sx3 build advice/help appreciated

gday all.first post. would liketo thank all the good people on this forum who use their time to share their knowledge and builds that inspire people such as myself to dive in and have a crack. just completed sx3 converion using ncfusion delux kit and G540 4-Axis kit(110V/220VAC):
1 pcs G540 4 axis Stepper Driver with 4pcs DB9 connectors
1 pcs NEMA34 906 oz-in Stepper Motor
3 pcs NEMA23 KL23H2100-35-4B (1/4” Dual shaft with a flat) 381 oz-in
1 pcs KL-600-48 48V/12.5A 115V /230V Power Supply

playing around with tuning/settings and was hoping someone who has been through this on same or similar setup would be kind enough to share where they settled on vel/acc, step/dir pulse settings.(which is not clear to me) and kernel speed. bit difficult to know optimum settings and speeds when first time ever seen one working and finding conflicting info. cpu is 3.2Ghz 1Gb ram with no graphics card( should i get one?) cant wait to start using and trying to get my head around which cad/cam to start using as have no experience in such.would like something not steeply priced and user/beginner freindly. thankyou in advance
David

I'm using 280 oz motors, 40v. My settings are:

x and y: vel 100, acc 40
Z: vel 100, acc 8

I did not try to push everything to the limit yet. My x and y can do 200ipm, but I don't want it that fast at this point.

thank you for replying and sharing. are you using ball screws? on my x and y which are direct drive calculated step per unit is 400. can you please tell me your step per unit fig as thinking about the conversion(100 ipm x 25.4=mm)?thinking how step per unit effects this? what is your kernel speed? not sure what i should have mine set on nor the step/dir pulse settings? thanks
David

David,
I am using the CNCFusion deulx kit with the 5mm pitch ballscrews. I calculated:

5.08 TPI x 200 Steps per rev x 10 Microsteps on the G540 ...

5.08 x 200 x 10 = 10160 step per inch.

I put this in my Mach3 and the jogging is accurate. As for step/dir .. mine are both 2 and it seems to work fine.

I am using the same motors as you and I cant get any more than 100 IPM so far, still havent really optimized it yet.

thanks dogmeat. which is exactly the 400 x 25.4. was running accurately on x,y. do you have the cr pulley on yours. set mine up via auto setup measureway. cant recall offtop what fig was think saround 530 mark. my z axis stalls bit lower than should not sure why,may be ball screw allignment? what is kernel speed you are using as not sure what setting to use. during setup g540 blew a fuse so waiting on some. not so worried bout speed more about nice consitent performance, 100ipm more than fast enough. can you please specify acc dir/step settings you have found be good.

I'm using 5 tpi ball screws. X and y are direct drive. My drive is programmed for 8 microsteps. Step setting is 8microsteps x 200steps per rev x 5 turn per inch = 8000.

My z axis is geared at approx 2:1. Kernel speed is 100,000, but I was just testing to see how fast my motors can turn. I don't think it affects the performance, other than how how you can set the velocity.

Kooka, I have been optimizing mine lately. I found out that with the step/dir set to 2, the Y axis was losing steps along the way. I changed it to 5 and no more lost steps.

I also upped my kernel speed one setting when I got the full license for Mach, it made my rapids much faster! I could probably up it some more .. it all depends on CPU speed I think.

cheers.got mine up and running again, still in setup process. have an issue with the z axis too. either slipping/stalling/alignment issue i have to look into.did you sort your z axis out. anything over 500mm/min problem arises. currently have my step/dir set on 2 will give 5 a crack. kernel speed 45k. unsure still about acc setting?currently running x and y at 1500mm/min vel.

gday dogmeat spen time trying to sort out my z axis(gibb /dovetails) i followed cr recommendations if i have velocity anywhere over 700mm/min motor stalls. have wired it bipolar paralell. any suggestions please.

Are you using any counterweight or gas strut? The head is quite heavy and if you aren't helping it up, the motor might struggle a bit.

The rep over at CNCFusion told me I was going to NEED the gas strut ... but I am running without it just fine. I haven't had any slipping on my pulleys, either. I haven't tried pushing it too quickly .. I am okay with having the Z putt along at a slow pace.

no i am not running a gas but just happened to find one lying around the right size, so temp put on to see if helped-same issue occuring. so removed head to see how went without weight ,same- removed stepper and even bench testing stepper has a spazmodic stallin issue. about to investigate wiring/coils .

after testing wiring ,swapping axis over and checking settings am sure it is a faulty stepper. when can and if can work out how wil try post vid showing the random stalling/clunking that is happening.

Can the smaller steppers drive the Z faster? Thats a bummer if the stepper is faulty .. but at least you figured it out!

not sure bout driving faster, think its more about torque needed to lift head. bummer is time takes to sort as ordered from there to here(slow turn around). do have a n23 381 supposecould mount that upand see how goes in meantime. 4 holes and sort a pulley! how your machine running?

Sorry to hear that kooka, I know it's ants in your pants when you are that close but theres just one small problem! You'll have it sorted eventually and you'll forget all about this once you are churning out parts :)

Mine's runnin just great! turning out part and taking jobs already! Just working on building the tool library ... it's a really research intensive process !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kooka

gday all.first post. would liketo thank all the good people on this forum who use their time to share their knowledge and builds that inspire people such as myself to dive in and have a crack. just completed sx3 converion using ncfusion delux kit and G540 4-Axis kit(110V/220VAC):
1 pcs G540 4 axis Stepper Driver with 4pcs DB9 connectors
1 pcs NEMA34 906 oz-in Stepper Motor
3 pcs NEMA23 KL23H2100-35-4B (1/4” Dual shaft with a flat) 381 oz-in
1 pcs KL-600-48 48V/12.5A 115V /230V Power Supply

David

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Hey kooka,

You just replied to my SX3 New CNC build thread. Interestingly, we are using exactly the same hardware. Would you please share what you did with limit switches (note that I have not continued to read your thread, but I'm about to. So, if you already explained this, then I'll see it in a few seconds, so no need to re-explain! :)

EDIT: I didn't notice that you are not using the 75lb gas strut from CNCFusion. I am using it. My z-axis seems to work well, but I've only exercised it to its limits about 5 times (all within 15 or so minutes, earlier today). Not sure whether I'll see problems later.

Thx!
David (3space)

gday 3space, sorry bout time taken to reply, been flat out no time for computer.. i didnt actually log my build as once again never enough hours in the day and no real need as i was basically following the lead of the man CR ( cheers cr ) and i couldnt come close to his build log.. about the limits i only set up homing switches and use soft limits as per the cr way. i will try and get time tonight to take couple of pics to post. also i can comfirm that the lms spindle speed controller card does work and works well i am running within @10 rpm through whole range. cheers David