Peter, videos like this are why I've been a loyal, subscribed viewer for years! Some RU-vidrs act like they invented CNC, you are in a learning curve just like us, but a good fewer steps ahead. I appreciate your sharing, I appreciate your willingness to correct yourself, and I appreciate your sense of humor. Keep up the good work!
From this video I now understand why I was having so many issues with mach3 and it not being able to produce precise cuts. I bought the masso g2 controller and 99% of my issues disappeared. Your videos have helped me immensely with getting my cnc working reliably. Thankyou
Your lookahead is only 50 lines... increase that to 300 lines and check out your motion smoothness now, then you can decrease your tolerance distance. Also in aspire, there is no need to set the tangential arc tolerance to .0005”. You can change that to .001” or even .002” There’s no way you can hold .002” at that speed in wood.... or whatever it is in metric. This will give you a smaller file. Lots of good tips on the video, as always.
Thanks Peter, I just had a weird problem with drilling a series of holes, the Z axis would stop going down before the programmed depth was reached but when I ran the code in Single Block mode the holes were proper depth. I posted the question on the Mach3 Forum and it turned out that CV was the culprit. I remembered watching your videos on it some time ago and came back to watch again. Many thanks for a very good explanation, I am somewhat wiser now. 🤗
Peter you really deserve way more subs, you have covered this important topic so so well just as you always do, thank you very much for the effort making it, in fact i am quite surprised that this is a fairly new video, thanks
Oh youtube experts it is to allow for the mass and deceleration/ acceleration if tuned correctly you will make make perfect sharp corners without stopping
Thanks again for all your advice Peter. I drew an ellipse using our CamBam software then generated some Gcode from it and was happy to find that it produces circular arcs natively.
Hi peter, excellent video, as usual. One remark about the "Z" speed you were mentioning. The feed rate is not for the Z, but for the X and Y. The Z is controlled by the plunge rate. If you would set the plunge rate at the same as the feed rate, it will ramp very smooth.
That’s what I was trying to work out, if that’s not the xy feedrate then where is it. The result appeared smooth but also appeared the same speed, maybe it was an editing error and he was meant to have feedrate at 7000mm/m and change the plungerate to 7000mm/m
@@MrBrettStar The system will adjust the plunge according, as long you set the feed rate the same as xy. Let's say you need to plunge to a depth of 10mm over a distance of 50mm. That's 0.2mm plunge for every 1mm lateral xy move. At 7000mm/m, 50mm is traveled in 0.43s lateral, 10mm plunge over that distance in the same time. So, 10mm/0.43s will make 1395mm/m plunge rate. Although the feed rate of Z was set to 7000mm/m, the real needed plunge rate for the Z is that 1395mm/m with a given xy feed rate of 7000mm/m. You can see this very good in action if you would setup a 700mm/m feed rate, cutting to a depth of 10mm over 700mm distance. The plunge rate would than be 10mm/m, 0.16mm/sec!
@@paulvandriel2344 your comment is just as confusing as you are saying set the feed rate the same as xy which would lead people to think there is a setting for xy somewhere else.
Great topic Peter! As LinuxCNC user, I know I am the odd ball here, but I will make a comment anyway. I have this line set up in my post processor header, so it will show up in all my gcode files: G64 P0.005. I work in inches, and as I understand it, my gcode will not start bending until it is .005 inches from the node where it changes direction. When working with wood, that .005 is insignificant to me, but it makes my machine run much smoother. One more quick note about cleaning up gcode: back when vectric came out with 9.5, they added helical arc functionality. After adding a few lines to my post processor, some gcode files have a "LOT" less lines of code - especially spirals of any kind (like spiral ramps).
Great video Peter. I'll forgive you for the constant velocity thing but oh those mid-roll ads. They are really annoying when watching a video like this one. They cut you off mid-sentence and make it hard to follow what you were saying. Lose the mid-roll ads and you'll be back to your super star status with me.
Midrolls are gone. Didn't take much notice and left them at default. Thanks for letting me know I will keep an eye on that in the future. Now if removing my own Mid rolls were that easy. Cheers Peter
Wow! this may solve my long standing stutter problem i have in which when running a tool path with tabs in it, i get a slight stutter even when the cut depth isn't yet at the depth of the tab... happens even when air cutting as well. Great Video Peter!!! I'll post if this works for me. Side note: I use feed rate override a lot.
@@cncnutz I did a few of your recommendations including raising acceleration by 2x, change vector nodes, etc. and it seems to have stopped it!!! I also tried without FRO which i think helps. I probably should have did more testing by eliminating one thing at a time though:( Anyway, this makes me very happy because before i was just slowing the FR down pretty slow which would minimize the stutter . Now i can "fire it up"!!! Thank You!
