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  #571  
Old Sat 19 April 2014, 06:30
darren salyer
Just call me: Darren #101
 
Wentzville mo
United States of America
I'll be watching with interest.
At some point I'll be able to get back in the shop...
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  #572  
Old Sat 19 April 2014, 06:54
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
The plates are Ross' (SurfCNC), He was kind enough to share his dxf's with me, thanks again Ross. I used a 5/32 o-flute for the holes, ran at 11000rpm, feed at 30 ipm, plunge at 5 ipm USED RAMPS (spiral) 12 passes, Its a small bit so I went a bit slow but the chip load looked right. The outside shape was cut with 1/4" spiral up cut O-flute (for alum) 30 ipm, 10 ipm plunge, 6 passes, Using Ramps and I ran the spindle at I think 12500 (maybe faster). My supplier said 16000rpm at 80-100 ipm, I'm a chicken and slowed it down, now I may try it at those rates AFTER I'm done with the plates I need now.

I used a little WD-40 when running the small bit but found that you can not spray it directly on the small bits while under load, the sudden difference in temp caused 1 bit to break. Otherwise I used a slow steady stream of air to help cool it and an occasional spray of WD-40 in the groove ahead of the bit seems to work well.
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  #573  
Old Sat 19 April 2014, 06:55
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Cool
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  #574  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 05:56
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Well won't be posting pics today. I broke the last small bit in my possesion (it was a spiral down cut, I know, the wrong type to use) but I had already ordered 3 more on Friday that should be here on Monday. The others were already dull when I attemped to use them (no real losses). On aluminum you must use a bit that evacuates the chips quickly to prevent the hot chips from welding itself back to the material and packing in the cut too. Thats what happened here, had nowhere to go but down. Its all a learning process, more about what not to do.
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  #575  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 09:21
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Adequate lubrication helps as well.
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  #576  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 09:26
dbinokc
Just call me: DB #118
 
Oklahoma
United States of America
What thickness of aluminum were you cutting into? A lot of my cutting will be into aluminum sheet anywhere from .016 to .063. It was recommended to me to use a downward spiral bit on the thinner sheets to keep it from lifting off the table.
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  #577  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 11:13
ger21
Just call me: Ger
 
Detroit, MI
United States of America
A downcut spiral only works with aluminum if you are cutting all the way through in one pass, as with thin sheet.
If you don't cut all the way through, there's now place for the chips to go and the tool will break quickly.
Yes, I tried it once too when it was the only 1/8" bit I had.
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  #578  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 11:53
dbinokc
Just call me: DB #118
 
Oklahoma
United States of America
The thicknesses I will be cutting into are .016,.025,.032,040 and .063. I think anything up to 040 will be okay to cut in one pass. 063 may be pushing it, but I think it is rigid enough to not want to lift, so I could use an upward spiral for that.
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  #579  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 12:05
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
DB, I'm cutting 0.375 in.
Pete, Yes indeed
Ger, I knew before I started that it wouldn't last
DB, I would think that if you use a straight cutting bit it should be able to cut through it with little problem.

Happy Easter All!
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  #580  
Old Sun 20 April 2014, 12:36
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
A Hoppy Bunny Day to you as well...
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  #581  
Old Tue 29 April 2014, 18:57
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Well took a hard hit this morning. Lightning hit a tree outside my shop and took out the phone system and my computer used on the router. I hadn't made a hard copy back-up because I wasn't done with the configuration (even though I made back ups on the computer while it was running, does no good now) and a surge protector was not connected because I just moved it to another temporary place in the shop (near the phone) to move the router. Looks like I'm down for a bit until I can find another old PC, I have no others that can be used unless I get a smooth stepper and run everything from my laptop.

I just hope the router itself didn't take some damage, it was still connected to the PC via serial cable.
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  #582  
Old Tue 29 April 2014, 19:07
dbinokc
Just call me: DB #118
 
Oklahoma
United States of America
That definitely sucks. I assume the control panel for the MM is okay though. I would say go for the ethernet smooth stepper. I have been real happy with mine and have been running from my laptop with no problems so far.

Last edited by dbinokc; Tue 29 April 2014 at 19:11..
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  #583  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 06:00
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
I worked on the pc the other day and found that the powersupply had taken the hit (the majority of it thus far) I replace it and got it going again, however there is still something not correct and maybe one of you may have some insight. What is happening is the Z only goes up, never down, the pageup works fine but the pagedown does not, it only moves it up. Mach recognizes the keyboard commands as they should be. I've kinda narrowed it down to serial port or the BOB. I think I'll reconfigure the wiring to another 'pin' and see if it isolates it to the BOB but first I'll try another parallel port first (which I don't think it is, but who knows).

