Yeah thanks, I knew about the manual edits but I am sort of side-stepping from SheetCam to Vectric for the mill stuff and sheetcam can do code inserts easily, saves a lot of messing around when running and modifying a file repeatedly.
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Yeah thanks, I knew about the manual edits but I am sort of side-stepping from SheetCam to Vectric for the mill stuff and sheetcam can do code inserts easily, saves a lot of messing around when running and modifying a file repeatedly.
You can edit the post.
Look in the post processor manual. There's a variable called "file notes" that you can add.
In Cut 2D or V Carve Pro, go to Edit > Notes and put your G5x there.
Then the notes will be inserted in the g-code wherever you put the "file notes".
OOH, nice ;)
Didn't notice the post manual before.
I see there is possibly a more useful one called [TOOL_NOTES] that goes with each tool used, the post wraps the message in brackets which are ignored by Mach so it will need some editing which will then render the [TOOL_NOTES] feature useless for tool notes but hay-ho you can't have it all I guess ;)
Just insert the tool_notes var into the tool change part of the post, as i want add a macro call to go to park position and then a pause to remind me to change hold-down clamps etc before changing the tool and continuing.
That depends on what you want to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Davek0974
For adding a G5x, I think the file notes are a better choice.
For the park position, add the M883 at the start of your tool change section in the post, followed by your pause.
Its more complex as usual :)
The park position is only needed on a couple of jobs which need to be part machined then the clamping moved around and the tool changed then the finish cuts made.
There are three options i see tool_notes, toolpath_notes and file_notes - all look useful.
The G5x only needs calling at the start of one particular file.
:)
Why not using the "onion skin" method Jazz mentioned earlier? I think that a 0.1mm onion skin would give the same holding strength (probably even better) as a 3 x 12mm would, assuming you have 4 tabs with that size, converting that to onion skin, you can have a total circumference of 1440mm if you have a skin of 0.1mm. In my opinion it is easier to clean off the edges if only 0.1mm must be cleaned than if 4 times 3 x 12mm must be cleaned.Quote:
Originally Posted by routercnc
As some may have read, I am converting my Bridgeport mill to CNC, the idea is to attache the high speed spindle to it to make a dual purpose machine.
Seems I have a couple of options here - mount the spindle motor to the main mill quill or make a new Z axis complete and mount that to the head of the Bridgeport.
Mounting the spindle to the quill is easiest - a simple clamp block would do it...
Attachment 18475
The larger circle is the mill quill or Z axis (around 100mm dia), smaller is the 24k spindle (80mm dia), looking down from above. The distance between the two is 50mm and the clamp could be machined from 30-40mm thick aluminium or similar.
Would it work though??
Your thoughts...
Second option is far more involved and needs a mounting bracket and complete Z axis making to take the 24k spindle, this assembly would mount on the rear of the swivel ram (at the back in this picture)...
Attachment 18476
Would be harder to make but still do-able but if the first idea worked the much time and cash will be saved ;)
Thoughts??
Why do you want 24k on the mill surely you would be better having some lower end torque and going for maybe 6-10k, 6k bottom end seems to high for a mill, I may be completely wrong as a complete noob but I would have thought you are losing more than your gaining with a 24k with bottom end around 6k.
I'd come of the quill to save grief. Chances are you'll only use small tooling anyway so no great stress.
It's all about flexibility - the mill itself has 2Hp and 50-3000rpm range - no good for small cutters or engraving, great for hogging the crap out of steel etc with large tooling. The spindle has the speed for small cutters and engraving but no good for big tooling or steel work. The Base machine is simply a very heavy X/Y table - 300mm in Y and 1000mm in X - way bigger than my mini-mill.Quote:
Originally Posted by lucan07
That's my view too, I have 125mm of Z axis movement and losing 30-40mm for the clamp won't hurt as there is also a manual 300mm of table up/down - no engraving spindle is going to be diving more than 80mm into the work so travel seems adequate even allowing for clearance plane above clamps etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by JAZZCNC
This is also the easy option to test out - only wastes a block of aluminium if it fails, my point of weakness would likely be vibration causing chatter marks, but time will tell here.
