[iflymyhelishigh]

Hello. My school has a Techno G-Code DaVinci Education Mill for milling out small balsa cars. Recently, the mill has started acting up. When we try milling out a car, the Z axis automatically gos up and the software comments with "Please remove arm from limit switch"

Is there something wrong with the mill mechanically or is it the G-Code interface program? I had a problem working on another student's car where the CAM software (QuickCAM) gave me the error that the part was created in Inches. Do you think that could be the problem with the mill? We use the metric system (MM) because that is easier to use.

Right before I left, I performed a test on the mill, a startup test, it worked perfectly and the software reported what the mill was saying.

I reset the control interface, but have not tried to get the mill to work yet as I had to leave, but I was wondering what you think my problem is.

For CAD, I use dotCAD, recently renamed to Educator

http://www.thinkdimensions.com/

Oh, and I am not the teacher at the school, my teacher asked me to find out more about the mill and what could be wrong. He trusts me 100% with working on the mill.

Help would be appreciated, Thank You.

[Pplug]

I have had several problems working with stepper motor based techno davinci's. It all comes down to their horrible control software. I use software called KAY to control the mill and it works perfect every time. If you have a servo davinci, that is a different animal, the z axis encoder might be broken! There is usually no way to fix the encoder itself if the glass wheel inside it is broken. A replacement can be ordered from techno for $180! I went though the same problems with my LC4896 when I purchased it from e-bay!
-plug

[iflymyhelishigh]

Well, I solved it. The problem is that the Z Axis stepper motor goes up before it goes down.

The material was about half an inch off of the jig because of improperly securing it. This took me about an hour to find. After that, the machine did not hit the limit switch. The Z axis went up and hit the limit switch when the execution started.

[Pplug]

Good to hear you were able to correct your problem. Check out Galaad to get the most out if that mill.

P.S.
I am a tech(shop) teacher!

[iflymyhelishigh]

That Kay G-Code interface looks good. I wonder if its possible to make my own G-Code interface, all those interfaces look like they're really old, probably because the window color.

We are actually going to integrate a computer, well, I am. We just got a whole bunch of Core 2 Duo computers in, and I feel that 1 of them will be a great match for the mill. Just comes down to putting the monitor somewhere.

[Scooby Doo]

I just got one of those DaVinci Servo. Will K work for the interface?

[Pplug]

No, it will only work for the stepper davinci and some of the older controllers. Be happy you have a servo system. They run at least twice as fast as the stepper model and have slightly better free control software.

[alheyne]

Regarding Kay; has anyone tried any other software? The kay seems to be the best, but the price tag is out of my reach. (especially considering i'm just starting out. It would actually be cheaper for me to retro-fit my davinci with a custom made stepper driver board and an arduino Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Al

[Pplug]

Regarding Kay; has anyone tried any other software? The kay seems to be the best, but the price tag is out of my reach. (especially considering i'm just starting out. It would actually be cheaper for me to retro-fit my davinci with a custom made stepper driver board and an arduino Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Al

I don't think there is any other software except for technos G code stepper interface.