How do you move an axis manually ?

[Eurisko]

Just curious how the DIY router folks manage to jog or move an axis when the need arises.

I haven't seen ANY mention of this in the posts, but I still have a LOT of reading to do

[eloid]

Originally Posted by Eurisko Just curious how the DIY router folks manage to jog or move an axis when the need arises. I haven't seen ANY mention of this in the posts, but I still have a LOT of reading to do

i herd u can buy a usb game controller and jog the axis with in mach 3?

[SORCHEROR]

you can jog it right in mach software,theres a manual jog button and you use the arrow keys for x,y and the page up+down for the z
or are you talking about when the motors are off,you can mount handles on the motors if they are dual shafted,or on the other end of the screws

[ger21]

use MDI mode.

[Eurisko]

Most commercial CNC machines have a manual pulse handle ( in addition to the rapid and jog buttons ).

The rotary handle typically has 3 incremental settings:
.0001, .001, .010

Each click of the handle will move the axis the selected amount.

Great for manual positioning of an axis. Just like a handcrank, but much easier and precise.

It shouldn't be too tough to come up with a homebrew handle, possibly using a microcontroller and parallel port switch box to switch between handle and auto mode.

If I ever get my router finished, it will HAVE to have one.

[mar999]

if your using Mach Hit tab and it will pop up

[dwacker]

Originally Posted by eloid i herd u can buy a usb game controller and jog the axis with in mach 3?

You can there are some downloadable addons on the mach3 site.

Don