Mach3 lathe spindle pulleys problem

[m_c]

IIRC the spindle pulley settings didn't work correctly in turn, especially if you were not using the parallel port. Certainly the closed loop spindle control just didn't work.

The Mach forum is probably your best bet at finding a definitive answer though.

[John11668]

Using UC100 for connection to BoB
Have left the same query on Mach support forum so will see what comes back.

[John11668]

This lathe is a Boxford TCL acquired for £350 and I have used the existing structure , steppers and motor drive / control..
Effectively just added a pair of cheap drivers and a BoB and a bit of my own time (Which I dont count ) so total outlay on the machine is still around £400.
Cant really justify outlay on exotic motors so just something to play with until I get the confidence to invest in something better.

With regard to spindle indexing, the original Boxford spindle sensors did not stand up to the process, and with some unsuccessful experimentation and with some well considered advice from a friend, a different type was chosen which has turned out to be well up to the job. Correlates well with the measurement using a mechanical tacho so i am happy to use this and accept the reading which it gives me on the screen . Fluctuations seem to be only a digit or two in a thousand so good enough for my purposes.

I was always told that I would not be able to thread successfully with Mach but it looks like I will just need to discount pulley ratios too.
Will just play a while with what i have then look at changing to linux. I chose to keep Mach 3 cos i was familiar with it , but looks like it falls short on a 64bit operating system.

Thanks for inputs anyway.

[m_c]

I was always told that I would not be able to thread successfully with Mach but it looks like I will just need to discount pulley ratios too.
Will just play a while with what i have then look at changing to linux. I chose to keep Mach 3 cos i was familiar with it , but looks like it falls short on a 64bit operating system.

Thanks for inputs anyway.

Mach 3 can produce perfectly acceptable threads.
Only thing that won't work on 64bit, is the parallel port driver. Mach itself still works perfectly fine, you just need to use an external motion controller.

[John11668]

I use an external motion controller (UC 100) so am still exploring the options here .
Trying the wizard but it it comes up with an error message saying that no lead is specified in the G76 commend so am looking into that now .

My PC is 64 bit with windows 10 and connected via the UC100 controller to USB port .
Are you saying I should still be able to change spindle pulley ratios and cut reasonabe threads with this rig . If so what settings do I need .