Great video. Very informative. Here's a trap that you may not have encountered with CV mode: Cut a 600mm diameter circle in plywood, or whatever material is convenient. Though the machine sounds perfect, as it performs the cut, you'll end up with an oval shape - instead of a circle. Indeed, it is so bad that you'll actually see the distortion in Mach3's toolpath preview screens. Over the years, I have learned to use the G61 and G64 codes, to let the machine switch between CV and Exact Stop modes, during a run - to get the best of both worlds :) . It is a bit of a pain, but it is worth the effort.
@@Przedzik I think you'll need to experiment with your machine, to see if it has the same problem as mine. Careful use of G64, and G61 fixes it, by using 'exact stop' for important curves, and 'constant velocity' for everything else.
Hi Peter. I have recently got into CNC. Sadly the Mill I picked up from Wellington did not run in New Plymouth. It was Syil X4. I replaced the head with a new 3.5kw 18000 rpm spindle as the driver for the servo spindle drive had died and installed a XHC Motion controller. I am now in a perpetual game of whack a mole. Not once have I just gone to the shed with my G Code on a usb and made chips. It seems every time I run it I first need to over come a new challenge. It's 7:00 am Sunday morning as I type this and I'm about to return to the shed armed with this new understanding. It's not exactly my problem but it's near to the bone. I now know that my CV settings are completely wrong so regardless I'll spend some time sorting that out and I live in hope that it will solve the current problem I have of the cutter over running in adaptive and carving out my wall. It does it in the same place every time. I have gone from absolutely not a clue about any of this stuff to a very slight understanding in the space of 2 months. Thanks to you and a few others leaving nuggets of gold like this for the like of me to find and collect. This has degenerated into a fight to the death and I'm determined to bet the bastard! Of all the videos I have watch and comments I have read this is possibly the best yet. Very very clear and I got everything you said. (I think???)
I was kinda hopeful but no. I think the only productive thing I can now do with my time is to remove the XHC motion controller from the mill and ceremoniously set fire to the bastard in my driveway in a finial act of revenge for all the bullshit and hassle it has caused me.
Great Video Pete My first thought was if you want to use both you could use an exact stop code by adding a G9 to the beginning and end of the corner you want to improve I use this on my CNC machines with Siemens 840D and Funuc 5 axis machines , But I don't and haven't tried it on Mark3 on my DYI cnc machine at home I will have to give that a try and see if Mark3 will read a G9 exact stop code give it a try let me know what you think
Peter, I recently add UCCNC for my machine. When I move the gantry using the keyboard it works fine, however when I run a project in G code the gantry moves very slowly, any suggestions?
Great video, thanks. I'll continue to munch through your back catalogue. Anyone have any ideas how to make straight segments into circular in fusion 360? If only there was a way to have high acceleration in the smooth curves, but tune it down in general use, i.e. moving about with g0 - at that point I'd like to preserve my mechanical components (I'm using servos with belts and ballscrews on quite a heavy moving gantry)... Thanks again
Hey Peter thanks for the video, it’s really helpful and you have a great knowledge on your machine, well done. I have one at work and we’re having a little issue, maybe you could help me with it. Many time on 90 degrees angles you have the G_Code G1 for the line but just before it changes to next line it is creating one G_Code G2 what makes on little wave on beginning of the second line. Do you have any idea about it?? I can send you pictures if you like. And thanks for it.
Superb video So this means to convert all your work to curves if possible to get g2 in output ? Where is a catch ? Or can this be in default set up in vectric ? How masso have to issues with g1 🙈
Sir can I use these settings for RJ45 connecector mach3 controller, I have cnc machine leadshine servo motor and drive and mach3 controller RJ 45 connector, so can I use these settings in my mach3 for iron carving portrait designing Engraving on iron, please guide me
Do you have any ideas about how all of this relates to Mach 4? I'll soon have a new machine which will run with Mach 4 and I have no idea how constant velocity vs exact stop will be dealt with in Mach 4.
Hi Peter. excellent video. I have a problem with my mach3 and 3040T. every time I am trying to send the machine to zero position It pause and move and pause again all the way back every about 10mm. what do I need to to to get rid of this problem? Thank you.
hi Peter. I'm very new at cnc and I'm running a masso G3 controller. my question is, how do I stop the machine from backlash when it changes direction. is there a way of soft stopping at a turn? the whole machine shakes when it does a 90deg turn. regards. Adrian
Peter could you do a video on feeds. So far no one ive seen has a video showing people how to set velocity so that when you tell your machine to move say 33mm/sec it actually moves 33mm/sec. So far the only way i know is turn off ramps n run a 1000mm line and it should take 20sec to run that line then i math it out to adjust. Till i get remotely close to proper starting feed rates.
