[slaith]

Could be something like that, the one I'm running at the moment is a Dell Optiplex 760 I think.
Dualcore 3Ghz plus 4 gigs of ram, should be able to handle it without any problems whatsoever.
Think I can get a hold of some other PC:s just to check if I'm able to get any different result with those.

I'm thinking of putting togehter a script that does probing, to be able to tell how much it has drifted over the test.
Will have to think about how that would be done.
Or I could just zero the machine coordinates and then run the program, afterwards I do a zero X&Y probing and see how much the machine coordinates have drifted.

[slaith]

The more I read about USB interface the less impressive it turns out to be, the latency is really bad sometimes.
Will deffinetly check everything in my bios and turn lots of stuff of.
Set prioritys better in windows too.

Wonder if it could also be and idea to set the buffer values as high as possible in the xulifeng plugin inside MACH3?
Will have to try lots of different options later tonight

[Stevos758]

The more I read about USB interface the less impressive it turns out to be, the latency is really bad sometimes.
Will deffinetly check everything in my bios and turn lots of stuff of.
Set prioritys better in windows too.

Wonder if it could also be and idea to set the buffer values as high as possible in the xulifeng plugin inside MACH3?
Will have to try lots of different options later tonight

Let us know what you find!

[slaith]

Alright!!!
I think I can confirm success in this matter!!!

It goes something like this:

Started by searching all around on a way to reduce latency on USB bus.
What I found was that what we are doing is not far from what people in studios are doing, real-time USB processing.
In our case sending coordinates to steppers, in their case recording audio and/or video in real-time.

So I found some pages dealing with ways to optimizing you PC.

optimize-your-windows-7-pc-for-djing-music-production

optimizing-windows-for-daws.html

pc-optimization-guide-for-windows-7

In the first link I found the tool that actually was make or break in this case.
Latency checker

This awesome tool is for checking and trending the latency of the USB bus.
Started the program and ran my 3D g-code in Mach 3, but this time just running through air.

What I found was that sometimes the latency spikes.
Normal value is around 120-180 microseconds.
But I got intermittent spikes of 1200-2500 microseconds.
Not very often, maybe every ten minutes or more.
But this is enough for the buffer to run out in Mach3

So I used all the tips I could find in the links, turned of everything in my BIOS.
Set alot of proccesses to running in background and so on.

But , still got the same latency spikes.
So I when into the device manager and turned of the sound card and my onboard network adapter.
I'm running a USB wifi dongle from my garage.
Also turned up the buffers in the Mach3 USB plugin to maximum.

Sucess!!!
I saw latency values of 120-450 over the course of the entire program.
Turned the sound card back on with good reaults.
So I think that it was my unconnected network card that was stealing resources from the PC

Ran the program with 5000mm/min values and landed exactly on the same spot where I started

I verified this by putting a allen head screw in a center hole, then put in a router bit backwards.
Just to get a totaly round edge.
Used the script that Hoss has for centering using the outside of an object
Verified that it was within a few hundreds of a mm

Zeroed my machine coordinates on that spot and zeroed the part offset too.
Ran it with 5000mm/min and rapids of 6000mm/min, and got the exact same result.

So now I ran the part with several different toolchanges and double sided machining.
Everything looks great.

I can run the machine above 6000mm/min without issues now, and I get really good repeatability!!!!

So use this program and check your latency too, even though everything is nice and true it can still be good to have it under control.

Well that was a long rant, but just wanted to let you now that it's working fine now.

Patrik

[RussellK]

I'm extremely jealous of your machine's performance. I have the previous model, one of the the main differences being it runs the steppers at 24V instead of 40V, so my max rapid is 4,000 - 4,500 depending on the axis - the Y axis can't go as fast as the X as it's having to push around more weight. I use an Etherstepper and it has a huge buffer - if I change the feed rate override while running a program, it's quite a few seconds before the machine changes speed.

That said, I don't mill anything faster than about 2,400mm/min. What are you cutting at 6,000?

[slaith]

Yeah the machine is really fast if I want to.
The drivers are pretty good actually, and the BOB isn't all that bad.
Only issue is that they haven't included a 0-10V supply for PWM, but thtat's easily corrected with a voltage regualator.

The only thing I mill at that speed is 3D milling with a 6mm ballnose, 2mm depth of cut and around 3% intake.
Get an awesome finish that way with not alot of work afterwards.

