[kbillan]

Exactly-- Make it jarvis... this is what i was hoping for.. Ill draw it-- You (machine) cut it...

And reading about G code is like watching water evaporate.

There has to be an idots guide to Gcode..LMAO

[fretsman]

Everyone thinks this at first...I did too! I thought I could just model up a 3d part and hit *print*! Boy was I wrong. But after building my own machine, I lost the fantasy that I could make parts with the ease of Tony Stark in Iron Man ("make it Jarvis"), but gained the knowledge to design successful mechanical systems in the process....I got not what I wanted, but what I needed.

Boy, this is so true, I can still remember thinking to myself (and I still do at times), what the hell did I get myself (and my wallet) into?!?!

Dave

[kbillan]

I just ran the driver test-- uhm.. it looks different than in the manual- and i dont know what im looking at... LOL... anyone? What exactly am i looking for...

seems i have the Mach2 driver test.. is there an upgrade or a plug in for the one in the manual??

Keith

[Fixittt]

what your looking for is in the white box, there is a line.......... it will have small peaks in it, if this line is erratic or you have high/alot of peaks its no good. You want the line as flat as possible.

[kbillan]

what your looking for is in the white box, there is a line.......... it will have small peaks in it, if this line is erratic or you have high/alot of peaks its no good. You want the line as flat as possible.

Looked pretty stable.

Still like the looks of the Mach3 one, opposed to mach2..

Just started the part again.. luckily this is wax, cost would have been astronomical with aluminum..

[Fixittt]

have you tried checking the sherline half pulse mode?

[Stepper Monkey]

I hate to bring another variable back into it, but before you lose all of your hair looking at the computer or the code as a culprit (which it still may be), you might want to look at the accel on Z.
Since you mention it is losing position on a fine, complex 3D profiling cut, this is a good possibility. These are the most demanding cuts a machine can make. With fine detail cuts the Z can have to rapidly change direction several times a second, and oscillating that much weight that fast can tax any drivers or motor. Test the accel on the Z (it should be lower than the accel on the X and Y), and make SURE it can't throw a step when changing direction. When starting from a stop it may seem fine, but that and having it reversing direction when it already has momentum going are two very different things. Jog it down until its moving pretty fast and then slam it into an upward jog. Do this a few times and listen for loss or recheck your zero. Drop the accel speed until you are safe.
If it is losing even one step, even intermittently, during a rapid reversal, it can easily slowly creep your zero an inch over a few thousand direction changes!

If this change happens all at once in the same place I'd say look to the code, if it is acting erratic look to the computer. If it is a slow growth I'd say look to accel.

If it is accel related, you can slow down the Z axis, or even better just put on a much lighter motor! Especially for cutting wax, any number of "found" little motors will do and will weigh much less, sometimes even only a pound or two. Save the big motor for hogging cuts in aluminum.

[MechanoMan]

Now I'm looking at the driver test and initially it says "Pulsing Too Slow" but then it does the "Takeover in 3...2...1... System Under Mach3 Control" then says "System is Excellent". Excellent at 45KHz too.

Is that initial error meaningful? Why does it start out as an error then say it's just fine?

[Fixittt]

do not worry about any messages untill it takes over the machine......

[kbillan]

When i ran the driver test, I watched for a minute and then went up to deal with kids.. i came back down and it said test complete. No other message.

I have the Set at 3 for accel.. and 4 for X and Y. Already on that

Sherline Pulse--- cant seem to find that- I was going to try that.

Ran the part last night and it looks like it worked pretty good. This was the most detailed part that i will be doing for now... a very curvy, 3d thing.. so I also had the thought that it might be a bit of a resource suck...

Keith

[guru_florida]

Ran the part last night and it looks like it worked pretty good. This was the most detailed part that i will be doing for now... a very curvy, 3d thing.. so I also had the thought that it might be a bit of a resource suck...

Keith

Congratulations! Your first success! How does it feel?

[kbillan]

It wasnt the first part I ran it was the most detailed though.

Also- it seems to have lost a little bit of the detail that was in the drawing. How do i make it more precise?

[fretsman]

It wasnt the first part I ran it was the most detailed though.

Also- it seems to have lost a little bit of the detail that was in the drawing. How do i make it more precise?

Well, what type of cutter were you using and what sort of detail are you after.

Got a picture of the drawing and your part for comparison?

Dave

[kbillan]

My roughing is done with a .125" ball.. and the finish a .032" ball.

I am at work right now, so i cannot post a pic.

But what i want is= the tool to not crash into the sides of the part on the deeper sections... and rather than rounded edges, i want them as squared as possible. Also, there are some details that seem to be smoothed over a bit. As if it lost definition.. .032" ball should be fine enough to get the detail im after.. i would think- anyway..

It looks good, and once i pull a mold from it this weekend, i can surely finish it by hand, but it would be nice if it wasnt necessary.

[MechanoMan]

Well, if you want the bottom of the cut to be flat you need an endmill, not a ball mill. There are also fine-point engravers that can do some incredible detail but the rules about "crashing into the sides" remains. The engraver for example is a V-shape and can't cut vertical walls, and if a vertical wall was previously cut by an endmill it can't run up to the vertical wall either.

What program are you using to generate the toolpaths?

[jalessi]

Kbillan,


"have you tried checking the sherline half pulse mode?"

Please let us know what happens after you apply Fixittt's fix.

Jeff...

[kbillan]

I have not found it yet. I will be messing with it today- although i dont see any of the parts i will be cutting from here on out to be a HOG like the buckle..

Here is the buckle... notice in the top relief where the previous tool path is still showing? is there a way around that aside from using a smaller end mill for roughing? Also, looking at the buckle drawing- the two dials on the top and bottom have 6 reliefs in them, notches really.. but the mill barely cuts these... and the dials them selfs are rounded on the edges, rather than squared.. I am thinking of puling this ring our of the drawing and cutting it separate.. but i want it all one piece as once molded, it is one piece.. but i can do that for the final mold now that i think of it... hmm








and yes, i have since found the screen cap function

[jalessi]

Kbillan,

The majority of the jewelry designers only use one tool to cut a design, instead of using a larger end mill they set Z Zero then raise it 5mm and do there rough in cut.

The cutter of choice is a pyramid 15 degree .005"

Also slabbing your wax first will help since you wont end up wasting time milling through a big chunk of material.

There are several jewelry designers here on the Zone however you will get answers to your wax questions much fast asking them on the 3dcadjewelry site.

http://3dcadjewelry.com/phpbb/

Jeff...

[Stepper Monkey]

I tend to like the profile (half-round) bits better. It seems to be a bit more commonly preferred as well, but it's personal preference depending on what type of cuts you do.
.005 is good, I also like .007 as the cuts take about half the time, unless you are really doing some ultra fine detail. I go between .003, .005, .007, and .010 depending on the job. Since the area lost to stepover is the same regardless, the larger bits cut off significantly more time than it would first appear.

[guru_florida]

After seeing your screencap, you aren't running Mach3 out of the Mac windows emulator are you?