MountainCrafts Router/Plasma Build Thread

[Mountaincraft]

Hi Gerry, I've ripped the stuff with my table saw and edge routed the stuff to restore the radius by hand, and you're right it cuts pretty effortlessly.. So I should probably just try to figure out how fast I usually push my router by hand in such situations and go with that...

Can you tell me a little about those eccentric work holders you made? I need to start working on a nice hold down system like that... What thickness material did you use, what did you use for the pin, and how did you mount the pin in the eccentric?

I might even try making them out of trex.... later aluminum

[ger21]

They're just cut from 1x6 pine, with a 1/4" hole in them. I bolt then into T-nuts embedded in my table.

[Mountaincraft]

I think I might make some from 1/8" steel, with a 1/4" round steel shaft welded to them on top, and then ground down flush... It's too late for me to install Tee nuts... In the short term, I can make a few from 1/2" MDF I guess...

Received my 45 degree carbide tipped V Carve bit from MLCS... Received my 60 Degree V Carve Insert Bit from Tools Today today... Ordered a precision collet set today from precise bits.com (1/8", 1/4", & 1/2" collets, nut and wrench)... My S-PID shipped yesterday...

Went into town today and ordered some hardwoods and millwork for my first paying V Carve job... Making a bunch of coasters for a non-profit to sell at fairs... Bought 16' of 8/4 Alder, 12' of 8/4 poplar, and 10' of 5/4 Sapele.. Having it resawn and planed into 5.5" wide by 3/8" thick lengths for finishing and V Carving.. Should yield about 450 coasters.. He also had some 3/8" x 3.5" poplar already milled.. I bought 6 eight foot lengths at $2.30 each of that too...

Also picked up the hinges and draw bolt latches for the fold down wall at the load end of the table...

Still pre-finishing 4x8 foot sheets of furniture grade plywood for a cabinet job I'm about to cut for a customer...

I also bought a sheet of 1/2" MDF today so that I can make some of those dinosaur and animal puzzles... Gonna take a stab at that this weekend... Also need to start making some efficient hold downs for various thickness materials......

I also have a bunch of 1.125" trex decking scraps to play with too... Been washing some of them and letting them dry...

About to order a couple 3D models from VectorArt3D tonight or tomorrow too...

Nice to be moving into a new phase with this table...

Pictures/video coming soon!

[ger21]

I think I might make some from 1/8" steel, with a 1/4" round steel shaft welded to them on top, and then ground down flush

You're bits won't like steel ones very much.

[Mountaincraft]

Well, my idea was that @ 1/8" thick, they should be well below the level of the material they're holding.. But maybe I should rethink all that... I'm just thinking that if I do much of the using screws into the sacrifice board routine that I have been using, it will cause little dimples to pull up all over the place.. and I'll be continually resurfacing the thing...

Did you resurface your MDF top? If so, did you re-seal it with anything?

[ger21]

Well, my idea was that @ 1/8" thick, they should be well below the level of the material they're holding.. But maybe I should rethink all that... I'm just thinking that if I do much of the using screws into the sacrifice board routine that I have been using, it will cause little dimples to pull up all over the place.. and I'll be continually resurfacing the thing...

Did you resurface your MDF top? If so, did you re-seal it with anything?

I've re-surfaced it 2 or 3 times, and it's not worth sealing, as I'll just surface it off again.

[Mountaincraft]

I think what I'll try is to pick up some 1/4" or 3/8" acrylic, and cut them from that.. then use acrylic glue to glue in some 1/4", 5/16", or 3/8" acrylic dowels (3/4" long) into them, so that the dowels are flush with the top of the cams...

For now, I'll just cut some out of 1/2" MDF and use 1.25" long 1/4" stove bolts to pin them...

Now if I could just resolve this issue with posting here!

[Mountaincraft]

Gerry,

I used your screenset to makes some cams yesterday, and to drill out a six inch grid of 1/4" holes in my sacrifice board, then take a 1 inch mortising bit and resurface over those holes (@.000 DOC), and then come back and chamfer them all with a 45 degree V carve bit...

It makes things 'so' nice... When my Precision collets arrive, this will really get easy!

It's also nice to have this table accurately repeating itself, so that I can trust that such operations will put the holes where they're supposed to be and that I can trust that repeat operations like the chamfering will also happen exactly where I expect it to...

[ger21]

Cool.
Once you use all those cool features, it's hard to imagine going back, isn't it.

[Mountaincraft]

Yeah.. I don't want to do without these features now.. no way..

I have a question about limit switches and your screenset and Mach 3 in general..

What happens when the machine is running a program, gets to the M6 command, and then a limit is triggered after the machine has reached the tool change position and is waiting for the tool change?

Would this prevent Mach 3 from turning on the spindle or doing any further motion of the system? If so, once the limit is cleared, would then pushing 'start cycle' just make everything go on as if the limit was never activated?

