_Ogre
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_Ogre
thanks mc. rotary table cutting a lot better. this is what the pic above was supposed to look like
except the torch was dragging as you can see from the top segment that didn't drop out.
that was with the thc off, turned it on and the tube cut better (next pic)
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you can see i'm using lead in and lead out on each cut (in previous post), but there is a divot at each start/end point
it's not cut into the edge but laying on top and separate from the cut line.
any ideas?
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cutting at 50ipm, 30a w/finecut and 70volts; had to increase the cut height to .08 or the tip would drag
the thc is a little squirrelly on the rotary head, even at .08 i can barely see a gap or arc
no top dross and miniscule bottom dross that will take 3 sec to remove with a burr
and of coarse now i have to go back thru all of my tube cope programs in sheetcam and re-post with the correct setup
oh the joys of learning a new machine :D
jeepsr4ever
Longer or different lead ins and you can even try no lead out.
_Ogre
mc: we'd like to wire stop buttons on both ends of the gantry and a switch on the maglok plate to stop the machine. does our machine have the inputs available to add this? i'd like to run the same 2 wire circuit to all 3 switches. not sure if stop and estop are different, stop would be fine. we do a lot of cutting on the rotary head, with the controller sitting on the table but i'd like to have an easy to hit stop button for the operator.
jeepsr4ever
You should use the X or Y axis limit and re-pin the one you use in ports and pins to "limit". You want normally closed switches and wire them together and to the Estop on the backside of the front panel of your big black box (controller) (IF YOU WANT TO USE ESTOP...WE SUGGEST CHANGING PINOUT TO LIMIT). There is a staple looking jumper in there now. Estop is configured to "normally closed" (thus the jumper). So a 3 pole microswitch or a microswitch capable of normally open or normally closed like this.
[URL]http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-pc-TEMCo-Roller-Plunger-Limit-Switch-CNC-Mill-Plasma-Router-Lathe-home-LOT-/370764813706?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56534e158a[/URL]
Those are very nice we have used them.
Refer to this thread for wiring those
[URL]http://www.bulltear.com/forums/showthread.php?19193-Limit-and-Home-switches[/URL]
_Ogre
got a #3 drive fault today after cutting a tube.
it kicked out the dc and reset by turning the dc back on.
no problem, just fyi. only happened once.
which motor is controlled by drive 3?
jeepsr4ever
Drive fault 3 flashing red blinks? Did Mach show the error as well? Did you note your temp under the tool window in Mach?
_Ogre
i saw the drive fault in mach at the bottom of the screen
i saw red lights on the control box and saw it was off
i turned it on and all was good.
i'll check what lights are red and the temp next time.
i wasn't cutting much today, just a test cut or 2 for monday
_Ogre
you probably cut a lot of plate in your shop, can you give me your thoughts on cutting a sheet of base plates?
i posted this over on pirate and plasma spider
have a job coming up; it involves cutting 3/8 plate into 7x7 base plates with 3/8'' bolt slots in each corner.
can i cut all the holes and then cut the sheet into squares like a grid of 48 and 96 inch lines
or do i need to cut individual squares with the obligatory 1/4'' spaces, aka waste skeleton
either way i get the same number of squares,
i just have a larger piece left over for smaller projects.
cutting the grid would seriously reduce my cut inches (by half) and pierces.
jeepsr4ever
You definitely do not want to spread the heat around. A good operator will nest but orient the start points to finish one part at a time on thicker material. The expansion rate is incalculable for Mach and it doesn't take it into account, neither does sheetcam. For this reason a good operator should understand that you don't throw a sheet of thick material up and run a program where your making lots of parts and your nest does everything inside then does the outside. What happens is your left with thinner geometry on some and thicker on others. Its physics. You need to feed that plasma or it will spike tip voltage. So a little more than double KERF width between parts.
_Ogre
any maintenance tips that you'd like to pass around? like:
cleaning the track/guides/gears?
z axis maintenance?
lubrication?
we just replumbed the barrels under the table so we can change the water in the table easier.
for now we use $3 worth of washing soda for rust prevention/water treatment, which works fine
just making it easier to flush the table every couple of months to keep slime down :D
jeepsr4ever
Yes we are putting out some maintenance labels that will be free to existing customers.
1. Wipe down rails daily (X,Y,Z)
2. Grease trucks on Z axis every 100 hours of operation
3. Grease trucks on Y axis (dual rail) every 80 hours of operation
_Ogre
my $100 scribe setup :D
i used an electric scribe to keep cost down. if we do more than a few scribe jobs i may update to an air scribe but for now i can't justify the $230 cost
parts: self made brackets (on my bulltear table), $19 electric scribe (home depot), $10 solenoid (ebay), $29 air slide (ebay), $10 regulator (ebay) $6 tubing (home depot) and $20 in fittings (ebay)
i use the aux electrical output on the cancnc bladerunner control box to trigger the solenoid and scribe together
M08 turn them on and M09 turns them off. they can also be triggered using the xbox controller
simple bracket to mount my 6'' air slide.
bolted right into the pocket already machined into the mag base
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you can also see my laser crosshair bracket in this pic
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needed the 6'' slide to keep the area clear under the machine torch
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control center consist of the air slide, air solenoid and regulator.
i did use a 15 psi air gauge on the regulator. i believe i have it set at 6 psi down pressure with full pressure up
i have control valves to control speed up and down
used double sided tape to hold the regulator and solenoid on the z axis plate
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youtube video of the scribe in action
[video=youtube_share;5O8rjZ_3c_4]http://youtu.be/5O8rjZ_3c_4[/video]
made a protractor for use on 2.5'', 304ss, exhaust tube. it can measure the inside radius or the outside radius
inside radius is more for use on the table
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outside radius is handy for check the angle of a system on a vehicle with minimal clearance to the floor pan
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one problem i have is finding or modifying a post processor. currently using the mach3 thc with scriber post.
not the best post for plasma as you can see some uncut lines in this pic, works fine for scribing.
the way the post is setup there is no m09 command to turn off or retract the scribe, easy fix is to edit gcode but i'd like to find a fix.
it inserts the command for individual segments of the scribe but not at the end before going to plasma.
my do around was to scibe with that post and cut with the mp1000-thc, still have to edit m09 into gcode
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