mach3 sherline set up

[roadhog]

Hi all its nice to be here and i hope some one can help.
Here i go im an absolute newby to all of this i have a sherline mill trying to use mach3 with it, is there a file i can download to set it up or do i have to do it manually. ill start with this then post the rest of the 1001 and one question.

ps any one here from rotherham uk.


ps ps A big Thanks To All

[cob]

did you buy the sherline from the sherline company because I notice they sell
it complete with some kind of controller,
know I not sure what you are trying to do but I have a sherline also and what I did was I retrofited with knew motors, and the electronic stuff and as for controller I am using mach 3, you can use mach 3 just download there demo version it lets you do up to 500 lines.
when you download there demo all you do is do you motor set ups for pins and ports and some other things and you are ready to go.
at least that is a start. let me know if i can help
good luck

[roadhog]

Thanks cob

Got the mach3 download but not sure how i set up the ports and stuff so that it outputs to the motors any idear what setting i need to change to get it working screen shots or somthing like that would be good. the unit has a box that fits to the pararell port then connects upto 4no stepermotors to it.

thanks for your help

[SScnc]

Hi Roadhog,

Try going here...

http://www.machsupport.com/videos/

And watch the video tutorials

[GeneK]

Roadhog, do you have the Sherline driver box? If so you can get the Sherline XML file and it will set up everything for you. I have the inch version which came with the version I got from the desk top machine shop. They are no longer in business. Perhaps I could send you the version I'm using?

GeneK

[roadhog]

Hi all yes i have a shirline drive box the set up is new as ive had it about 4 weeks still not made anything yet as the code i produced would not work with the programs it came with on the linex system. So i thought id use my laptop to run mach3 under windows, ha and guess what still no luck its not driving the motors I get a slight hissing from them and thats it any one got any idears, I put the sherline thingy on and i get 1 motor to drive but it will only go one way and sound like its struggerling.

please please i need help this thing is driving me mad.

and big thanks to all for help so far.

[awerby]

An XML file sets all the ports, pins and other parameters necessary to make your machine run under Mach. You copy it into the main Mach3 folder, then it will show up in the list of Profiles you choose from when opening a program in the Mach3 loader. You can get a Sherline XML (inches or metric) from the Mach FTP site: ftp://ftp.machsupport.com/XMLs

The other factor that might be operating against you is the laptop. Mach is famous for not getting along with them. The problem is the low voltage coming out of the parallel port. Desktops put out about 5 volts, which Mach needs for its logic control. Laptops put out about 3.3 volts, which isn't enough. Try using a desktop computer, and see if the problem persists. You might be also able to get a PCMCIA card that provides a parallel port for the laptop, if you're determined to use it - Quatech puts out a pretty good one, see: http://www.quatech.com/catalog/parallel_pcmcia.php

Let us know how it goes for you, okay?

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Originally Posted by roadhog Hi all yes i have a shirline drive box the set up is new as ive had it about 4 weeks still not made anything yet as the code i produced would not work with the programs it came with on the linex system. So i thought id use my laptop to run mach3 under windows, ha and guess what still no luck its not driving the motors I get a slight hissing from them and thats it any one got any idears, I put the sherline thingy on and i get 1 motor to drive but it will only go one way and sound like its struggerling. please please i need help this thing is driving me mad. and big thanks to all for help so far.

[roadhog]

Hi all
things are looking up manage to cut some chips today ye har.
just need to thind some dosh to buy full version mach3 500 lines dont go very far do they.

so id just like to say a big thank you to u all, any of you out there into model making any tips would nice. any gcode for props etc would be good.

[roadhog]

Hi all can anyone give me a clue wye this is happening

I loaded the xml file in got my mill to work but now when i load the gcode in its messed up.


Thanks all

[awerby]

Like, what's "messed up" about it? How did you save the G-code in the first place - was it plain text or something else? How did you generate it - did you write it by hand, or use a CAM program? Since EMC only runs in Linux, there might be some issues involved with file translation, although I've never run into it with plain-text G-code files.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[roadhog]

Hi all

Ok ill try and explain this a lttle more clear but please remember im new to this.

ok i loaded mach3 onto the com after changing it back to windows and i could load the g code that was produced by solidcam and it loaded fine but my sherline unit with the suppliyed controll unit would not operate.

so i inported the xml file into mack3 wich was grate my sherline mill seems to do what it should do with this program.

The next step was to reload the g code and guess what it was all messed up.

ive tryed to attach the code hope it works.

[GeneK]

You keep saying the code is messed up. How is it messed up. What are you expecting versus what you get?
I see what appears to be a mold being pocketed for a nine vane impeller or something like that. Mach 3 doesn't seem to compute the ranges correctly when the G code uses subroutines, but walking through the code by hand it looks like it will cut the pocket ok.
The rapid plane is over 50 mm and it will spend a lot of time in the air before anything is cut each time the bit is retracted.

GeneK