Practical CNC??????

[jeeplogic]

Hey Admin,
Why no PCNC
I know that there are alot of people that do not like PCNC here, but that does not mean some of us have not bought them.
The speed of the call back from the tech support people does leave something to be desired, I am sure that many of the problems encountered with the PCNC table have been solved by many of the people here, and they would be willing to share.
I myself have solved the backlash proplems by simply making sure the set screws has a counter sink to ride into.
What I need now is to figure out there new THC (the one that is susposed to work) I have made a ton of signs with this thing but they coud be better.
I realize that this will probably become a tread for bashing PCNC but there are some of us that use their machines with good success but just need some community support.
Thanks.

[xjdubber]

what problems are you having?

[jarm22]

I bought a Practical Machine last August and have worked with it off and on since then. It is a well built machine, but after many, many hours spent on the phone with their tech people(3 hour time difference) the ATHC still doesn't work properly.
Does any one have a listing of all the correct settings for the variables in the wincnc.ini file and for the correct voltage settings? I am using a Hypertherm 600 plasma. I have cut everything from 16 guage to 3/8" steel with varying success. As long as the material stays flat, it cuts very well, but it won't run the z axis up and down like it is supposed to.
Thanks,
Jarm2

[cut more]

I am sure that will get me some interesting replies,

I am using the torch height control on a hypertherm 1000 so my settings may be different than yours.
I will look at the wincnc.ini settings tonight and try to remember to post them tomorrow.

What trouble are you having? Has the torch height control ever worked for you?

Yo ucan down load th ewincnc manual and that explains what all the ini settings do pretty well.
Here is the manual link.
http://www.wincnc.net/webfiles/CNC%2.../WinManual.pdf

Hope that helps,
Cutmore

[jarm22]

I have studied the manual and the DVD and everything else Practical has sent, but the THC still doesn't respond to changing metal height. It never really has although sometimes it seems to move a little bit when I watch the z axis on the screen. For a long time it would keep going down until it tripped the stop switch on the z axis and we finally got that fixed. Now it just stays where it is set after touching down.

[cut more]

jarm22,
Which version of wincnc do you have? I am running v2.2 with mine. Am I correct in this, Your torch height controller is supposed to come down and touch the material before the plasma will come on and then the thc controls the torch height? If so then your thc is more advanced than mine. If not then let me know and I will send you a copy of my wincnc.ini file and you can try it.

Cutmore

[jarm22]

I will have to check which version of WinCNC I have. It is on my computer in the shop. When I start the cut routine, the torch touches down then lifts to the pierce height, starts the arc, lowers to the cut height and then begins the cut. It does this at the beginning of each cut. That part works quite well. What it doesn't do is follow the ups and downs of the metal and maintain a set cut height like it is supposed to. I still would like to take a look at your wincnc.ini file and see what variables they were using with your system. I have reset several of the variables while on the phone with Practical technicians and at least the torch doesn't dive into the metal now. I appreciate your help and look forward to your reply. This is all pretty new to me. I am a mechanical engineer and nearly ready to retire. I plan to use my table to do metal art work as a retirement business.
I checked the WinCNC on my machine and Practical has changed it to their version. They have their name on the title line and so forth. I checked in the about pull down and it shows a Practical version and not a WinCNC version number.

[cut more]

jarm22,
I believe the practical version is the wincnc verson but I could be wrong.
here is a text file of my wincnc.ini file.
My torch height controller is more basic than yours. I have to manually control the torch for the pierce height then the thc takes over from there. I have been thinking of changing to something more sophisticated so I do not have to be attached while running the plasma.

I have cut a ton of artsy stuff out of 14-15 gauge steel. For a full time business it hasn't been profitable, but for supplimentary or fun money it would be great.
First and most importantly, Have fun!
On my table I run the 14-15 gauge steel at 120-140".min. 40Amps with a finecut tip. And about .06" tip clearance. I have to clean off some dross with a lot of curvy cuts but straight cuts are pretty clean.

Hope this helps some,
Cutmore

[jarm22]

I didn't get the text file attachement. Are you sure you attached it?

I have cut 16 guage at 140 in/min and .06 tip clearance with pretty good success. I am using the fine cut tip as well. 40 amps on the Plasma. Cleanup is pretty easy so I guess that part of our experience is similar. I will keep tweaking the THC and hopefully I will eventually get it to respond correctly to height changes in the metal. 10 guage and thicker works okay if it is laying flat.
I have contacted Tom Caudle at C and Cnc for a price on a retrofit THC and I could have done that for less than Practical charged. I do like the WinCNC (or Practical version) of the software that converts to code from a .dxf file. Mach 3 seems a bit awkward to have to do the conversion in Sheet CAM or similar and then load it into Mach 3. I use AutoCAD and BobCAD CAM for my drawings and have some other software to convert pictures and raster images to .dxf.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I did download the manual, but it is mostly the same as the manual from Practical.

[BallisticFab]

PCNC is not up there probably because they went out of business...