and he is going to build me a new cnc machine with my financial and physical help. The CNC will have forth axis - "A". I still want to be able to do measuring with probe, not that I had done any, but I believe I will. So me question is:

 - Should I make the machine with mach3, because of the customization possibilities and the third party software that you can install on the windows pc, or should I choose something else.

He told me that we can use DSP, Syntec, Mach. He is more of a mechanic and less software guy. But he helps me a lot.

So to make it more clear. What controller should I use for 4 axis cnc and should I use mach3 or maybe mach4 just for the customization that I can always make, like the probing that we are talking here?

Hope that I wrote it understandable.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2019, 08:02:05 AM by CNCStone »
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #36 on: March 03, 2019, 11:25:52 AM »
Hi,
you will have to decide whether you use a Windows PC at all. Windows PCs are not realtime so the motion controller
has to handle all the realtime activities. As a consequence the abilities of the motion controller have a great deal of
influence over the machine behavior.

LinuxCNC is very  capable alternative, and is predicated on several distros of Linux that have Real Time Extensions,
meaning your PC (no longer Windows) becomes a realtime machine. You can use a parallel port rather like Mach3
or you can use Mesa cards which extend  the parallel port. LinuxCNC is open source and is ultimately very flexible
but that requires some programming ability.

Mach3 was always one of the go-to Windows based software solutions and that was predicated on the use of Mach's
parallel port driver. It was cheap and capable and generated a huge user base.

Nowadays the parallel port, while still free, is looking increasingly like an antique and external motion controllers are
the norm.

This has bought Mach into competition with UCCNC, another capable software solution.

Reluctance of users to take up Mach4 has resulted in many previous Mach3 users going to UCCNC.
It would pay to do your own research.

If you still favour Mach then for a new machine I would go for Mach4. As I have posted before Mach4 all but requires an
external motion controller. Budget $500-$600 for Mach4Hobby and an external motion controller and BoB(s).

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #37 on: March 03, 2019, 07:33:45 PM »
Hi,
I dont want to use windows pc, but it is the most flexible platform, for further development in time.
For now, I just need controller that operates with four axis, and have probing features for the uneven material that I work with. I thought that mach is the only way for me. Now I see UCCNC and see that there more and more alternatives.
What would any of you, use for this kind of job?
For the old machine, I am going to do the probing/ digitizing with mach3, and hope to succeed.
For the new machine I begin to wonder what should I choose?
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #38 on: March 03, 2019, 08:25:20 PM »
Hi,
just about any decent external motion controller will offer four axes.

The UC***** series from CNCDrive  are required for UCCNC but are also applicable to Mach.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: 3d Probing on Granite slabs
« Reply #39 on: March 03, 2019, 11:05:29 PM »
http://shop.cncdrive.com/index.php?productID=965
This looks interesting and if I understand, I will be able use it also with mach3. This looks like a good price even to test it on my old machine.