[Farasien]

Hey all-

I recently bought a Charter Oak Automation 3 axis mill, and have been stymied with trying to get a program to run. I use MasterCamX (3 axis Haas post processor) to cad and cad my parts, for background info. I'm new to using Mach 3, have watched the youtube videos I can find on it, and felt I was ready to go, but it seems I'm missing something...

My issue here is after having homed my machine, set the stock zeros on my workpiece (using the northeast corner as my zero), and zeroed the tool's tip on the stock's top, for some reason Mach shifts my toolpaths down and to the left of where I zeroed it. If I were to let the program go its way, it would carve the path into the anvil of my Kurt vice instead of my chunk of wood. I've gone through all the videos I can find on youtube and the like, but have had no success in fixing the issue. I tried moving the stock to the southwest corner, tried other post processors... nothing seems to fix the problem that I know to try.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I get Mach to cut in the right place?

Thanks in advance-

Farasien

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Sounds like maybe your axis motion is reversed. If you move from X=0 to X=6, which direction does the table move? The table should move LEFT when viewed from the front. Do the same for Y. The table should move AWAY from the column.

Regards,
Ray L.

[daniellyall]

is north east, back left standing from front of machine

[Farasien]

is north east, back left standing from front of machine

Standing in front of the machine, north is away from you, east is to the right.

[daniellyall]

if you are standing in front of the machine the front edge left corner of the table should be Y0, X0 so if the table Y axis is move away from you that's the + direction moving to you is - direction, the X axis is moving to the right is + moving to the left is -

its in the manual

[RustedOut]

if you are standing in front of the machine the front edge left corner of the table should be Y0, X0 so if the table Y axis is move away from you that's the + direction moving to you is - direction, the X axis is moving to the right is + moving to the left is -

its in the manual

It doesn't matter where you set the part axis as long as the actual location matches the cad. So if you set it at your north east location, or far right, you should have all negative values in your program. Negative for the X moves, negative for the Y moves and negative for the Z moves as the cutter is into the part. I'm talking about the majority of the actual cutting motion, not the preparation moves getting ready to move into the part as those could be either positive or negative. Lost of folks though will set the part axis at the near left corner so the majority of the moves are all positive other than the Z moves.

I got to wonder if you are running in a tool offset in Mach and have another specified in your program. Is there a G54, G55, G56 or something similar in the heading of your programs? If so, are you in the same tool offset in Mach? IF you have a G54 in Mach and a G56 or something other than G54, things are not going to work as Mach will shift to whatever tool offset is specified in the program ignoring the one you have/had in Mach prior to hitting cycle start.

Bob

[bohica]

I had a similar problem. Both X and Y axis would shift about .1 inch on the first move. I found that it was caused by line N0050. Never could figure out why. I always delete this line and life is good. This code is generated by SheetCam.

N0010 (Filename: Clamps3-16TXT.tap)
N0020 (Post processor: Mach3.scpost)
N0030 (Date:21/01/2015 Time:11:00:09)
N0040 G20 (Units: Inches)
N0050 G40 G90 G91.1
N0060 F1

Jim

[Farasien]

Woo hoo! Machining bliss is almost mine... Think I found my problem... On the advice of Bob (thank you!),after scrutinizing the code, I found I did have a g92 and g91 in there after the safety block and that was what was messing my work offset up.

Found another problem though... I have a total of 5 pockets I'm trying to machine in my part, but when I get to the end of the second one, I get a weird error from Mach saying something to the tune of memory not being enough or my motors being set too high or something. It says my 0 is likely messed up, and if I were to hit 'cycle start' from that position, the tool would likely cut through the center of my part as it repositioned... Weird. I got around the problem by making each pocket a seperate program, but I'd like to have it all as a single one. When I got my machine, I was told the Mach license came with it, so I doubt that's the problem, but I'm a newbie to M3... anyone have any other ideas?

-Farasien

[williamsmotower]

Look under help on top of mach3 screen, or version. You may be in demo mode... which means it's not a paid license, and limits amount of gcode lines

[Farasien]

Look under help on top of mach3 screen, or version. You may be in demo mode... which means it's not a paid license, and limits amount of gcode lines

I checked it, and it is registered. This is the error I've gotten:



The error came up a few times now. The first time was when I had 2 of the 5 pockets in a single program. It popped up on the last pass of the cutter. The second time was when I was running each pocket as a separate program. It came up on the last program, and for the hell of it, I hit 'OK' and kept it going. After repositioning to a set of coordinated inside the pocket, it kept going, but was out of zero like it suggests. At the last line of cutting on the program, it gave me the error again, and I just stopped it.

Infuriating.

[mactec54]

Farasien

Your computer is not outputting enough to keep the buffer in the Smooth Stepper,with enough code, you need at least 2G of ram,in the computer, more is better, & like the warning has said, you can set the Smooth Stepper with a lower Hz setting for each axes

To check to see if it is a real copy, it will have your name, or who it is licensed to, right at the top left of the main screen when you first open it

[3dMatt]

I checked it, and it is registered. This is the error I've gotten:



The error came up a few times now. The first time was when I had 2 of the 5 pockets in a single program. It popped up on the last pass of the cutter. The second time was when I was running each pocket as a separate program. It came up on the last program, and for the hell of it, I hit 'OK' and kept it going. After repositioning to a set of coordinated inside the pocket, it kept going, but was out of zero like it suggests. At the last line of cutting on the program, it gave me the error again, and I just stopped it.

Infuriating.

And I thought I was the only one who received this error! I've been plagued with this intermittent error (on the x-axis when I do rapid moves) since I received my Charter Oak Automation CNC machine last year. Can't figure out why Charter Oak would setup and ship the computer this way. I've been hesitant to lower the frequency setting but guess I should (according to mactec54's reply).

[mactec54]

3dMatt

Are these machines driving steppers, if so then the Smooth Stepper Default settings, is more than any stepper system would ever need, even if they are running servo's the Default settings will still be enough for most servo's

[3dMatt]

These machines are using servos and I haven't changed the default settings since I received the machine. If I remember correctly, Paul at Charter Oak Automation said that their machines were all tested at his facility. I'm just not sure about their testing methods - my fault. I purchased a "turnkey" machine and so thought that "turnkey" meant turnkey. My bad (I guess)

[mactec54]

3dMatt

Check what the spec's that your computer has, it may not be up to the task, or it may just be some settings need to be changed, see what has been set in the Smooth Stepper page Photo below

The Controller Frequency is most likely the only change you need to make, Top lefthand corner

[Farasien]

Yep, thanks 3dMatt, that was it. I adjusted my frequency from 1K to 500, and no problems since. I wonder though, does this potentially affect surface finish quality? Are there any other implications to dropping the frequency (or benefits to a higher frequency) that this might impact?

-Farasien

[mactec54]

Farasien

No it will not affect the surface finish, the Encoders they are running, is what affects the surface finish, & how rigid the machine is