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Arie,
I have always enjoyed your builds. The Boeing that you had machined was the best everDo you still have it ?
...and Thanks for starting another build as I am hooked up to it.
No, i don't have that boeing anymore, it's a grave monument..
at the moment, there's little progress with the lathe, because i'm sorting out all kinds of things.. like a toolchanger, and a nice way to hold my tools in place
i'm also thinking of writing my own controlsoftware, 'cause nothing decent is available.. i want a "Fagor-like" interface, with programmable cycles..
I am still figuring out how to use Pokeys 55T with my cnc lathe. I am still learning Visual Basics. You have any tips or links to a guide as to how to use pokeys.Originally Posted by arie kabaalstra
Well.. the only advice i can give you is erhm.. RTFM.. i did. seriously.. i bought a Pokeys, and took a thorough look in the manuals..
Using it as a secondary custom keyboard is really simple.. using it in software is another cattle of fish, but there are some .Net sourcecode files on the net, which would serve you well in the field of programming your application with pokeys functionality..
I did some fiddling around with these sourcecodes, and managed to make a program that would control a modelrailroad layout's signals.. i.e. when a train enters a certain section, the signal at the begin of that section would turn red.. and the signal at the previous section would turn green again.
there's absolutely no magic involved..
as far as CNC machines are concerned.. i use USBCNC on my machines.. and that has a number of shortkeys, wich i will program in my pokeys to create external control buttons..
Thanks for the advice on pokeys.It is a bit tricky for me since I have never fiddled around with electronics as its not my subject of studies. Lately I have been learning quite a bit about electronics. I will take a through look into the Manual.
Your detailing to scale models is exceptional. Your Porsche scanning is put up by USBCNC Eding CNC - PC based CNC control
Yeah, i know, but Bert Eding, the author, and i sort of coöperate on the software. he wrote it, but i designed the layout..Your Porsche scanning is put up by USBCNC Eding CNC - PC based CNC control
I also wrote some of the routines in the software, i.e. for the toolsetter.
that's one of the many reasons i will use UCBCNC on my machine.. though it might not be the standard User Interface, i'm planning on writing my own..
wow!. You always have something for surprises.
I would love to give USBCNC a try.
Good luck with your current build
When will u start to teach us on usbcnc, its kinda interesting? Its been so long time now....
Well.. then i guess i'd have to open a topic here..
since i started with CNC, USBCNC was still very small, and unknown, at the moment, even machine manufacturers are building they're machines with USBCNC, and those are not just manufactureres in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe..
At the moment i'm also writing special programs for a portugese manufacturer, for a machine that wil make standard parts in different sizes..
What can i say about USBCNC,, it is very different from Mach.. as i posted earlier on this forum, i HATE mach.. don't like the looks of it, don't want to spend weeks on programming something that looks better to my taste, but is still the same old software.. because... that's all what mach is.. software..
USBCNC however is a CONTROLLER.. it uses a CPU board that is connected by means of an USB cable ( hence the name) or an Ethernet Connection ( latest model )
USBCNC doesn't have top cope with the crappy timing of the LPT port, it has its own internal timer on the CPU, and a BUFFER.. so even if the USB or Ethernet Communication is somewhat slow, nevermind.. the buffer will "iron out" al those glitches.., a one-stop solution for Smooth machine movement..
the GUI is designed by a professional Toolmaker ( me ) based on the logical layout of a Heidenhain control, but since most controls operate in basically the same manner, it may just as well look like a modern Fanuc, Siemens or even Fagor..
Fact is, Softkeys for all the functions.. don't need a mouse to operate it..don't want mice in the workshop after all.. ( and.. in all my life.. i've never seen a Bridgeport with a mouse attached.. )
When you don't like the standard button images.. those can be changed.. this is my own buttonset..
the most beautiful feature of USBCNC is the "Macro.cnc"File, an G-code file with all the routines for toolchanging, tool measurement, and some other things already in it..
there's a menu with "user buttons" linked to user subs in the macro.cnc file, in these subs, you can program whatever you want to use frequently, so a "standard program is available at the push of a button..
and.. since the latest releases, USBCNC features a new function to one of the most versatile commands..
the DLGMSG ( DiaLoGMeSsaGe ) will now look for an image to display, making clear what value is for wich function..
Let me dig up a picture of that..
I've drawn a picture of a rectangular pocket.. and i've threwn some dimensions into it. this basically shows you what value to put where, to get a pocket of a certain size..
When you put the code for this parametric pocket in one of the user subs, you can push the matching butten ( for wich you can also make a custom icon as i stated before) and get your "Cycle", key in the numbers hit Enter, and off you go..
For companies with some standard products, this enabels them to produce flexible, without the need of a fast programmer or CAM software.. just write a parametric program once.. store it in Macro.CNC, and that's about all there's to it..
been planning my first CNC build for the last couple of months and have been very interested in USBCNC compared to the other stuff out there...
BUT! it seems currently more for milling than for turning. when (if ever) will it be capable of controlling a bar fed gang tool lathe with full C axis milling capability? or maybe it already can and i'm just not seeing it?
Well.. Bar feed?.. that's just sending a signal to the feeder.. can do.. Bar Feeders should have their own control... can do i'd say..
C-Axis milling?.. dunno.. one should have an indexable spindle for that, right?..i know Bert Eding is working on that..
Gangtool?.. should not be that hard.. just tell the machine what tool is where..
there's this Macro.CNC file which you can stuff with whatever code you can dream of..
the bar feed needs the collet opened and then an input to tell the controller that the bar has been fed so it can close the collet. also, when reaching the end of a bar the feeder needs to tell the machine to move the bar stop back so it can eject the unused bar end and feed a new bar. i'm sure the controller is capable of this by setting up aux inputs and outputs but would be nice if they were named.
gang tooling is no problem, G54-59.3 take care of that.
a C axis with full interpolation and not just indexing is the big hurdle. if that's what's being worked on then this controller is going to end up very nice indeed.
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