[Matt Clara]

The cnc router is from Fine Line Automation. I had a hard drive failure and find I don't have the proper motor tunings to make it work correctly. I have an old Mach3 profile/xml file from the manufacturer and the some of the motor tuning settings (velocity/acceleration) may have come from there. Before I tweaked the settings it was cutting ovals instead of circles, so I followed some online tutorials and, using the Mach3 "set unit" function, got it cutting circles again, but I know nothing about what my velocity and acceleration settings should be and wondered if people could take a look at them and offer some advice if possible. The system uses parts from Avid (was cncrouterparts.com back then, though), including the standard 380oz nema 23 stepper drivers with the 1/4" shafts and their rack and pinion setup to drive the gantry up and down the length of it, which uses two steppers slaved together. Here are the settings I've come up with so far:

Y + A Axis (rack & pinion drive)
Steps: 1911.x | Velocity: 400.x | Acceleration: 90

X Axis (lead screw)
Steps: 3983.x | Velocity: 400.x | Acceleration: 15

Z Axis (lead screw)
Steps: 4000 | Velocity: 100.x | Acceleration: 20

Y seems too quick and X too slow in terms of acceleration, just from observation. I imagine I can tweak them to suit my tastes, but there's also the drive mechanism's ability to withstand the forces coupled with the need for speed and accuracy, and I have no idea what I'm doing to find the right balance there!

Thanks!
Matt

[Matt Clara]

I set Acceleration to 30, 30 and 20, respectively based on some info from Avid. They refused to help me with my machine because it wasn't one of theirs, but they did point me to an old xml file for a machine similar to mine. I was able to carve my name and repeatedly returning the Z to zero appears to be putting it back in the exact same spot every time. So I guess now I'm the motor tuning expert here. ??

[Matt Clara]

That was supposed to be a winking guy, not two question marks, lol.