Best posts made by Nightowl

@tecno said in M950 output on 1XD:

Lets blame the bloody foreigner

Absolutely not. We're all foreigners to someone, which makes us all equal!

I think I've sussed it, @jay_s_uk.

I've got the M564 S1 H1 line in my config.g file, but whilst 'playing' with getting my axes working I've been using M564 S0 H0 to allow me to jog - not realising I should have used M564 H0 S1.

Thanks anyway

I've had quite a lot of help on here over the last few weeeks, most of it coming from users with 3D printers rather than CNC machines.

This made me wonder how many CNC users there are!

So here's a quick poll, which I'm happy for Admin to delete if I'm overstepping,....

This is probably more relevant to CNC users, but is there any likelihood for a future control board to support the (currently) separate function of a PWM to Voltage converter, like this?

Using one of these isn't overly complicated but it would be so nice to be able to just plug a milling motor, like the Sorotec, Mafell or AMB/Kress directly to the control board and configure it within config.g.

I've found with the separate card it's almost impossible to 'tune' it accurately to provide accurate speeds.

Or, maybe, an add-on board..?

Pretty please?

Click in the field...

Not sure if this is what you wanted, @fcwilt, but here you go:

The machine is a RatRig 1075 KillerBee, although I've made a few amendments to the supplied machine, including using 4x proximity sensors instead of limit switches, and redesigned the spoil board supports. It has a Duet 3 MB6HC control board (as you already know!) connected via a wired network to a Microsoft Surface Pro.

Most of my work is done on my iMac, which is in the house, so I connect to the Surface Pro and the Duet via a wired network using powerline adapters.

Apart from my own knowledge limits, everything seems to work well - but the proof will be when I eventually make something!

@adamfilip
Or read this thread and this thread...

Here's the updated connection diagram:

...and this is the code from the config.g file:

; Milling motor and relay configuration
M950 R0 C"vfd+out7" L4000:25000 Q1000	; enable router relay on out7
M563 P0 S"St George" R0 		; assign spindle 0 to tool 0 and name it St George
T0					; select tool 0
M5					; ensure motor is turned off

Note: I have used this relay to provide mains power to the milling motor, which is activated from Out7 in this case. I guess any Out could be used, but the code would need to be changed accordingly.

Many thanks to @dc42 and @jay_s_uk for helping me resolve this, and I hope this diagram will be of use to others.

Thank you to Support (and @Phaedrux) for helping me with this issue, which is now fully resolved.

Thank you, @dc42.

I was getting a bit tied up with this last night, but in the cold light of day - and after a good nights sleep! - a clear look at the problem certainly helps.

My thanks to @JoergS5 for pointing me towards the Z height, and everyone else who joined me on this journey.

Now all I have to do is find out why and prevent it from ruining my day again!

@ian-0
I appreciate this must becoming frustrating for you, but it would help if you could give us a bit more information, particularly your config.g file.

If you click the </> icon above, then paste the entire text of your config.g file, that would be a great start.

Thank you.

@infiniteloop I knew I could rely on you!

I think the config_default.g is for the DuetPi, which I don't have, and the DuetWebControl-master folder is from a previous installation - although why it's on the SD card I don't know. I'll move them to a Do I Need This S**t folder and see what happens

Thank you, @jay_s_uk

As I wrote the post, I came to that conclusion, but thanks for confirming!

Thanks again, @engikeneer

These are my proposed changes (except for the Z height, which I'll experiment with!), and I'll check if they work tomorrow.

; pause.g
M5 ; stop the spindle
G91 ; relative positioning
G1 Z5 F360 ; lift Z by 5mm
G90 ; absolute positioning
G1 X0 Y0 F2400 ; go to X=0 Y=0

; resume.g
G1 R1 X0 Y0 Z5 F2400 ; go to 5mm above position of the last print move
G1 R1 X0 Y0 Z0 ; go back to the last print move
M3 : turn the spindle on

Thanks again

Well, I don't know who had that foresight, @jay_s_uk, but that would explain the magical event

I really appreciate the help, thank you.

Thanks, @deckingman

I too will need to look at my homing macros to incorporate a status check, so I’d be interested to see how you’ve done it.

Other comments regarding the NC switch make sense, because that’s why I changed to nc proximity sensors on the X, Y and Z axes, rather than mechanical no switches!

Thanks, everyone!

@oliof They run on 5V adequately, but I'm beginning to think it's a wiring issue.

I'm using CAT6 plugs and sockets, so aligning the cables has proven to be a bit of a pain!

@fcwilt
In programs like Vectric Cut2D, I would design a project to be cut out of a piece of material, usually wood ('real' wood, plywood or MDF). Some people would use the limits of the stock, e.g. use a 6x4x4" block of wood to cut a hole in the middle and call it a box, but I prefer to cut the box out of a larger block, so square edges and a flat top of the block aren't too important, although a flat base is.

The Z zero is (for me) on the top of the block and X and Y zero are to the front left of the block. Others may do things differently, e.g. using the middle of the block as X and Y zero, or the baseboard as their Z zero.

In my case, the tip of the cutter is set on the top of the material at the X and Y start point and click Go, then the machine cuts and leaves a nice shiny box! The Vectric software I use has a size limit (24" x 24") so I can't cut anything larger than that, unless I tile it - but I'm only just starting out and that strategy is a bit advanced for me.

@Stephen6309
So, essentially write an M6.g file and when the gcode file calls M6, this would run the M6.g as a 'macro' then continue where it left off in the gcode once the M6.g code has completed?

Hmm, that's not as complicated as I expected!

Thank you

I think I may not have explained properly is that I want to write macros and config files in my comfy chair (Oh no! Not the comfy chair!) with the CNC machine in the workshed.

At the moment (unless I've completely missed something) I can only edit/review existing files when the Duet controller is powered up.

It's taken quite some time to fettle the mechanics of the machine to make sure it's square in all three planes and flat, so I really don't want to start disconnecting couplings, stepper motors or making any other physical changes.

No, all I really want to do is develop my existing knowledge and learn more about meta commands and how they work - or don't. At the moment, the CNC runs as it should - with a lot of help from here, I might add - so I just want to enter an experimental stage without affecting the CNC.

Oh, and I would never leave a CNC working on it's own, with or without a camera. Things happen far too quickly with motors spinning at 20,000rpm with a piece of sharp steel in its jaws and lumps of wood/metal flying around the place!