Any suggestions?
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  #584  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 06:21
danilom
Just call me: Danilo #64
 
Novi Sad
Serbia
- mixed up step/dir output
- bad output on BoB
- bad drive

Swap motor wires with another drive first, that's easy
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  #585  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 06:39
racedirector
Just call me: Bruce #122
 
New South Wales
Australia
I had a drive do that on my last machine, turned out to one of the controllers. As Danilo has said, swap another motor onto that drive and see what happans and put the Z motor on the good drive. That will give you a good start to figuring out what went south...
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  #586  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 07:01
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
I already tried a new drive, no difference. This morning I'll swap some pins next. I really have a feeling its the BOB. If the output pins are bad, I'll connect both the X and A axis signals together as a temporary fix and order a new BOB because the others work fine so far.

Is there any devise to prevent lightning from coming back through the parallel port? I guess the best way it to prevent it from entering the PC. I picked up a decent surge protector that has insurance but still need to figure a way to prevent it on the MM side. Any suggestions there?(I'm operating on 220vac)

Last edited by Tom Ayres; Sun 04 May 2014 at 07:04.. Reason: spelling
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  #587  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 07:11
IMMark
Just call me: Mark #119
 
Columbus Ohio
United States of America
From what I have always been told, there is no device that can stop a lightning strike. Best would be to eliminate the connection (unplug) during storms?
I have some expensive pinball machines, it things are getting really bad outside....I unplug from the wall outlet. Sorry to hear of your problems, best of luck!
Mark
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  #588  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 08:47
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Throwing the disconnect when not in use is the best practice other than that you are at the mercy of nature. I am assuming your machine and computer come from the same power source and it is supplied after the machine disconnect and main line contactor (if applicable).
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  #589  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 09:03
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Pete in this case the computer had been moved to the other side of the shop and connected to same outlet as the phone. The MM is on its own source and yes the disconnect was disconnected but the parallel cable was attached to the bob and PC. Maybe I will make provisions for a common power source.
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  #590  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 09:03
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Leviton has SPDs. Even these do not always protect fully your sensitive electronics but not a bad idea. If your garage has its own meter head, then you can get the meter head they have or you can us something downstream.

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/Secti...minisite=10251
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  #591  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 09:19
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Tom,
I know a lot of people like the idea to be able to have the computer on without turning the machine on; myself included. Unfortunately since it is not truly off when the machine is off like when the machine disconnect is thrown, it is susceptible to this unfortunate act of nature. A better idea would be to have a UPS for your computer. Most UPS are certified to protect against lightning however if you have a phone or cable line connected to the computer it will not protect against that unless a RJ11 connection is provided on the unit then the phone line to the computer will be. We use APC UPS units where I work at to protect our PLC and computers on various machines that require protection.
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  #592  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 09:55
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Yeah Pete, I used to use APC, its a good product, just thought there was something new out there.
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  #593  
Old Sun 04 May 2014, 11:47
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Just giving options.
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  #594  
Old Sat 07 June 2014, 15:49
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Tom, did you get your machine running yet?
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  #595  
Old Sat 07 June 2014, 17:31
parrulho
Just call me: Paulo #108
 
willemstad
Netherlands Antilles
I was thinking to ask the same...
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  #596  
Old Sun 22 June 2014, 08:15
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Yep, its working and I'm cutting.
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  #597  
Old Sun 22 June 2014, 08:54
darren salyer
Just call me: Darren #101
 
Wentzville mo
United States of America
Without pics, is it really happening?
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  #598  
Old Sun 22 June 2014, 15:06
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
This is true but I can assure you its happening. Doing a production run of some 18" PA subs for a local sound company. The speakers are proprietary so can't show them. Can tell you that they are the strongest and meatiest subs I've heard, ever. 3200 watt subs, Wow!

I am enjoying the learning process and how effeciently ol' Blue is reproducing the parts.

I've cut the belt reduction plates I've been talking about, broke many-a-bit. haven't put them together yet but working on them between set-ups when I'm not creating the next part.

Found out about deleting the linearity.dat file to keep the spindle speeds correct. Apparently mach has a problem with its spindle callibration function.

Sorry for not responding to earlier comments, someone doesn't want me to share my problems with others, kinda pisses me off, so there will be no more problems mentioned from me.
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  #599  
Old Sun 22 June 2014, 18:07
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
Pix anyway ... eventually

Once you cut something non-proprietary or just a sub-part that could be shown out of context, we would still love to see an image or two!
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  #600  
Old Sun 22 June 2014, 18:26
darren salyer
Just call me: Darren #101
 
Wentzville mo
United States of America
^^^^^What he said^^^^^^
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