First real part with my new CNC mill

[AiR_GuNNeR]

The workshop was great as well as the people I met!
After building my mill at the workshop, taking it home, then taking it all apart again to lock-tite everything, scrape the ways and tune in Mach3, I made my first part today. This is a sidewheel focus comma for a Tasco Custom Shop scope. It's 5.75" from one end to the other.
I had to do a bit of fine filing to smooth out the curves. The Mach3 backlash control appears to be broken, (if I jog in the opposite direction, it takes one more step in the previous direction and then compensates on the next jog.)

[John Stevenson]

Eric,
That's really impressive and you have cause to be proud of this, more so with it being your first part.

Can't help with the Mach backlash as I never use it, trying instead to get all play out. However I do recall posts about it being broken in later versions and it working in earlier versions ?

To be honest we have stuck at R3.042 as we have found this quite stable on the mills and have stuck with this version. I know for a fact that the later versions won't work with out customised screens.

[AiR_GuNNeR]

Thanks for the hint on Mach3 John. I'll see if I can find rev 042 and see if it acts differently.

[Weston Bye]

I was bitten very badly at the CNC workshop. I now have VCarve Pro and Mach3. Came home and promptly ordered a Geckodrive G540. Wired it up and should be making machinery move tomorrow. I'm sure there will be questions...

[John Stevenson]

Weston,
VCarve Pro has one of the shortest learning curves i have come across on a CAM package.
The forum over on the Vectric site is awesome when it comes to any help.

Off to bedey byes now, gotta go down to Oxford University tomorrow to install a KX3

[AiR_GuNNeR]

Any idea where I can download version 042? It doesn't look like they have links for the older versions.

[John Stevenson]

ftp://machsupport.com/Mach/

Get 042.040

[Weston Bye]

Weston,
VCarve Pro has one of the shortest learning curves i have come across on a CAM package.
The forum over on the Vectric site is awesome when it comes to any help.

Off to bedey byes now, gotta go down to Oxford University tomorrow to install a KX3

I will have no problem with VCarve Pro. I learned Cut2D - was easy, no tutorials needed. Sat in the seminar on VCarve Pro at the CNC Workshop. Same basic interface, but I was impressed with the features available over and above Cut2D.

[DFMiller]

Eric,
That a really nice first part.
So how much back lash are you seeing?
Wes, I like my G540, it sure works nice on my router. I assume you are hooking up your little table to it.
Vcarve is rather sweet. The learning curve is very short. I was hoping to cut this weekend but found a bad pin on Z axis and was unable to fix pin, waiting on a Digikey shipment.
John, have fun at Oxford.
Dave

[AiR_GuNNeR]

DFMiller,
Thanks.
I am getting around .005 backlash. My X axis was sounding terrible so I pulled the table last night, (lots of ball noises from the start compared to the Y and Z axis). I found that the coupling rubber had compressed already; enough that the screw was able to drop .050 off center at the stepper and run acentric. I put a wrap of mylar tape around the rubber to get rid of the slop. I also pulled all the balls out of the nut and flushed everything. It sounds much smoother now. I'll be buying zero backlash couplers off of eBay once I figure out which sizes I need. I see both aluminum and steel couplers available. Any reason not to use the Al ones?