If its about flexibility then why not keep the grunt and mount a spindle to one side might have to extend arm on right past the 24k spindle but looking at it should be possible, the you would probably still have 800x300 travel on the 24k and the ability to hog the crap out of steel when needed. I would be a fantastic base for a router for engraving and using small endmills but severely limited in the type of work it was designed to doQuote:
Originally Posted by Davek0974
That is exactly my plan, should have explained better ;)
The 24k spindle is not going be full-time mounted, its an option and will be pulled off when not needed.
Due to the way the head swivels on the BP I can probably maintain near full X travel if needed just by moving the ram to the left when the spindle is in use, its a very flexible machine - that's why i like it so much.
Maybe you need to read again because that's exactly what Dave's talking about doing.!!Quote:
Originally Posted by lucan07
Obviously I missed something, somewhere in the posts.
The clamp block for holding the spindle to the mill, better made out of one big lump or two plates maybe 12mm thick spaced apart 10mm or so?
My choice would be a single lump or to space them out more if it's for a typical water cooled spindle, 12's a bit thin in my book.Quote:
Originally Posted by Davek0974
.Me
Just realised they would need to be firmly fixed to each other or it would allow twist. Single block it is ;)
Will be using two Mach3 profiles. Only one spindle will be in use at any time.
Looking for ways to switch all the control lines needed -
Vfd supplies
vfd control and fault lines
vfd speed lines
limit switches for Z axis in two positions
homing for z axis in two positions
cooling pump for 24k spindle
probably others....
The programming for the CSMIO plugin I gather will need to be the same for both profiles?
Odd programming?
I am cutting some plate for parts on my Bridgeport conversion project, had some good success and a couple of oddities. The most annoying one is my motor VFD has shut down twice now with an error that shows as short-circuit on motor phases, each time i reset and it carried on ok, there was a month between faults - the annoying part is i don't have the fault relay in my e-stop loop (yet) so the motor quits and the motion caries on - snap goes another £8 tool :(
The rest of my issues are experience, or lack of, related so in the end i worked them out, but I'm getting pretty good at re-homing and starting over with modified code ;)
7000rpm on a 8mm 2-flute cutter too much?
Just been trying to carve a lump of 18mm thick ally for my Bridgeport conversion, using a 2-flute 8mm HssCo tool at 7000rpm, 900mm/min and 1.6mm DOC
All the features went without hitch, the perimeter decided to bog-down after getting about 9mm deep and stalled the axis.
I have a feeling the height of the wall blocked the coolant/air and allowed the tip to build-up. I need to fit two coolant jets i think at 90deg to each other.
I have re-cammed the profile starting from 8mm down and increased rpm to 8000 and reduced step-over a little.
Will see what happens tomorrow.
Hi Dave,
That used to happen to me a lot. Slot milling over 8mm risks poor chip evacuation and clogging of the tool. I've seen people machine the outside material completely away (i.e. an outer pocket to leave the central island, not a perimeter slot). But then you need to be able to hold the part in the middle which isn't always possible.
Another option is to use something like adaptive machining to mill a larger width slot than the tool.
I tend to reduce the DOC when over 8mm into a slot and that works OK. I vacuum out the slot on every pass and give a quick spray of WD40.
Adaptive does look good but none of the CAM software i have can do it.
I tend to pocket the part out, leaving tabs etc to hold it, on the 8mm tool i used a 12mm pocket so two passes, but when the tip is deep in the pocket the air/coolant cant reach it and i was not paying enough attention i guess.
I'll see if i can rescue the part with the modified paths and some extra air blast.
Beginning to think i may never get this part cut :(
I increased the speed to 9000rpm, and dropped the feed-rate a little as well as reducing the DOC a little.
Good news was that it picked up the position ok.
It made it about three passes then bogged down again, this time i hit the stop button pretty quick.
Restarted and after a couple of passes cutting air, the motor turns off!
No message on the VFD or screen.
I gave up at this point and went in for dinner.
So, why would the motor turn off if Mach did not know and there was no fault on the VFD?
No idea why the motor turned off, it run ok tonight. Even managed to get the part finished.
Reduced DOC to 1mm, feed rate to 800mm/min and rpm up to 9000.
I think the issues may the cutter itself, not being designed for aluminium, just a standard two-flute slot drill.
Now i need to flip it over, align to the axes and find an accurate way of picking up the x&Y datums.