3 Axis CNC router

[JoeHarris]

Hi all, I can confirm it is a lot of fun having a working machine!

Having enough bits of material to cut is now becoming the limiting factor!

I have been trying to master the use of a round over bit to create smooth curves, which has highlighted another issue which I have now ironed out - tramming the spindle. This video is very helpful for anyone trying to do this:

https://youtu.be/D6pfIoyhgTc

I am still getting the odd problem however:

> I have had occasional random stalls on the x axis. I have slowed the velocity in motor tuning to (I think and will check later) 3500mm/min from 5000 to see if that helps.

> I have had a couple of ePID errors on MACH3 after a tool change, which led me to this:

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/in...?topic=32334.0

And this:

http://www.mycncuk.com/archive/index.php/t-10244.html

Which made me think I should look at changing my version of MACH3 to 062 as there seems to be issues when using a motion controller (mine is the ipm) with version 066 for some.

[AndyUK]

Hi Joe,

About the stalling, have you tuned the motor current PIDs on the motor drivers? I have EM806 rather than AM882, but I think the process is essentially the same, connecting up the RJ11 port to the COM port on your PC and running the "protuner" software.

This will make the drives change how they apply current to your motors to match them better, and allows you to set the motor current more accurately than the dip switches. Improved the speed I could get from my machine quite a bit.

Andy

[JoeHarris]

Hi Joe,

About the stalling, have you tuned the motor current PIDs on the motor drivers? I have EM806 rather than AM882, but I think the process is essentially the same, connecting up the RJ11 port to the COM port on your PC and running the "protuner" software.

This will make the drives change how they apply current to your motors to match them better, and allows you to set the motor current more accurately than the dip switches. Improved the speed I could get from my machine quite a bit.

Andy

Thanks Andy,
I’ll have a read about how to do it, but sounds good if it will help with the stalls. Only seems to happen on x which is a big NEMA 34 turning two 2005’s via a belt. If I was buying screws now (rather than 6-7years ago) I’d up the pitch.