Hi David, When you set up your machine you set your maximum feed rate and acceleration. That is all that you can do. The rest is automatic. An axis takes time to get up to speed and then slow to a stop. The 33mm/s is the speed that axis moves when the acceleration phase is complete. It is the the average speed for the specified distance. At 33mm/sec or 1980mm/Min over a distance of 1000mm should take about 32 seconds depending on your acceleration settings and even with instant start and stop it would take 30.3 seconds. Cheers Peter
@@cncnutz no i found that it can be roughly set. I just figured you could get into the more technical side of it. For example it does no good to tell your machine to run say 20mm/sec only to have it run 10mm/sec simply because velocity is not properly set in mach. But i asked you bout doing a video on how to set this up because when i need to explain stuff to people i usually recomend your videos. Think of it this way your doing a cut with brand new bit and you cant figure out why your burning up bits. You being more seasoned see the chipload as being too small so you decrease rpm or increase feed. Point is you shouldnt have to. If you tell your machine to move say 20mm/sec its movements should at least be remotely close to what you tell it. Setting at max doesnt actually calibrate those feeds to be close to what you are telling it to move.
Also in the video where you say you are changing the plunge rate but then change the feed rate. Is this just an error in the video you inserted? I’m guessing feedrate should have already been 7000 and you meant to change the plunge rate to 7000.
Hi Peter, If I am cutting a circular hole it seems like it cuts it cuts one half of the hole faster than the other. Could this be a problem with VCARVE PRO or a similar problem with Mach3? You have very informative videos. Cheers
Приветствую... вот как можно что г коды повтарились на мач 3 ?? вот коечто хочу сделать что шаг.двиг вращался 2 минут и останавился на минуту и обпят крутился и останавился на паузу минуту и проти час врашался минута и вот так вот повтарялся..ну как на аурдино скечи ..тут как будет с платымач3 юсб и ма3 интерфей программой? помогите пожалуйсте никто толком несмог понят и обьяснит мне))) вы вроде спец..извините за мой русский.. за ране благодарю
Hi nut...great video....do u know if there is a way to reduce or disable current to stepper mot when idle in mach3? Or are motors always locked when idle?
Stepper motors always lock when idle. If they don't you will lose position. To reduce current your drive needs to be capable of the function and you need to set it in the drive. See your drive manual. It has nothing to do with Mach3 or any other control software. Cheers Peter
@@cncnutz thanks nut...reason i ask is GRBL based controllers in cnc and 3d printers stepper motors can be disabled entirely or disabled/ or reduced current when idle in settings or menu option....i wish mack3 could do this as it saves your steppers from overheating and hence extend life and uses less elec.
Exact stop mode is exactly that. Exact stop. If the Masso controller is not stopping then It is not exact stop mode. I have no idea what it is doing. Never used one. It must be smoothing out those stops somehow. Maybe constant velocity by another name.
Masso is preforming exact stop in that it travels to where it has been told but it uses motion planning to eliminated the need for the stop between Gcodes. This allows the machine momentum to be used to move between instructions to eliminate the need to accelerate and decelerate between each command. Maybe your right and it should just be called Exact machining instead since it doesn't always stop. Cheers Peter
"This allows the machine momentum to be used to move between instructions to eliminate the need to accelerate and decelerate between each command." Lol. Sounds like a pretty accurate description of constant velocity.
@@Greolt Yes peter has some good info in some videos but he is having a hard time grasping the principle on this subject. Fusion 360 also has a couple of settings that have the effect of constant velocity. With mach 3 you need the correct computer windows prepared properly and mach loaded properly. i have seen 2 computers of the same make and model one runs mach very well and the other cant count. Also just because the motors run it does not mean mach is loaded properly. Also you need a min 3G processor and check the mach website it has complete instructions on how to prepare a new install for mach3. The computer has to dedicated to mach only. One of the things i have learned mach runs best with a video card on board video can cause stability issues.
with the masso it slows enough to precisely change to the new issued gcode then accelerates up to the feed rate, it is not constant velocity as it changes it's velocity to be able to precisely cut the path that the gcode dictates. this is the difference between mach3 (stops then changes direction then starts again) and masso which slows just enough to be able to change to the new direction accurately without the need for error tolerance allowances then resumes feed rate.
@@greevous In the old days there was no CV early 80's so if you really want to imatate the old days like masso. Mach3 has motor tuning and ramping you can make the excelle decel slower or faster. So you would set it to pos stop and make the motors slugish. Or you can use the CV and get the setting correct and have the same results with much faster smoother cutting which causes much less wear and tear on the machine. i have been running mach3 in a production enviroment for about 10 years the trick is to truely understand it and get it set up and tuned properly. if you do it is very impressive. if masso does not have CV that would be a deal breaker for me that means its 40 year old tech. Which explains why it looks so much like MS dos