Need help setting up new machine

[Hack]

Well I spun the motors last night for the first time but wasn't really pleased with my first cut. I tried the vcircle sample program that comes with the software, and got an ellipse shape not a circle. Sooooo...

Check my leadscrew setting and viola, they were not set right. Set all 3 axis to 0.00003125 in as I am using 1/4 x 20 rod with 1/8 microstepping (xylotex board) Jogged the machine and it worked fine. Went back to adjust the other motion parameters and am kinda lost. Mainly at what Hz I should set the fast jog, slowjog, accel, and start velocity at. I am using an old pentium 200 to run the machine if that helps. I played with the setting a little and seemed as though the higher I set these number, the faster the machine moved, but I don't want to go to fast.

Also, how do I adjust the feed rate of this software? When I ran the vcircle program it says it is at 20 ipm. Is this only adjustable by editing the program that is running? In this case, v circle? Also, I was running this program and early in the code it lowers the z axis 2" and the at the end raises it back up, but on my system, it continues to go down further. Any ideas?

Back to setting up this software, when I go back into configure each axis , I get a message that my lead screw scale is at 0 not the 0.00003125 mentioned above. I tried saving the setting, and reseting the ports, so why is it not saving the changes?

Thanks all

Dan

[CJL5585]

Mainly at what Hz I should set the fast jog, slowjog, accel, and start velocity at.

The Max Speed setting will the the highest pulse rate that is generated in pulses per second on your machine. Keep in mind that you have a 200 per revolution stepping motor, 20 tpi leadscrew and a divide by 8 microstep drive function. That equates to 32,000 pulses per inch.

My machine has a 200 step per revolution stepping motor, a 10 tpi ballscrew and a 10 microstep drive.

My settings:
Max speed 40,000 Acceleration: 5,000 Start speed: 6000

These settings give me a max speed of 150 IPM. With the same settings on your machine it will be somewhat less than that. The max settings will probably never be reached as the normal feedrate is set by the g-code program that you are running, and a move would have to be over several inches in order for the acceleration factor to allow the increase in speed to the max value entered. The higher the max setting, and the acceleration setting the faster the machine goes.

Also, how do I adjust the feed rate of this software?

Once you have gone thru the menu to the Operator Moderated or the Automatic Machining functions, you can then use the < and > keys to slow down (<), or (>) increase the FEEDRATE SET IN THE G-CODE FILE. This is displayed in the STATUS window. The default value is 100%. The < key can reduce this feedrate to 20% of the g-code value. The > key can increase the feedrate to a max of 300% of the g-code setting.

Tried saving the setting, and reseting the ports, so why is it not saving the changes?

Because you are not in true DOS mode. I had the same problem. I tried to save the setup values in the file while on my Windows XP machine and also on my Windows 98 machine. TurboCNC will not allow the setup file to be saved unless you are in true DOS mode.

I do not have any idea what operating system you have, but TurboCNC requires DOS mode to operate properly.

I don't know if you have Ver 4.0 of TurboCNC or not. I am still running the older version, so all my answers are based on the version I have.

Hope this helps.
Jerry

[ger21]

Originally Posted by CJL5585 The max settings will probably never be reached as the normal feedrate is set by the g-code program that you are running, and a move would have to be over several inches in order for the acceleration factor to allow the increase in speed to the max value entered.

The max speed and acceleration are used any time you have a G0 rapid move. And I don't believe that can be user adjusted with the <> keys.

[CJL5585]

I don't know why, but the G01 rapid move never occurred to me while I was writing the previous response.

Thanks.

Jerry

[Stevie]

mine runs under DOS 6.22; just dandy

Yes G00 is not adjusted by <>

[Halfnutz]

Yes it is misleading because TurboCNC apears to be working in a Windows DOS window, however it is not running properly. I found a bunch of "bugs" disapeer once I ran in true DOS. Also Ver. 4.0 has many quirks that have been addressed in Ver. 4.01 It is well worth updating.

[swarfmacdaddy]

You should also set your pulse rate to 0 at setup. 10 is way to long for g-201s.