[Dustmite]

Hi all

I've following this thread for a while and its given me some great info and I'm very close to buying the X6

couple of quick questions..I've seen the promo vids but does any one know of any footage of some 3D roughing in aluminium?

How does Mach3 perform with solidcam and or what CAM packages are you guys using for 3D with mach3?

Thanx heaps

Cheers Charlie

Hey chuck! Ive been using vectric aspire with GREAT success. I would highly recommend it. Havent tried any other cam packages, but what ive seen so far, mach3 hasnt had any performance issues with running generated gcode for 3d carving.

[dharmic]

dharminc : sorry i was out for training how to do ce certification in europe ,... when you post or give me the link wgich pin is doing what i can do that easily i would recommend to have a look at gmoccapy which suits nice and i use it as standard on our machines if people want a touchscreen

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Thanks. More fundamentally than that, everything I see regarding USB BOBs and LinuxCNC tells me "No, USB can be used for a pendant but not for the breakout boards with LinuxCNC". Have you found a way around that?

[Tkamsker]

short answer i guess is no but ,.. usb is an serial interface which somewhere has to step train the impulses some setups have an usb part which then goes to an good old db25 port or whatever so which bob ate you using ? i right mow play around with an mesa card an 7i76 to fit it on my machines there is a reason why tormach for instance dropped mach3 ,... so if your board has somewhere pins for step dir one for pwm etc i ll help you with basic config


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[dharmic]

Using the YooCNC card that came with the machine. USB in direct to step/dir on 4 chan, VFD control and a few I/Os for resets and end stops.

If I can't use this card with LinuxCNC I'm not even going to bother looking at switching, I'll just keep going with Mach3 which is working fine. If I was going to look at another card I'd be more likely to go a self contained motion control card like an ethernet smooth stepper or kflop setup. But there's no need at the moment, the current config is working.

If I could have just plugged in a different laptop running LinuxCNC I would have given it a try. But I can't, so that's one thing less on the "to do" list!

[Tkamsker]

Perfect ...


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[zeeflyboy]

I think the fundamental issue comes from the fact that linuxCNC is designed to work as a real time system whereas motion controllers do all the important timing stuff themselves.

Personally I much prefer the idea of offloading all the timing critical work to a dedicated piece of hardware that doesn't know how to do anything else... For that reason linuxCNC has never massively appealed to me.

[dharmic]

Yep. Not that Mach3 is any different, and it seems to survive ok with the USB latency issues which I guess LinuxCNC have decided just to not deal with at all. I work with Linux and figured it would be worth a look, but if I have to replace the breakout to make it happen I'd replacing it with a self contained unit like I have on my 3D printer. Smoothstepper, kflop, whatever - and they tend to have firmware which ain't LinuxCNC. So no LinuxCNC for me

[cncfan500]

Just received X6-2200L.

Using it for milling small holes in 2mm aluminum (T6061). Spend few days and can't find optimal settings. Broke few bits.

What parameters are you guys using (rpms, etc)?

What bits are you using? 1/8shank, 1/16-1/32 diameter.

[dharmic]

My go-to tool is a 6mm endmill, but I'm not cutting aluminium that often and I haven't done much at all with such small bits.

Still. Looking at any of the random multitude of feed and speed calculators on the internet I get (for an HSS 1/16 bit into 6061) 15000RPM and about a 200ipm feed.

[aarggh]

What kind of lubricant are you using? Aluminium tends to really gum up the cutters (especially due to the high rpm's) so they end up pushing their way through the material more than cutting through.

A few squirts of WD40 while really, really, bad for you works a treat, but others like Lanolin, lard, etc, work well too.

cheers, Ian

[zeeflyboy]

Aluminium likes a good feed rate otherwise it just starts to rub...

Make sure you aren't using a bit with any al based coating (I'd just go with a normal uncoated carbide bit) and I would recommend a single or max 2 flute bit to allow you to keep feed rates reasonable with a good rpm.