If you guys don't have a good calculator for feeds & speeds.
Try this one: Fswizard-Online

It's totally free for the online version and has alot of features, but is easy to use at the same time.
I use it all the time.
Even the 100% feed is a little bit on the conservative side, but that's good to know.
So far I have never burned or broken an end mill because of the wrong feeds and speeds, my own stupidity is another thing though.
We've all been there.

Cutting beech 14 layer plywood for example I use: 15000RPM, slotcutting, 5mm DOC, 1400mm/min.
But that's calculated for HSS, because i'm unsure what the end mill is
My new carbides are: 24000RPM, slotcut, 5mm DOC and 2700mm/min.

In production that makes alot of difference.
I buy nothing but carbide, HSS just isn't good enough in my book.

To sum it up I can run the machine really fast, but for normal cutting I keep lower speeds of course.
(But it is fun to see the dust fly when going fast.)

[slaith]

By the way I have a prototype dust boot that I designed and made in the mill.
Is anybody intersted in the plans for that?

Looks something like this:

Attachment 247626

It's made from Phenol resin, I will make a new one in a while using polycarbonate.
So it's easier to see what's going on inside

The suction itself if right above the end mill and nut, so the dust evacuation is much better than other types.
It's a channel inside of the boot, and it's attached with rare earth magnets.
The topp layer is attached to the router, and the bottom three is loose.

Works really good, think it gets around 98% or more of all the flying dust.

Let me now if it's interesting and I will make a new thread for it.

[Sockles]

please do! been trying to come up with a similar design with no success.

[slaith]

Hello

I put up the plans and som pics and vids in this thread:

Dust boot for X6 1500GT and 6040

[RussellK]

If you guys don't have a good calculator for feeds & speeds.
Try this one: Fswizard-Online

Thanks for the link. I just milled a faceplate out of 4.5mm polycarbonate using a 2mm single flute carbide end mill and was annoyed to find my 5mm holes for LEDs were too small, as were the other holes I milled. My first thought was that maybe the 2mm endmill is actually slightly smaller than 2mm, but looking at that calculator, I'm thinking maybe my feedrate was too high causing the cutter to deflect.

I like the look of that dust boot. I've been tempted to make one, but the stuff I've been doing that's made the most mess is routing out bowls from chunks of wood, which really stretches the ~60mm Z axis range to its very limit. For that I use a 19mm carbide-tipped router bit (1/4" shank) running at 24,000 RPM. The 19mm dia cut means the collet nut doesn't foul the work once you start cutting deep, but there's no way I could use any kind of dust boot when working down the sloping side of a bowl, so basically the job disappears under a pile of woodchips.

[slaith]

Yeah, that calculator is really good.
Could well be deflection on a tool that small, but that you can see in the calculator.

Well you can use a dust boot, just make shure you have at least 60mm clearance from the tip of the end mill to the bottom on the boot.
If so then you should be fine.

Where can I find a 19mm router bit with carbide tip?
Do you have a link?
That is deffiently something I could use for some projects of mine.

[RussellK]

Well you can use a dust boot, just make shure you have at least 60mm clearance from the tip of the end mill to the bottom on the boot.
If so then you should be fine.

I've gone and made a thread showing my attempts so far, including dust management. I can't really see how a dust boot could work
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/chines...nc-6040-a.html

Where can I find a 19mm router bit with carbide tip?

This is the one I bought:
Ultra 6.4mm Straight 19mm Router Bit 16T219 I/N 6373263 | Bunnings Warehouse

Not exactly high quality, but it does the job, and so far hasn't flown apart at 24,000RPM...

[pinky19]

Hello pinky19, I have the same problem! Can you provide me the plugin that worked for you? Thank you.

didnt see an email about this, I'm sorry buddy, been busy.
rn
Still having problems? havent seen you post here, will be able to find it for you. I found it in the email originally sent. It was hidden in the attachments they sent me... Didnt see it on my phone, only what was directly linked as a hyperlink within the text of the email.

Absolutely poor setup, but missing out on the "copy the 5 files" step was the issue, from the emailed attachments you apparently receive hopefully after purchase.I've seen posts on other forums where that has not happened, so will be monitoring if you need.


I am currently having a physical VFD problem, I believe. Flipping off the switch controlling fans, etc no longer turns them OFF, but I can control spindle power. Contacted support, hopefully either I can look into it and fix, or somehow replace.

