Need Help!- CamSoft conversion

[Tom Curran]

Good day! I am currently having a Camsoft control being installed on my machine. Excuse me if I sound ignorant, but I am at this point.

Question:
After I grid my machine, are there parameters I input into the CamSoft for travel limits?

I have an X-axis travel of 29 1/2", and the limits are on the righthand side of the table.

When I grid the machine, the X axis travels fully to the left, touching the limit, and this tells the control where the right limit is. Is there a location in the software where I enter 29 1/2"?

Thanks, Tom

[Karl_T]

Sorry, i may not understand your query correctly. Not sure what you mean by "grid the machine"

Camsoft has a feature called soft limits. After homing the machine, you can tell the control how far to the limits or crash barriers. Handy for when you install a big lathe chuck, or some other large barrier. For example, when I install an oversize vice on my mill, a switch is set to move the softlimit forward. Much easier than making a movable limit switch. When a Gcode command is given that will send the machine into the soft limit crash zone, a warning window pops up and the machine does not complete the move.

There are softlimits in CNCSetup, or better yet put them in an Mcode or macro.


SOFTLIMITS
This command turns on (enables), turns off (disables) or resets the soft limits defaults or sets the fixture/chuck crash barriers. Use the CNCSETUP program to set your default soft limit locations. Suggestion: Use this command with the OFF parameter in the first line of your homing routine and with the ON parameter as the last line of your homing routine after all moves. The parameters for this command are ON, OFF, DEFAULTS, BACKWARD or FOREWARD. If you are using either the BACKWARD or FOREWARD parameter, there are three additional parameters you must enter for the X, Y and Z or first, second and third axes to set a barrier so that if the tool or axes reach or pass this barrier, motion will stop. The values are in real numbers relative to your machine's zero. See G codes G170, G171 and G172.
EXAMPLE: SOFTLIMITS FOREWARD 100;100;100


If I'm answering the wrong question, let me know.

Karl

[Al_The_Man]

I believe some call home routine 'Griding' as I understand it, he maybe want to plug in the position of 29.5 instead of zero.
Al.

[HuFlungDung]

I do use softlimits on my Camsoft lathe, because it is one of the first controllers that I have seen where the limits can be configured on a per tool basis. I don't know how other controls implement soft limits except Mits, and it is kind of useless to have an absolute barrier that prevents a turning tool from getting near the chuck because the barrier is set to protect any boring bars, otherwise you're liable to see nuisance alarms, and you simply have to turn off the chuck barrier altogether. Oops, I ranted

Anyways I use a gcode to implement soft limits when desired, and just call this gcode after or with a toolchange. I don't remember all the particulars, but here is what my logic looked like:
' Set Backward Crash Fixture or Chuck Barriers
'use this gcode after a T call to calculate and install chuck barrier params for a given tool
\82=t
TOOLCUS1ST\82 \171
SOFTLIMITS BACKWARD \171;-2.85;0
' Set Foreward Crash Fixture or Chuck Barriers
TOOLCUS2ND\82 \172
SOFTLIMITS FOREWARD \172;2.950;0
SOFTLIMITS ON
BUTTON19 IN; SOFTLIMITS ENABLED
-----G171

Camsoft has some custom columns for the user to use in the tool parameters window. I use one of these columns to store info about each lathe tool's Z axis travel distance from home to the chuck barrier. Another column contains info about a safe distance that the carriage can move towards the tailstock (if used) without hitting it. This info is recalled and updates the soft limits for the current tool. The lathe X axis has a well defined travel, so I just hardcode that distance into the soft limits. So you could do this on the mill as well, to infer the position of the far limit from the home position, or to define the safe travel distance from the tool home to the bottom of the vise jaw opening (or the table), again, on a per tool basis.

Probably more than you wanted to know

[Tom Curran]

Gentlemen, thanks for the quick replies. I really appreciate your support and suggestions. As I get more into the fine tuning of the conversion, I will be asking more questions.

I forgot to say this is a vertical mill.

Thanks for the replies, it's getting a little clearer. We have movement. Set the limit at 29 1/2" at X, that now works properly. Trying to get Z limit switches to be recognized by the control.