Lubrication is helpful, but I have cut plenty of aluminium dry without snapping any bits. Surface finish is always better with lubrication though.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Hey,

Just a quick couple of question

What do you guys think to the stepper motors on these machines?
Would you say they are about right for the frame while milling aluminium (any more cutting force would just deflect the frame to much)?
Also what's the max rapids you can get before loosing steps?

Do you think the machine is capable/accurate enough (going steady) of cutting 12mm 6061 aluminium parts to replace or build a new machine?
I realize it's not a cast iron milling machine but does look reasonably stiff.

John

[dharmic]

I think they're about right, John. I've never seen a skip and I run 5m/min rapids which is the max limit in the Mach3 settings they send out with the machine. I've cut plenty of 6mm 6061 on it and no problems. I haven't done a tonne of aluminium work on it, I'll admit, and I haven't really take the time to play with pushing feeds up to where they should be for the right chip load, but at 250-300mm/s at 6000rpm with a 6mm carbide endmill taking 0.5mm deep passes of a 2mm stepover it seems pretty happy.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks for the reply dharmic, may push the button on one of these.

John

[zeeflyboy]

Frame is surprisingly rigid thanks to now having supported gantry and proper linear rails.

I think you could comfortably put more powerful motors on without running into frame limitations, but that said stock motors handle aluminium fine.

Beware going too steady with aluminium, that can actually be self defeating if taken too far!

I've actually just taken delivery of some easy servo steppers - bit more overall torque (significantly more low speed torque mind you) but it wasn't really out of need, more because "why not". My chief reason for the change was simply that I know it will no longer even be possible to unknowingly lose position due to lost steps, but more over its just because I like to tinker than any particular need.

The stock machine is certainly more than capable of handling 6061 and giving a good finish.

Looking forward to getting those installed

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Frame is surprisingly rigid thanks to now having supported gantry and proper linear rails.

I think you could comfortably put more powerful motors on without running into frame limitations, but that said stock motors handle aluminium fine.

Beware going too steady with aluminium, that can actually be self defeating if taken too far!

I've actually just taken delivery of some easy servo steppers - bit more overall torque (significantly more low speed torque mind you) but it wasn't really out of need, more because "why not". My chief reason for the change was simply that I know it will no longer even be possible to unknowingly lose position due to lost steps, but more over its just because I like to tinker than any particular need.

The stock machine is certainly more than capable of handling 6061 and giving a good finish.

Looking forward to getting those installed

Thanks zeeflyboy,

I've been out of the cnc loop for ~6yrs due to a stupid illness and on catch up atm. What with these digital stepper drives and all, so interested in what set up you have bought and how they perform compared with what I was using. Do you have a link for them 'easy servo steppers' or do you have your own thread here on the zone?

[zeeflyboy]

Well the machine comes with digital stepper drivers, from what I can see they are pretty decent.

What I have bought is really not necessary to be honest! The machine works fine as sold in my experience.

But since you asked, basically it's like a normal stepper motor but with an encoder on the end and a special driver. That allows a closed loop error control... because it knows what position the motor is actually in, it can correct for any missed steps. Due to having greater control over the motor it gives more torque across the RPM range, better holding torque and potentially higher top speeds too. Just generally more efficient all round too with less heat and noise.

This is the specific type I ordered, they just arrived yesterday but I haven't had a chance to even look at installing them yet. Don't underestimate the changes needed to swap over to these - the control box will need a fair bit of modification.... I will probably end up doing a custom back panel. The stock cable chains won't have enough room for the increased wiring either.

new original Leadshine nema23 2NM Hybrid servo kit HBS507+573HBM20 1000 Closed loop stepping motor drive 57mm 3 phase New in box-in Motor Driver from Industry & Business on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group


Here's a little video showing just how difficult they are to upset (not my video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMZdCcLQc4M

[chucka103]

Hi all
After watching this thread and search and searching I hit the checkout button and I've got the x6 in the mail so I've started building my table while I wait

Can someone give me the centres of the feet ?
Thanx heaps

Cheers Charlie


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[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks zeeflyboy, much appreciated.

One last question to any owner, are the bearings on the fixed end of the ball screws angular, deep groove or other?

John

[Stigoe]

They're all deep groove bearings.