[SwampDonkey]

So I picked up a Series 1 Tormach used from a retiring machinist, great price and always loved the machines. Its first job was to cut a channel down the center of a peice of round stock.

I found that the jogging speed is maxed, or close to it. I toggled down the jog % to a lower number but it remained the same. The diagnostics screen showed the CV (constant velocity) LED as green. I dont know what to do now. Is there any way to gain control of the jogging speed, or any reason why its stuck at its current speed?

Thanks,
Marty

[bevinp]

Speak to Tormach.

[Just Me]

check your shift key to see if it is stuck down...maybe try a new keyboard...
also you may want to replace cable from pc to machine

[BAMCNC.COM]

In the MDI type F20, I can't remember if that works like that or not.

[SwampDonkey]

Speak to Tormach.

I did. They suggested I reinstall their updated version of Mach3, which I did. The probelem persists. Is it possible that all previous settings (from the previous owner) were preserved? If so, how can I undo this?

In the MDI type F20, I can't remember if that works like that or not.

I'll give that a shot. Thanks.

[mike sr1]

I tried jogging with the cursor keys and mine was fast (100%), I just typed in 20 in the jog percentage box, hit enter, and it slowed down. I rarely use those keys as I use the jog controller instead.

[SwampDonkey]

I tried jogging with the cursor keys and mine was fast (100%), I just typed in 20 in the jog percentage box, hit enter, and it slowed down. I rarely use those keys as I use the jog controller instead.

As in a pendant or something?

[BAMCNC.COM]

Yeah, pendant

[mike sr1]

Shuttle Xpress - price comparison - sale-fire.com

This is what I use, I bought a spare a year or so ago. Tormach sells them as well.

Edit: I learned something from this post, I had never tried changing the jog percentage.

There is software that goes with the jog shuttle, I would recommend Tormachs version for that.

[philbur]

At some point in the past jogging with keys on my keyboard stopped working. It started at the time of or after installing a vistacnc pendant. I assumed (but with no direct evidence) that the pendant plug-in had in some way disabled the keyboard jogging capability, it didn't really matter because I had no need to use the keys.

So you might want to check what plug-ins you have in your MACH3 plug-in directory and delete any that serve no purpose.

Phil

[mike sr1]

On mine the num lock has to be on to use the keypad for jogging, series 3 machine. I really never use them either as I use the pendant for that.

[SwampDonkey]

Shuttle Xpress - price comparison - sale-fire.com

This is what I use, I bought a spare a year or so ago. Tormach sells them as well.

Edit: I learned something from this post, I had never tried changing the jog percentage.

There is software that goes with the jog shuttle, I would recommend Tormachs version for that.

I might go this route. Is there any particular model that works with the Tormach? There seem to be several models and a wide price range on that page. I'd jump on the $29 one if I thought it would solve my problem. Im guessing these just plug into the computer via USB?


Edit: How do you edge-find and indicate parts without changing jogging speed?

[SwampDonkey]

QUOTE=philbur;1292352]At some point in the past jogging with keys on my keyboard stopped working. It started at the time of or after installing a vistacnc pendant. I assumed (but with no direct evidence) that the pendant plug-in had in some way disabled the keyboard jogging capability, it didn't really matter because I had no need to use the keys.

So you might want to check what plug-ins you have in your MACH3 plug-in directory and delete any that serve no purpose.

Phil[/QUOTE]

When I spoke with Tech support they suggested a fresh and updated version of their Mach3, downloaded from their site. I did that, no effect.
Unfortunately it seems to have saved all the settings the previous owner had set. I think its stuck in CV mode but dont know how to change that, or how to get rid of his settings.
I'll take a look at that directory, but I was advised that this version of Mach3 is optomized specifically for this machine and I probably shouldn't mess with anything.

[philbur]

There are three main ways to interface with your mill, a pendant is one of them. Do youself a favour and buy something more capable than a $29 shuttle-express.

Phil

I might go this route. Is there any particular model that works with the Tormach? There seem to be several models and a wide price range on that page. I'd jump on the $29 one if I thought it would solve my problem. Im guessing these just plug into the computer via USB?


Edit: How do you edge-find and indicate parts without changing jogging speed?

[sperman]

What do you recommend?

[philbur]

I have a iMachIII P3 CNC Control Pendant from Vistacnc. After the first couple of months I grew to like it very much. You have three jog rates at the flip of a switch.

The three selectable rates of movement are:
1 - equivalent to G00 when you turn the dial above a certain speed
2 - proportional to the rate you turn the dial
3 - an individual step when you turn the dial a certain number of degrees

This makes manual moving from one end of the table to an exact point on a part very easy. There are also a whole array of programmable features via the user software.

If I were to buy now I would look for one that had a digital display, at least capable of showing the current DRO reading for the selected axis. Any readout feature on the pendant that eliminates a need to look at the screen is very useful, What read-out features a person would find most useful would depend on how they intend to use it.

The thing I disliked very much with the Jog-shuttle was that it is all to easy to press one of the axis select buttons by accident and then you jog the wrong axis, sometimes with disastorous results.

Phil

What do you recommend?

[philbur]

Here is a view of the front panel of the pendant.



Phil

[Jabs1542]

Two things to note; 1) any drivers that were installed are a "Windows" thing and will still be there if you reinstall Mach 3 (unless you completely wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the OS as well), so this may be the persistence you are experiencing. 2) The Tormach Shuttle works very well for the price, admittedly a DRO on the device would be nice but that comes at a price (plus another windows driver). The Tormach Shuttle doesn't require any special drivers to be installed, it is a simple USB device.

[BAMCNC.COM]

I had the VistaCNC with the LCD screen, after using the Tormach pendent I sold the VistaCNC pendent. I actually thought why would I want a cheap Tormach pendent, then I tried it and grew to love it, its simple and faster than a VistaCNC. VistaCNC is great if you think you need it, but I got tired of having to spin the wheel, when you just turn and hold the Tormach pendant and it does the same thing.

[philbur]

As usual it's horses for courses, simple and cheap but limited capability or more functionality at more cost and more complexity.

I had the same opinion as BAMCNC for the first couple of months, the pendant didn't seem to have any more practical capability than the Jog-shuttle, the trouble was I hadn't studied the manual properly (at all). With the JS you just plug it in and go, with the Vistacnc, because of it much greater functionality, you need to work a bit harder to get the best out of it.

For example I do quite a lot of manual machining on my Tormach and with Jog-shuttle it is very difficult (impossible) to adjust feed rate on the fly in a precise manner. Whereas with the Vistacnc in mode (S), feed rate proportional to the rate you turn the dial, it's just like using a manual machine, the faster you turn the dial the faster the feed.

I have both the pendant and the JS, would I revert back to the JS, not on your life.

Anyway I think the key point is that this is an important point of interface between man and machine and therefore deserves some careful thought as to what works best for the way you use your machine.

Phil