Yes it does. When I run the file it it stops on line 140.

 

Hi @GrandpawB,

Looks like we are getting there, slowly.

Try deleting the G43 from line N140 and see if that helps. (If it does then you have your tool length offsets set up incorrectly in Mach3).

Tweakie.

 

I deleted the G43 from line 140 and that seems to have done the trick. For the most part. 1) I don't yet understand the offsets so I didn't do anything with them. (so how did they get setup wrong? and how do I fix it?) 2) I have gaps and letter overlays in my sign. How is that corrected? Are you sure I have picked the right post processor? Thanks for all your help. I'm learning.

 

Hi @GrandpawB,

Looks like the tool length offset is causing you the problem then.
If you don't intend to use this function (I don't and never have) then either select a tool number which has no parameters set in Mach3 or locate the post processor you will be using (Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp) in Documents & Settings/All Users/Application Data/Vectric... and delete the G43 from the HEADER section.

Perhaps we need to see a picture of your 'gaps and overlays' in order to better understand the cause of the problem.

Tweakie.

 

Well, I just completed my build of a wide OX and I am having quite a bit of trouble with the stepper motors. I am using the Synthetos GRBL shield on an Arduino Uno and running the GRBL Controller on a laptop running Windows XP. I followed the video that Mark posted on the OpenBuilds OX page pretty closely and I bought most of the parts including the NEMA 17 and 23s directly from the parts store. When I try jogging the motors from the Axis Control screen, the motors make a horrible grinding sound. When I first start it up, the NEMA 17 Z motor also makes this noise but after moving up and down a few times it smoothes out and sounds and works fine. But the X and Y NEMA 23s continue to make the noise and do not rotate the gear no matter what I do. I've tried swapping the leads around to no avail, and what's puzzling is that the Z works with the same wiring scheme (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green except the Left Y motor which has the Yellow, Green flopped to Green, Yellow). I am using the 12V power supply sold in the parts store. I am going to try hooking the offending motors to the Z port on the shield since it seems to work, and hooking the Z Axis motor to the X and/or Y to see if it is a problem in the motor or the board. Any other ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

Have you set the current on the grblShield (3x trimmers)?

 

No, I was not aware of that option. Any hints on the process or just trial and error?

 

I can't get into application data. ( see 1st thumbnail attached) I'm still not that experienced with Mach 3, but from what I can see, none of the tool numbers including G43 has any parameters.(see 2nd thumbnail)

 

OOPS, here's the second thumbnail.

 

I have a shapeoko as my base and building a ox for bigger stuff, I had a similar issue and was pulling my hair until someone came along and explained it in plain english and figured it out.

to set the current you need to play with the trim pots (thats what people called it). What it looks like is a cube on the shield with a hex on it, its small you need either eyeglass repair screwdriver or the tiny ones used for computers

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL YOU READ EVERYTHING
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these pots only turn a small amount. about 80 degress each way.
dont put pressure when turning them, they should turn easily with minimal effort.
if you feel the slighest resistance, stop, you have gone to far, turning it past this point will break it.
not by turning it you tell it to either send more or less power to the motors. In turn this will cause it to heat up more or less.

Turning it clockwise give it more power, turning it counter clockwise gives it less.

now each one is different, you need to play around with each trim pot to figure out what is the best place to put it.

for my dual y. I have it turned to about 70% clockwise to give it more power. thats because the power is being split to two motors, so they can handle the extra power. things like X and Z only have 1 motor so be a bit more carefull.

How to tell if you have less power
If you can stop the machine while its running with your hands, then you have too little power, and not enough torque. If thats the case, give it more power. BUT TURN IT SLOWLY.

the best way people say to test is to have the machine run in a loop moving and play with the trim pots.
by adding more power you give more torque to the motors which help it move better, and give it some UMPH!!!.

We like UMPH. it means that it will go through whatever you throw at it.

if you start giving it to much power, it should start to making noises and actually moving weird. (thats what happened to me).
So slowly start giving it power, and once it starts going crazy, bring it back a bit until its smooth and powerful.

Now by giving it more power you actually can cause it to heat up even more, both the electronics and the motors.
By getting to hot, it can cause the electronics to stop. By the motors getting to hot you can cause it to stop.

To counteract this heat, put a computer fan over the electronics and cause it to blow air onto the circuits.

How to know the motors are hot?

If you can touch it for longer than several seconds its fine, if the second you touch it and it burns, stop the machine and let the motors cool.
If its hot but you can still touch it in your hand, not just a finger, but grab it then you are cool and the machine can keep going.


Hopefully this helps.

 

In vcarve, export your toolpath as G-Code inche (*.tap)

I have used that to run stuff in mach3 and never had a problem with it.

Test that post processors, and see how that reacts to the machine.

 

Going with Mach3 is a good option IMHO as for a stepper driving system has been good to me. It is very customizeble which is a big positive and also part of why it can be so frustrating. I have spent hours trying to find out why a script wont run or something is crashing but these issues have mostly been based around more complicated machines with automatic tool changers, most simple stepper based routers run quite well with only a few basic changes to mach3.

Going with something else - DSP hand held control - I crashed many times as you have no idea what is going to happen as there is no cut preview and also it has less info on how to fix.

USBcnc I hear good things about it but have not used it. Keen to give it a go as I hear its movement is very smooth.

I am also keen to try an arduino based system as seen in this build guide as there is some very good info on how to set it up and getting running well on an ox.

So to sum up, I think mach3 is worth the licence fee and what ever option you go with make sure you look into a few different how to setup guides before you buy. Make sure you will have enough info to get you going with that system as there is no
point in having something cheap that you can't make work!