Thanks, Tom

[Tom Curran]

Gents, I have another question.

The vert mill is now 'machine homing' very nicely. But the Z axis seems to be operating strangely. I am wondering if it has anything to do with the way the machine is 'homing'.

The machine is presently set so when the Z is full up, the control is set to plus 5.5" (that's the limit of quill travel) and quill all the way down is Zero.

Should the parameters be set so that all the way up is Zero, and bottom of travel is minus 5.5?

Thanks, Tom

thanks for your previous info. your replies were very helpful.

[HuFlungDung]

I think it would be optional...your option... to pick whatever you want for machine zero. It will affect the direction that you make tool length offsets, I suppose, that is, positive or negative.

Personally, I think I'd like Z at the top to be machine zero. That way, if a return to home is commanded, and home is at G53 Z0, rather than some arcane number, you won't have the spindle taking a dive towards the table.

[Tom Curran]

Thanks for your Reply HuFlung.

If all the way up is zero, then all the down movements are negative. This makes the most sense to me, and is what I am accustomed to on the old control, but I don't know if this is industry standard.

Presently, with Z up being +5.5, and allthe way down Zero, it seems like the control gets confused about its location, the tool change does not retract all the way up (manual tool change).

Speaking of tool change, I'd like the quill to retract completely. Should the line T1 M6 cause the quill to go all the way up and stop? or is there a macro I need to write to turn spindle off and go all the way up?

Maybe all of this would go away if the spindle up is Zero, and spindle all the way down is minus 5.5"?

I hope my questions are clearer.

Thanks, Tom

[HuFlungDung]

Tom,
Are you running Cnclite or what version? Have you looked at the logic in the mcode.fil associated with M6? What gets executed is what you'll find in there, AFAIK, so don't assume anything is 'ready to roll' without careful examination.

It is difficult for an outsider to guess at what logic is running, or even if your gcode commands are correct or logical based on your Camsoft configuration to this point. It is not a black box, so industry standard gcode may or may not run as you'd expect it to, at least until you tweak it all in.

Has your Camsoft tech support expired? If you are running Cnclite, I think you'll need their help, because there is some logic hidden within Cnclite that affects how the standard M and G codes work. They may not be as configurable as you'd like, but even understanding what is in there was a mystery to me. So I went with CNC Professional so I could configure pretty much anything I wished to.

[Karl_T]

You'll need to customize camsoft to get the most out of your machine. I have manual tool change on my mill. Both the M6 command and a button on the operator panel call this simple macro:


'**************************Retract for tool change********************
[[RETRACT]]
\124=f 'current feed rate
f=50 ' increase feed to move up fast
MACHGO ;;0 'move to tool change position
f={\124} 'set feed rate back


I write for CNC Pro. There may be minor differences for lite or plus but I'm sure you can modify M codes and write macros.

[Tom Curran]

Thanks, guys. I have CNC Lite, brand new install. I have plenty of time on my CamSoft support. My installer is an electrical engineer, fully capable of circuit design, logic, servo configuration. However, he is not familiar on how a CNC operates.

We are struggling with the set up on the Z axis. It sounds like part of the struggle may be configuring the CnC Lite codes to work. Even though we call out the proper code at the proper time, the mac=hine may not function as expected.

I appreciate the help. I'll get back to you with our results.

Tom

[camsoft]

Tom,

Is this for Tree mill you contacted us about last year?

Is this your post?
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66639

We don't have notes that you've talked to us here at tech support, but that doesn't mean that you can't call especially if you have a new package.

If you did buy a CNC Lite from a dealer, the dealing hasn't register your company with us yet but this still entitles you to free technical support if you wish to call. We can show you how you set up the Z axis any way you wish.

We know the gentleman on the zone trying to help you. They are respeciable people with good intentions but this can be the tip of the ice berg and you may need more help after this. We can get you a Tree mill CBK that would help you with pre-set up homing and log you into the database.

From whom did you purchase the CNC Lite from?

Tech Support
CamSoft Corp.
951-674-8100
support@camsoftcorp.com