2012 Patriot

[Gulbrandr]

Terrycan
thanks for answering, I have a 2012 patriot and I am new to this hobby. The z axis moves my mill up and down, x moves the bed left and right and y moves the bed away and to the operator? I run mill wizards with no problem, but the lathe wizards move the bed left and right and the mill up and down. I need to cut some threads, so I need to get this figured out.
Thanks for your help.

[terrycan]

Look at the spindle control on the machine.
There is a switch for lathe or mill.
Is the switch on lathe when you are using the lathe wizard?

I am in the process of setting Mach III to control the spindles.

JT has been very patient and helpful.

Ask JT if you can single point threads with the machine as delivered.

Terry

[Gulbrandr]

Yes, spindle control switch is on lathe. Better question, if the z axis is the mill spindle why does the mach turn wizard use x and z instead of x and y?

[terrycan]

Lathes use the X and Z axis. The Z axis is always the spindle center line in both lathes and mills. The X axis controls the diameter.

For example: To drill with a lathe send the drill to X0.0. The face of the part should be Z 0.0. To drill 1 inch deep you send the drill to Z-1.00.

Hope that helps.

[Gulbrandr]

Ok, I get z axis being the spindle center line in both mill and lathe. But say I've been running mach3 mill wizards [which run fine] then switch to mach3 lathe, what must I change to switch z axis from mill to lathe? Of course the spindle control switch changes the motors but not the steppers. The mill stepper operates in mach lathe. I tried changing active plane of movement in general config but it keeps changing back even with restart. I hope this makes sense cause I'm certainly confused.

[terrycan]

I have been a machinist since 1974 but the shopmaster and Mach III are new to me.

Don't think you should have to reconfiquire every time you switch from lathe to mill.

A good approuch for you would be to take a basic CNC class at a local vocational school or community college. That could be your fastest way to making chips.

Do you have a local friend who is a machinist?

Terry

[instructor37]

Ok, I get z axis being the spindle center line in both mill and lathe. But say I've been running mach3 mill wizards [which run fine] then switch to mach3 lathe, what must I change to switch z axis from mill to lathe? Of course the spindle control switch changes the motors but not the steppers. The mill stepper operates in mach lathe. I tried changing active plane of movement in general config but it keeps changing back even with restart. I hope this makes sense cause I'm certainly confused.

You should have 2 different icons for lathe and mill. In mill, the motors run one direction and in lathe they run the opposite. Also in the lathe mode, the Z axis becomes the longitudinal feed and the X axis becomes the cross feed. This is done in the ports and pins settings in your configuration file. Double check that somehow, the settings for mill have not been loaded into the lathe file.

[Gulbrandr]

instructor37

Thanks, I knew it was something simple. Corrupt files, John sent me new hml files and now my lathe acts like a lathe, not a mill.
Thanks for your time.

[GOOFY063]

Im wanting to get the new shopmaster but i know nothing about cnc is there any good tutorials on mach 3 to help a poor-o-dumb countryboy out
Thanks
Ricky

[terrycan]

Ricky

Look to the local vocational schools or community colleges. That would be a fast way to learn. If you know a CNC machinist invite him over for lunch. The PDF installation manual explains the CNC concepts very well.

Terry