Pokey57cnc + Mach3 + Sheetcam

[robertspark]

I am not sure if this one is REALLY effective in Mach3.... but hey maybe it works and can affect things with the planner....

General Config, near Plasma Mode:

CV Dist Tolerance_____Units.. - This value affects the amount of rounding at the
corners. Setting this very high will allow the machine to run as fast as possible. Setting
it to a low value will result in less rounding of corners as the machine will follow closer
to the geometry while trading off some speed. This is the distance from the end of the
line that it is cutting to where the arc starts rounding… So it is the distance from the
intersection of the CV arc to “true” end of the move (if it was done with Exact stop)

You have a setting of 0.01 inch.... 10 thou.... for a plasma cutter.... are you sure you really want the machine to provide that much accuracy with such a blunt instrument as a plasma cutter?

The kerf is probably 4x as much as that.... so maybe a better setting could be 0.0625.... or maybe higher (suggest considering what thickness of material you are cutting and the roundness of INSIDE corners you are willing to accept..... outside corners can normally be looped so they will be sharp and this will have no effect.

EDIT / NOTE: This will affect dross too and cut angularity too....
it comes from the centripetal acceleration that I waffle on about with this example here.... Example 1 relevant to cnc
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/phy ... celeration

[nick7251]

Wow, thanks for all the info. Basically what I did is use the setup that was given to me from the original owner who got it from Write CNC. Then when I changed to my new controller I used everything they had set the same. This because I don't know what I am doing, and figured it would be a good starting point. I am almost glad I am having these issues because it has forced me to learn so much. I still have a ton to learn, but it is getting better.

[robertspark]

These are just suggestions.... consider... readup and do whatever you want with them as everyone will have a different view point as to what settings work best for them (and I've not used Mach3 for years!)

As I found this reciently (looking for some other smart ____ clip about opinions...)

[nick7251]

They are all great suggestions and make logical sense. I will try them out. I like that you explain why you set things the way you do. It helps me learn. For now I will come and stand on the same side of the number as you so we see things the same way. haha. That is a good meme.

[robertspark]

With this one, I added a bit more to it and had a thought!

I am not sure if this one is REALLY effective in Mach3.... but hey maybe it works and can affect things with the planner....

General Config, near Plasma Mode:

CV Dist Tolerance_____Units.. - This value affects the amount of rounding at the
corners. Setting this very high will allow the machine to run as fast as possible. Setting
it to a low value will result in less rounding of corners as the machine will follow closer
to the geometry while trading off some speed. This is the distance from the end of the
line that it is cutting to where the arc starts rounding… So it is the distance from the
intersection of the CV arc to “true” end of the move (if it was done with Exact stop)

You have a setting of 0.01 inch.... 10 thou.... for a plasma cutter.... are you sure you really want the machine to provide that much accuracy with such a blunt instrument as a plasma cutter?

The kerf is probably 4x as much as that.... so maybe a better setting could be 0.0625.... or maybe higher (suggest considering what thickness of material you are cutting and the roundness of INSIDE corners you are willing to accept..... outside corners can normally be looped so they will be sharp and this will have no effect.

EDIT / NOTE: This will affect dross too and cut angularity too....
it comes from the centripetal acceleration that I waffle on about with this example here.... Example 1 relevant to cnc
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/phy ... celeration

Say you are cutting something out of thin plate and the linear feedrate is relativly high ( this won't show up well with thick plate and low feedrate)....

try cutting out an inside square ... say 3" square so the machine has a good chance to get up to full linear feedrate (you could have good or poor acceleration hence good acceleration..... smaller square.... poor acceleration.... bigger square).

say make it a "frame"


set the CV Dist Tolerance_____Units on the genral tab at a low number.... try your original default as supplied from the table manuf.... 0.01 units (inches)..... then try one at say 0.5"..... this will show you if the setting works as the 0.5" one should have rounding apparent.... the size of the rounding will be different depending upon your machines acceleration and your linear feedrate chosen....

try another couple of reducing size from 0.5" say 0.25 and 0.125 etc to find one where there is no effect or the rounding is at a number you are happy with

[nick7251]

I am so happy to report that I cut metal, and it looks great!!! Now to get the THC working. Might have to upgrade to the PriceCNC. I talked to the wife about it. She wasn't happy with the prospect. haha

[djreiswig]

here are a few more suggestions....

Note: the persistent jog can be an issue sometimes with plugins for MPG's.... in my experiance (on the general config tab.... but if it works for you then great)2020-06-17 22_15_15-C__Program Files (x86)_SheetCam TNG Development_posts_Mach3 plasma.scpost - Edit.png

I think I found the fuzzy info, and it says plasma mode isn't recommended in most cases. Also explains the other settings.
https://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/ ... ngs_v2.pdf

[nick7251]

Good info. Turned plasma mode back off. Seems to be cutting well. Also got my THC working tonight. But it would only work in USB mode and not Ethernet mode. I'd like to get it working on ethernet mode. I think it is something to do with the fact Static IP isn't staying set. So Mach reports that it cannot connect to the controller... Even though all the controls work, and it will run g code. I'll keep tinkering. Thanks everybody.

[ziga15]

hei nick7251 i have the same setup as you, i could use your help, wiling to share your post and setings=?thanks 1000x im stuck with no z for now:(im completly new to this plasma world:D

[ziga15]

hei did you get my question?

[nick7251]

hei did you get my question?

Sorry, i just saw this. I'll try to get the settings for you today or tomorrow.

[nick7251]

hei did you get my question?

Sorry, i just saw this. I'll try to get the settings for you today or tomorrow.

Quick question? Did you read through the entire conversation? Page 2 has a lot of stuff on my setup. I also posted my post processor (don't remember what page exactly). I think I have given my entire setup. Is there something specific you are having trouble with? If you give me a specific question, I may be able to help better.

[ziga15]

Ahh, i havent seen your replaywell i want to see if you made your proma 150 to work and how i cant seem to make it work wiling to share your settings? This would help me alot

[nick7251]

I got mine working for a little bit, but then one day it just stopped. It frustrated me enough that I dumped the whole system in lieu of LinuxCNC with Mesa hardware.

Basically to get my Proma to work i had to map the input pins to page up and page down keys. It was not perfect but it worked.

I did reply by the way. I posted my settings on previous pages of this topic.

[Marjan]

Hello I’m new here
I’m building a plasma table 5 by 10 and using pokey 57 with thc plasma sense with mach3 problem that I have is it won’t read out the voltage when I do a test run there was someone else with the same problem I was wondering if they found the issue
Thanks