Computer ?

[zephyr9900]

justgary, as far as I know (and this is for other folks reading this thread;you've got your own setup already) ACPI is an outcome of the Windows installation--what dll's to install--and not a factor of the PC's BIOS. With a sample of two, both vanilla Dell PCs, I've switched between ACPI and Standard PC without going into the BIOS. But a big warning--be sure to be using a miniDIN keyboard and mouse during the procedure rather than USB, or it's get-out-the-install-CD time. Don't ask me how I know--it did give me the "opportunity" to re-measure all my tools and repopulate the Tormach tool table from scratch after I had reformatted the HD and reinstalled PCNC...

Thank you for the comment on my avatar. It is a reminder to myself (and warning to others ) to not take myself all too seriously. And it fits my personality. At my next-to-last job I acquired the nickname "Kludgemeister" and I wear it proudly. I am a mechanical engineer but also very hands-on... The avatar was also a fun mini-project in itself, obviously a derivative of the Geico caveman (I'll claim fair use if ever challenged...)

Your relocation of the PC's LED's is a good concept. What I plan to do is wire up a couple of green LED's (110V to save myself a lot of wiring) on my own control panel that light up when the spindle and coolant are in "auto" position. I demo'ed my machine last week, and gave the victim/guest a little more demo than I had planned--I had inadvertently left the spindle switch in manual mode, buried the endmill into the stock and snapped it off on the first G01 since it was not turning. I did get to demonstrate loading and measuring a TTS tool and revising the tool table...

Best regards,

Randy

[justgary]

Randy -

Let's just call this thread officially hijacked for now.

No, wait! I can mention that as I recall, I did tell Bill (Winders) about no ACPI, but the computer still wanted me to touch the power button to turn it on. I probably did it wrong. Anyway, the mill seems to work fine how it is, and I'm happy. I think I'll leave it alone.

Too bad about your demo, but it's probably a lot closer to the truth than one that produces a 1/2"-20 left hand threaded bolt by just pressing cycle start. I don't care how much I try to think through the steps, I always miss something. Since I only make one of everything, I never get any economy out of learning and using the same setup for the next parts. Making the second one would be so much faster...

The night before last I buried a vee mill (I was about to engrave something) because I had used one of the stupid "wizards." Lucky for me, it only went in about 1/4" before it stalled and slipped in the collet about the time I hit e-stop. Maybe it's just me, but I get trouble every time I use one of those "wizards." They seem to randomly set the Z offset, and if I don't touch off again after using them, it hurts. I hate touching off, so I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I do stop them in the middle of running sometimes, so maybe they all set a coordinate frame just to punish me for stopping them before they finish.

I never, ever, switch the spindle to manual. I quickly got used to typing M3 and M5 on the G-Code line, and now I use M8 and M9 for coolant. I'm too afraid of doing what you did to ever not let the computer control everything it needs to. Sometimes I switch the coolant off if I'm (literally) dry running a program, but that's not a show stopper if I switch it on late as the program starts.

Just use a 10K Ohm or higher resistor with your LEDs for 110V and you'll be fine. You can adjust the value to change the brightness if you need to, but don't go below about 7500 Ohms or you'll compromise the longevity of the LED (probably very quickly). I think you'll find that 10mA is plenty of drive for modern LEDs, and they should last a lifetime at that current. Anything over 15mA is probably trouble, but depends on the LED. In your case, however, maybe you want them very bright red, and on only when the spindle is switched off, so you'll never turn the spindle off without blinding yourself.

Regards,

- Just Gary