Are there any other boxes I can just connect to this CNC and it just... work?

[DWARP]

Hi anyone, just blew two fuses in a row on my first power on for the day - just power on not even under load/spinning. Just to clarify what I was doing when I blew the fuse - I switched on the main control and jogged my tool over the material. Everything was zeroed and I had the g code loaded. I switched on the green VFD power and BANG! killed it. Nothing was even moving when the fuse popped. I replaced the fuse with the spare provided. It was rated at 8A 250V. I couldn't read the rating on the original because it was vaporised. New fuse in place I turned on the main control power - everything looked good again, so I held my breath and I turned on the green VFD switch and ... BANG! Vaporised that one as well. Twice now the fuse went off.

My machine has been working perfectly these last few days. There was nothing unusual about the last time I used it and I turned it on the same way I always have. I think there maybe a bigger problem with my VFD but I don't know where to start diagnosing. Has anyone else gone through a few fuses and found something totally obvious to be the problem or is it bye bye to my VFD - it was fun while it lasted these last few weeks?

Any clues/help /suggestions for what I need to look for? Greatly appreciated.

[slaith]

Try to disconnect the spindle first, and replace the fuse.
First straight at the connector in the steering box, leaving the cable on the spindle side.
Does it still blow you problem could be in the internal cabling, though this is unlikely.
Otherwise it's the VFD.

If that ok then you can connect the cable and dissconnect at the spindle, just to eliminate the cabling.
If ok than you can assume that the spindle is has a short circuit somewhere, measue between the pins to see.

Searching for a fault always start in one end and work you way forward, never start at the middle.
Make only one change at the time.

I've seen several reports that the VFD ha some issues, but not the way you described.

[Stevos758]

Try to disconnect the spindle first, and replace the fuse.
First straight at the connector in the steering box, leaving the cable on the spindle side.
Does it still blow you problem could be in the internal cabling, though this is unlikely.
Otherwise it's the VFD.

If that ok then you can connect the cable and dissconnect at the spindle, just to eliminate the cabling.
If ok than you can assume that the spindle is has a short circuit somewhere, measue between the pins to see.

Searching for a fault always start in one end and work you way forward, never start at the middle.
Make only one change at the time.

I've seen several reports that the VFD ha some issues, but not the way you described.

Great advice! This should get things narrowed down.

[pinky19]

Still can't figure out why main power won't turn off everything looks fine. Contacted them and they confirmed the problem but a day later still waiting.

What would be the best aftermarket VFD I could get for this CNC?

[DWARP]

Try to disconnect the spindle first, and replace the fuse.
First straight at the connector in the steering box, leaving the cable on the spindle side.
Does it still blow you problem could be in the internal cabling, though this is unlikely.
Otherwise it's the VFD.

If that ok then you can connect the cable and dissconnect at the spindle, just to eliminate the cabling.
If ok than you can assume that the spindle is has a short circuit somewhere, measue between the pins to see.

Searching for a fault always start in one end and work you way forward, never start at the middle.
Make only one change at the time.

I've seen several reports that the VFD ha some issues, but not the way you described.

Thanks guys for the interest in my problem. I've got a dozen fuses and I'm trying to isolate the problem one mini-explosion at a time. So far I've disconnected everything from the external plugs of the VFD. I'm still popping fuses with the mains running through the EMI filter to the VFD. So I've narrowed it down to either of those two parts. From here I have to dismantle my control box to isolate either the EMI filter or the VFD.

I've got about 6 fuses left. What I want to try is power directly to the VFD (of course with an in-line fuse). Please give some advice before I proceed...

1. Does anyone foresee a problem with powering the VFD without the EMI filter or anything hooked up to any of the input/output ports? (I've disconnected the usb and motor controller power so their shouldn't be any interference from any other part)
2. Will this create yet a separate problem in itself i.e. a no load or runaway circuit?
3. If I blow a fuse then I'm guaranteed the VFD is crap and I'll replace it (I already suspect this is the case). So same question as pinky19 - anyone know a good VFD replacement and better yet how to setup for my controller?

Cheers.

PS slaith love your tip on the latency checker and your dustboot design - was actually working on carving something similar right before my machine blew up! ;-)

[klarmmachining]

That's interesting!

[DWARP]

That's interesting!

Glad you've taken an interest. Can you please elaborate?
Regards