Questions

[gtsan]

Forum members:

I just discovered this forum this morning, and have read with interest all the submissions. I will try to answer some of the questions that I found there.

The Liberty website has not been updated in several years. The person responsible for the website is in jail, and will not release the access required for us to update it. The host service will not set up a new account without written consent from the person in jail. So, we are looking at getting a new URL and getting up-to-date info on it. We are thinking about libertycnconline.com. All this takes time, please be a little more patient.

Charles has been very busy setting up a new building for Liberty. We have simply outgrown the present location, and the 8 1/2" of wet snow that fell 2 weeks ago caused a partial roof collapse of the old building and has forced a move into the new building before we were ready. We should be up and running within another week or so.

The Windows software is ready for some serious testing. It only runs on 95/98 at the moment. The NT/XP version will take a little longer.

Charles is not computer literate (he will tell you so), therefore emails to Liberty will often go unread for great periods of time. He can usually be reached by phone and will be more accessable when this move is completed.

Sorry for any inconvenience to any of you that have not gotten the attention that is usually given to customers. The last six months have been rough, but we can see that the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned back on!

G.T. Sanford III
Software Developer
Liberty Enterprises

[Yraen]

Hi gtsan,

I've got a question for you (or anyone). First, I am a newbie (read: inexperienced) when it comes to dealing with cnc. I do know computers though.

I've recently purchased a Liberty cnc mill and I'm having some trouble. My problems deal mainly in that I don't have a full blown version of dos (I think) to operate the included programs in. The best I have been able to come up with so far is a Windows 95 boot disk which boots me to a command prompt.

When I try any fast movements, either via G code or the jog menu (fast) in the enclosed software, all I get is a high pitched whine from the stepper motors. If I use the liberal (I think this is it) movement G codes (G1) or slow speeds (jog menu) then the motors move fine. I am able to cut at slow speeds but anything requiring (or asking for) fast movements of any of the axis results in a whine.

I will note that while the manual shipped with the mill states that it will take about 20 minutes or so to complete the calibration my computer takes nearly 2 hours to run the full calibration.

My computer specs are an Abit TH-7 Raid motherboard, P4 1.4 cpu, 1 GB ram (rambus), 2 80GB Western Digital 8MB cache HD's in raid, 1 40 GB Western Digital HD (for cnc operation only, as C drive in floppy boot) and a Nvidia G-Force 2 AGP video card. Any extra's on the motherboard have been disabled and any add in cards (network, etc) have been removed.

Is my problem a lack of full blown dos? I'm still looking for a full version of dos but since it is about 8 years old (and with no support) I'm having very little luck.

That the machine operates at slower speeds tells me that this problem is probably because it is looking for an msdos driver (or something) that is non-existant on a Win95 bootable floppy.

I'm still looking for a full version of MS-DOS but am having no luck finding one. I'd like to be able to switch to a Windows XP based software but I'm unsure of what settings to use (newbie again) and figured it would be better to learn the machine (and hobby) under the shipped software.

Thanks for your time. I apologize if this is not coherent as I have had a few drinks (and for me one anymore might be too many).

Marc

[abasir]

1. You can get DOS at www.bootdisk.com
2. Check with Liberty whether the included software works with your high speed computer.

[gtsan]

Liberty software runs OK on Windows 95/98 when restarted in DOS mode or from a bootable floppy. It also runs in DOS windows, but since there is so much going on the background, movements will tend to be jerky. It will not run on Windows NT/XP.

The problem you are seeing is due to the fast jog delay set at too low a number. The computer is sending out step commands faster than the motors can respond.

Press ALT-P to go into configuration, and change the fast jog delay to a much larger number. Try jogging. You want to adjust this number so that the motors go as fast as they can without missing steps. When you find that number it is best to increase it slightly so there will be no possibility of missing steps.

Adjust the slow jog delay value to produce a pleasing slow speed.

All G00 commands use the Maximum feedrate. If the motors are just whining in G00, then either the Maximum feedrate is set too high or the accel/decel is not set properly.

If the Maximum feedrate is greater than 60, you will need to activate Accel/Decel so the motors will ramp up to the proper speed. (Step motors will not go from zero to max instantaneously.) Again, you will need to fiddle with the delay factors to achieve smoothness of operation. Set the Accel/Decel Feedrate to 30, and adjust the Accel Factor up and down.

Hope this helps.

G.T.

[turkgeltz]

I've found that mine runs consistantly without missing steps at about 30 ipm. More than that and I some times run in to problems.

[Yraen]

Just wanted to say thanks guys. That did the trick. I've still got a few minor problems but I think it is the computer. Every now and then when I'm cutting my keyboard quits responding. I think it's an issue I have bumped into with the Pentium 4 processors before. Sometimes older software just doesn't like them. I have several programs that cannot recognize the cpu and refuse to run.

[jemmyell]

Try Mach1 / Mach2 (www.artofcnc.ca). I run that on my Liberty router and it works GREAT! I also own a Liberty converted Jet mini lathe and I am almost done setting up a Sherline lathe using motors and a controller from Liberty. THE BEST value on the market comes from Liberty. I hope Charles gets going again soon since I have two more routers on order and I need to get a couple more motors wired for their controller too.

[ECRC]

I can't wait to try the windows control. I have been running Flashcut on mine and it works great, but I think the program from Liberty will be better. I hope to get at least 2 more routers soon, as I run mine 4-7 hours a day 5-6 days a week and have had no problems at all!!!!

Doug