Toolpath not cutting as shown

[Phizell]

Hi,

Really new to this, I have bought a new CNC with mach3, however after literally days of trying to sort this out, I cant.

I have the machine moving in X,Y,Z and I have the toolpath on the screen however what it cuts is not what is on the screen and it keeps repeating a pattern across the material.

The supplier is trying to convince me, its me, however after buying a new computer, lead and PCI board re loading the software on both computers time and time again the same thing happens on both computers.

I am pretty sure that it is the control board that's duff, as this, as far as I can see is the only constant.

I am told by the supplier that this should work out of the box and the test file he has sent to me works fine on the other units he has, as I need this for my business all the lost time is to much

Please, please help

[Jonathan]

We need a bit more information to be able to help. Knowing what breakout board the machine uses, what settings have you put in mach 3 and a picture of what it cuts compared with what it's supposed to be cutting would be a good start.

[Bazzer]

Hi, if you went down the Eagle route, are you sure you got mach3 and not ncstudio version.
I have attached a circle profile 200x200mm 0.5doc in .nc format to try just in case.

Profile 1NCStudio.nc

[Phizell]

Hi Bazzar,

Yes did go down the eagle route and the machine seems of a good quality (not that I know cnc machines, but I do know tools and engineering).

I have tried 8 different files produced by me and also sent to me from the supplier and even though he says they work on his machines with the same XML file, I cannot get it to work.

I will try it tomorrow but I have a feeling it will be no good, the biggest problem is not knowing if its software or hardware and having changed all the hardware apart from the supplied CNC and the controller I really can only think its the hardware (control board) if I take it as read that the XML file works on other machines that are the same with the supplier.

Once again, thank you I really do appreciate all the help you, this forum and users give.

[Phizell]

Hi Jonathan,

Firstly thank you for trying to help!

I have tried to upload the xml file but the forum wont let me so if its ok with you I will try and send it via private message.

Could you tell me how to identify the break out board?

The toolpath is of a square and a circle in the middle it then tries to cut part of the square and part of the circle then nudges up a small way and starts again.

I am at the point of sending this machine back, because so far this is not out of the box usable and I have not had the best of help from the supplier who I am sure believes its me.

Could it be me? Could it be both of my computers both the new parallel leads and the new PCI Board, should I have to do more than get it out of the box, plug it in and learn how to use the software......as I have never bought a CNC I dont know if my expectations are right? I have got to say I have never had problems like this before even when I used to test sign software for signlab.

Any help, is help and if you think I should send this back please don't hesitate to tell me

[John S]

Have you got access to an older computer that has a parallel port on it and not have to rely on a plug in PCI card.
Last week i had to traipse all the way down to the south coast to a customer who assured me his computer was fine but when i got there Mach wouldn't even talk to the computer let alone the machine.
Left him an old trusty dell and he was away running

[martin54]

Sign software is probably a bit easier in that all you have to do is output the vector artwork to a plotter & away it goes, what software are you using & what files are you being sent? Has the supplier sent you a gcode file for you to run on mach3 or has he sent you a vector file for you to produce your own toolpaths from?

If you open mach3 can you move all 3 axis alright & have you tried inputting some gcode commands directly to see what happens rather than opening a saved file.

[Phizell]

Hi John,

Yes I do have an old computer with an on board parallel and that's the one I started with, after being assured it must be the computer that was the fault I then bought another computer (windows xp 32bit) and a new pci board and the exact same thing happened.

I then took the new PCI and put that in the old computer just in case, I metered the parallel cable and then bought another in case the first was to long.

It cant be ruled out that both computers are not bad but I think it is unlikely especially as both are cutting the same incorrect image with either the on-board PCI or the card

[Phizell]

Hi Martin,

The files being sent are gcodes and the ones I produce are the same. I am running Mach3 and cut2d.

All axis move ok though not all the time, sometimes you have to click on the x first to get the y to work and z and so on.

As to inputting some gcode commands, I am really new to this and I am sure with more time I would be able to do that but I have little idea how to do it at the moment (to be honest if I spend much more time on this CNC I am going to call it an end and either buy from someone else or just sub the work out)

[Swarfing]

Can you let us know what the parallel port address is set up as for the card? if you are adding a card and there is a port already there (not connected inside the pc) then you could be set up wrong in the software? What does XP say it is what is it setup in the setup in the software as.