Don't quote me but my understanding is Mach3 can only handle 1 pulse per rev. from a spindle. Multiple pulses, as required for positioning screws it up - its in the manual!
Ok, I have a griz G0704 with a chinese ac servo and driver combo. Setup as step in mach3, works flawlessly, best money spent.
I'm trying to figure out how to setup mach3 to utilize the encoder for rpm read out and positioning for rigid tapping. I have 3 outputs for the encoder, I assume for each phase. They each have a + and - minus I assume for common and input on my board pins.
Mach3 literature is useless, and haven't found any from google, the many different ways I've searched.
Thanks in advance.
CR
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Don't quote me but my understanding is Mach3 can only handle 1 pulse per rev. from a spindle. Multiple pulses, as required for positioning screws it up - its in the manual!
If your Encoder has a Z Pulse ( index Pulse ) you can use that for Threading, Mach3 control can use an Encoder input, but read only, some have used this for the readouts, so for threading the Encoder Z Pulse is all that you can use
You would need Acorn or UCCNC control to do full Encoder Feed Back for Rigid Tapping and they also only have the ( 1 ) encoder input for Rigid Tapping
Mactec54
Hi,
I use Mach4 and have done for seven years.
I too have an AC servo as a spindle motor and can consequently set it up as a C axis, that is to say Step/Dir, and then rigid tap by using
regular Gcode relying on the coordination between the two axes. Most of the time my spindle is set up as voltage controlled velocity mode
as a free running spindle, only when I want to tap does it switch to Step/Dir.
Note that this operation relies on coordination between two axes that is provided by interpolation that is inherent in Gcode.
This is different to what would be called rigid tapping by most people in the industry. They refer to rigid tapping as the Z axis is synchronised, or perhaps better understood as,
'Z axis rotates directly commensurate with the encoder on the spindle'.This in turn requires that the Z axis Step/Dir signals be generated in realtime synchronism
with the encoder signals. Mach3 and Mach4 run on Windows platforms and require a 'buffered' (delayed) control, ie cannot be realtime. For rigid tapping, using the
industry standard use of the term, must be done by the motion controller, because the motion controller alone can be realtime.
I understand Mach4 does have a G84 rigid tapping command but requires support from the motion controller, and to my knowledge my ESS does not
support it.
Mach3 and Mach4 both handle single point lathe threading but rigid tapping is another step beyond.
The spindle rotation must be synchronised with the Z axis, very much the same as lathe threading, but then it must decelerate to a stop and then reverse all the while
maintaining perfect synchronism with the Z axis, so tougher again than lathe threading.
Despite the fact that Mach (3 or 4), nor my motion controller can natively support rigid tapping, I have got it to work....and would guess that you could too. Its been some
years since I've used Mach3 and so cannot be sure that you could do it with Mach3, but I can with Mach4.
Craig.