 

Well, if it isn't one thing it's another. Now my Z axis stepper is shot. Ordered a replacement so I'm down until then. Is there a way of using a NEMA 23 for the Z rather than a NEMA 17 on the OX build?

 

I didn't add a max, I just set up a min to keep it from going through the spoiler table. There isn't really a good location for a max I have found. I was testing some printed designs for a flag to press the endstop, but I never came up with anything I liked.

 

I just built my big ox, trying to run my first gcode, looks good in air printing. I am trying to find a calibration file to use. I have a tinyg controller and am just using foam (so I don't screw it up too bad). Any suggestions? I'm also interested in Grandpaw B's issue as I have Cut-2d & 3d as well as photo-v-carve and don't know what post processor to use with my system. I am trying to get good enough to run a couple photos for my brother in the next 2 weeks before I visit.

 

Robb - Go to here for a calibration item:
http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Calibration_and_Squaring_the_Machine

I have a ShapeOko 1 and it is not very different than the Ox. Just that the Ox is bigger. They have the same problems that you are
asking about and are just a little ahead of the Ox group in development.

Bob

 

Thanks Bob, I was running that file and see that the cheap foam insulation board isn't always level. I May tramm my bed to address that, but we will see. It's only been one evening.

 

Hers's what I found out:
Mach 2/3 Arcs, is what you would use for normal cutting jobs.
Mach 2/3 ATC Arcs, is for when your machine utilizes an Automatic Tool Changer. (ATC)
Mach 2/3 wrapx2a, is for rotary work where you are wrapping the X axis around your A axis.
This is dependant on how your rotary axis is set up. You may need to use Mach 2/3 wrapy2a instead.

 

My 1500x1000 ox is starting to take shape. The main structure is put together. After moving the gantry around a bit, I founds its pretty easy for the gantry to start 'wiggling/racking' back and forth when moving the gantry back and forth quickly. This has me slightly concerned at the moment, but I imagine that's why a dual y motor setup is recommended.

 

You will see a big diff once the spoil board is in and mounted.
Still waiting on my last driver to show up.
The first 3 came fast but the forth I guess took the long way :/
I'm at a stand still but all assembled
Mine is 1250 x 900

 

I just finished getting my first aluminum piece cut and I thought I would share some of my equipment and settings, trial and many errors later. Most of the early on problems I had were related to getting aluminum gummed in the mill. Slower RPM and faster feed rate helped. I cannot overstate how much a shop vac or compressed air to blow away chips helps. Attached photo shows the success and failures.



I'm using a Bosch Colt Router spindle: speed 1 (minimum)
PreciseBits collet kit for Colt Router, for 1/8" bit (PB-BOPG-COLT-84KIT)
End mill: 1/8" 3 Flute carbide ZrN coated (Maritool)

CAD/CAM: Autocad Fusion/CAM 360
Cut depth per pass: 0.5mm
Feedrate: 500mm/min
BTW, I accidentally used this high feed rate. Originally I was going much slower, but faster seems to work better.

Grbl Shield v5/Arduino UNO
Grbl 0.9 - https://github.com/grbl/grbl/tree/dev

Spoiler: Click for Grbl 0.9 Settings

$0=26.670 (x, step/mm)
$1=26.670 (y, step/mm)
$2=50.000 (z, step/mm)
$3=500.000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$4=500.000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$5=500.000 (z max rate, mm/min)
$6=10.000 (x accel, mm/sec^2)
$7=10.000 (y accel, mm/sec^2)
$8=10.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$9=200.000 (x max travel, mm)
$10=200.000 (y max travel, mm)
$11=80.000 (z max travel, mm)
$12=10 (step pulse, usec)
$13=0 (step port invert mask:00000000)
$14=0 (dir port invert mask:00000000)
$15=25 (step idle delay, msec)
$16=0.020 (junction deviation, mm)
$17=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$18=3 (n-decimals, int)
$19=0 (report inches, bool)
$20=1 (auto start, bool)
$21=0 (invert step enable, bool)
$22=0 (invert limit pins, bool)
$23=0 (soft limits, bool)
$24=0 (hard limits, bool)
$25=0 (homing cycle, bool)
$26=224 (homing dir invert mask:11100000)
$27=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$28=500.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$29=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$30=1.000 (homing pull-off, mm)

 

I do not have access to a CNC to cut the parts. does anyone have any good ideas? Can I buy them? pay someone to cut them for me?

 

You can buy the OX Plates from EBAY

 

Does anyone have a drawing of a mount for the Bosch colt router that doesn't use hose clamps? Heck as long as I am wishing, how about one with a dust collection fitting.

 

I went with the hose clamp version, but a quick search resulted in these:
https://www.inventables.com/technologies/bosch-colt-spindle-mount
"It has a place to mount an adjustable dust skirt"

http://k2cnc.3dcartstores.com/Bosch-Colt-Router-Mount_p_11.html

You could get ideas from them if you wish to make your own.

 

Well, here's what I designed in VCarve Pro and here's what I'm getting on wood I'm getting gaps and overlaps. I've tried different post processors, I've checked to make sure the machine isn't sticking or hanging up. Still poor results. And I noticed it carves deeper on one side of the sign than the other. Any ideas out there?

 

maybe your running the machine faster than it can cut?
Its skipping on the right side, so something is getting stuck when it gets there. Is there sufficient room for the machine to move on the right?

What tool are you using? Your GR is thinner than your PAW

Thats it, were gonna figure this out,
Send me the vectric file, let me open it and look at it, maybe something there will give me an idea, because its either the program or the machine.

Lets start eliminating this one at a time, send me the file and ill test it on my machine and see if I get any issues.

 

Can you give me the actual aspire vcarve file. I want to see how it plays out there and create a gcode from that file myself.
Please and thanks

 

Also that image, does not look like it was done with a vbit. What wood are you using?