Here are a couple of screen shots of a screenset that I just finished for a 4 axis hot wire cutter.




Here is the link to the screenset.
http://odysseywood.us/profili/CNC%20Foam.zip

Sam

you only have one YX airfoil view you need two windows for both YX,s
so you can see both airfoils
?? is this Cnc program for a none taper wing

Eddie

thanks for the screen set for match you are a lot further in to mach than me is there any tutorials that show how to write files for this

Eddie, MACH software will only allow you to see the XY axis and not the AB. That being said since MACH is only a control interface for the cutter only seeing the XY is not a big draw back. By the time you send your g-code to MACH you should have already run it through a simulation program to be sure your design will cut as you expect.

dpot, There are several programs available to write 4 axis g-code. The program I have been using is Profili Another program that looks very promising is CNCWorkbench which I have just started to work with. There is also LazyCAM which I have not tried yet but does have 2D and 3D foam capabilities.

Here is a link to a program that will convert GMFC cut files to g-code.
http://www.sokoll.net/doku.php/pasti...rsion_software

Sam

thanks again SAM i am looking at up dating my profili to professional ver

Sam that looks fantastic! Nice work
Mark

Sam, thanks for sharing your screen set. I was looking for a way to visualize the 4 axis hotwire cutting and found your screen set. Worked great. I was answering someone's questions today and got interested if you could manually edit g-code to use in a hotwire cutter. Here a quick video I made featuring your screen set. If you want to check it out: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...33&postcount=8

-Kwok

Sam that is really great 10/10
Garth

any ideas why ? (numbers also do not change in gui for that stepper motor)

Originally Posted by Doron

any ideas why ? (numbers also do not change in gui for that stepper motor)

Never mind. I figured it out.... I need to use X,Y and A,B and not X,Y, Z,A as I did ...

Sending the towers 'home' and zeroing the x,y,a,b does not always work...
At time I was able re-load g-code and sometimes the axis zeros out ok.
Any ideas ?

I have downloaded Sam's screen and brought it up in Mach 3, which I am a complete newbie at. My previous experience was with Foamworks, which I was able to set up for my Foamlinx hot wire machine.

So, like I said, I downloaded the 4 wire screen from Sam and got it integrated so Mach 3 starts with it. I then followed the tutorial on youtube about setting up Mach 3 for hot wire cutting. I did take into account that we use XYAB axes with this screen.

I get response on all 4 axes, it's just not quite right. And trolling thru the Mach 3 documentation is tedious to find what I think should be pretty simple answers. So hopefully Sam or someone can help. The problems:

I am using the on screen up/down/left/right arrows to troubleshoot, but also get the same results using hot keys

Both horizontal axes X and A are responding and they move one way with left arrow and one way with right arrow. But the A axis is moving backwards. How do I simply reverse the direction of this axis?


The vertical axes are more puzzling Each have the same problem. Up arrow makes them go up, but down arrow also makes them go up. I must conclude that either I have the wrong direction pin set, or I am not getting the correct direction signal. Obviously, what so I know tho. Does this problem look familiar? What do I need to fix for this to work?

Thanks

try dir lowative just tick
if not are your hot keys setup right

Originally Posted by bigjohn

I have downloaded Sam's screen and brought it up in Mach 3, which I am a complete newbie at. My previous experience was with Foamworks, which I was able to set up for my Foamlinx hot wire machine.

So, like I said, I downloaded the 4 wire screen from Sam and got it integrated so Mach 3 starts with it. I then followed the tutorial on youtube about setting up Mach 3 for hot wire cutting. I did take into account that we use XYAB axes with this screen.

I get response on all 4 axes, it's just not quite right. And trolling thru the Mach 3 documentation is tedious to find what I think should be pretty simple answers. So hopefully Sam or someone can help. The problems:

I am using the on screen up/down/left/right arrows to troubleshoot, but also get the same results using hot keys

Both horizontal axes X and A are responding and they move one way with left arrow and one way with right arrow. But the A axis is moving backwards. How do I simply reverse the direction of this axis?


The vertical axes are more puzzling Each have the same problem. Up arrow makes them go up, but down arrow also makes them go up. I must conclude that either I have the wrong direction pin set, or I am not getting the correct direction signal. Obviously, what so I know tho. Does this problem look familiar? What do I need to fix for this to work?

Thanks

Originally Posted by dpot

try dir lowative just tick
if not are your hot keys setup right

I'm sorry. I do not understand your first sentence.

For the hot keys, they should not affect the on-screen buttons, right? I am getting the problem using the on-screen arrow buttons.

sorry hope this is better

On the "Motor Outputs" screen you can enable and disable the axes. Place a checkmark in the X, Y, & Z "Enable" boxes, and apply the following pins:
X-Step: 3
Y-Step: 5
Z-Step: 7
X-Direction: 2
Y-Direction: 4
Z-Direction: 6
Set the "Step" and "Dir" port as 1. If you want to reverse the directions of any of the axes, place a checkbox in the "Dir Low Active".