The reason I'm asking, is that I'm thinking of setting up an e-stop style button on the Z carriage right above the router, that when hit, causes a relay to remove 120v power to the S-PID, and simultaneously trigger a limit condition...

That would operate as my safety interlock during bit changing...

Then I could pull the panic button back out, causing the relay to remove the limit condition, and also allow router power to go back to the S-PID... at this time, I'd hit "Cycle Start" and the S-PID would go and measure the tool on the fixed plate, and then go back to the workpiece, start the router, and start the cut..

Is this reasonable? Or does a limit condition cause other problems?

[ger21]

What happens when the machine is running a program, gets to the M6 command, and then a limit is triggered after the machine has reached the tool change position and is waiting for the tool change?

I'm going to guess and say "Bad Things". It'll most likely stop the macro from running. I've seen "issues" when stopping a macro from running.
Not exactly the same, but I've hit estop during homing, and have had to reboot the PC to get Mach3 working correctly again.

How about this option. Put a switch to kill power to the spindle. Or use the one on the router, like I do.

Modify your M3 (Start Spindle) macro to pop up a message box reminding you to turn on the spindle. You'll have to click OK on the message box before the spindle will start. So basically, every time Mach3 tries to start the spindle, it'll give you a message to turn it on, so you won't forget.

Another option might be to use the Tach signal from the SuperPID to check if the Spindle is spinning.
Create an M-Code macro, and have your post place it after the M3. Wait a few seconds, and check the rpm. If it's over, say, 4,000, then proceed. You may need to add a DRO for the spindle speed, but it can be placed outside of the screen area, where you wouldn't see it.

[Mountaincraft]

In another thread (The S-PID thread) someone mentioned that their spindle VFD sent an "up to speed" signal to mach 3 that had to be present before the thing took off...

Are you familiar with this signal? If so, what kind of signal is it, and what is required to 'fake it'... If I could set up Mach 3 to require this signal before proceeding, and then could have my panic button allow it to get there.. this might solve my problem, no?

[Mountaincraft]

How hard would it be to create a switch/macro that could be placed on the screenset (like the "Ignore M6 calls" switch), that when active, would disable the 'start cycle' button when a certain signal (condition) is present at a parallel port pin (or not present)?..

[ger21]

In another thread (The S-PID thread) someone mentioned that their spindle VFD sent an "up to speed" signal to mach 3 that had to be present before the thing took off...

Are you familiar with this signal? If so, what kind of signal is it, and what is required to 'fake it'... If I could set up Mach 3 to require this signal before proceeding, and then could have my panic button allow it to get there.. this might solve my problem, no?

Read it again, and he didn't say Mach3. Al doesn't use Mach3.

[ger21]

How hard would it be to create a switch/macro that could be placed on the screenset (like the "Ignore M6 calls" switch), that when active, would disable the 'start cycle' button when a certain signal (condition) is present at a parallel port pin (or not present)?..

Mach3 has 3 ways it handles M6's. One is to ignore them completely. One is to do a fully automatic toolchange.

We use the 3rd option, which is "Stop Spindle, Wait for Cycle Start". The "Wait for Cycle Start" part is built into mach3, and can't be bypassed.

Actually, I don't think there's any way to disable any buttons on the screen.

Like i said before, the best way would be to check the rpm from the Super-PID before continuing.

[Mountaincraft]

Maybe I can disable the mouse... LOL

[Mountaincraft]

Okay, back on this option...

Another option might be to use the Tach signal from the SuperPID to check if the Spindle is spinning.
Create an M-Code macro, and have your post place it after the M3.

The post processor can be modified to do this automatically every time I generate G Code for V Carve?

Wait a few seconds, and check the rpm. If it's over, say, 4,000, then proceed. You may need to add a DRO for the spindle speed, but it can be placed outside of the screen area, where you wouldn't see it.

Isn't there a DRO already on the run tab? What is the 'RPM' field for?

[ger21]

Okay, back on this option...



The post processor can be modified to do this automatically every time I generate G Code for V Carve?

Yes. Say you write a macro, and save it as M444.m1s

Change your post to add M444 on the line after M3.

In the Header section, it would look something like this:

"[N][S]M03"
"[N]M444"
......
......

Isn't there a DRO already on the run tab? What is the 'RPM' field for?

That DRO shows the commanded rpm, and changes with the Spindle override slider.

You need a DRO to display the actual rpm from the Super-PID. It doesn't need to be seen, just accessible by the macro. You may not need it, but I'm not 100% sure. (I think that macros can read info from all OEM DRO's, whether they are on the screen or not. But I'm not positive)

[roy_okc]

Mountaincraft,

Are you still using the BOB in the non hardware slaved X mode? If so, is that what you think was causing your previous problems?

Thanks,
Roy

[Mountaincraft]

Roy... I typed out a really long reply, but in the reply window instead of the quick reply window, and since I'm still having these problems with posting, lost it all when I posted it...

I'll retype it all out again later today.. That just sucked the wind out of my sails..