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test cuts....circles.

Discussion in 'Trouble Shooting - Support - Help Section' started by rjarois, Jan 31, 2009.

  1. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    fellas, i am doing some test cuts to get used to the printer software. i cut a 3.0 square and a 3.0 circle. the square checked good, but the circle has all kinds of like flats around it. i tried recalabrating with no results. the sizes are good, looks like a bunch of 1/4in lines around it. my steppers bad? is ther a setting in mach-3 to adjust? thanks for any help, im lost as of now. randy.
     
  2. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

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    I had the same problem. Here is what I did....

    Raise the gantry. Press around on the bit. Does it move all over the place? If so, you need to install the penny mod for a quick fix or install brass bushings and polished threads yadee yadee yadee. Me, I opted for the 16 cent fix which works just great, don't have to take the printer apart or go to the store to buy parts etc.

    If the gantry is stable, check the set screw on the X axis stepper to make sure that the pully is not slipping! This was what caused the problem for me.

    Lastly, calibrate both X and Y axis to the same IPM so that the printer does not try to run thru the foam at a faster rate on one axis vs the other.
     
  3. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    flash, i have done all that....man i donno. im gonna do a bigger circle and post a photo. rite now im thinkin that is how sketchup works?
     
  4. rcav8r

    rcav8r Moderator Staff Member

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    Doesn't Sketchup have a resolution setting for circles/arcs? I believe the default is rather low, so you basically have some straight lines arranged to form a circle. I think all CAD programs do this.
    I saw the same thing when I did the obligatory circle test cut, and attributed it to that.
     
  5. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    did a 8.0dia circle....this thing has flats all around it. if you check all around all the dims are the same. except ther all lines...man, i donno im lost now.....randy.
    bunch of lines....
    [​IMG]
     
  6. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    rcav8r, i really dont know, about if ther is arc settings or not. i really think my printer is fine, man i donno...
     
  7. meistertek

    meistertek Member

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    Guys, I have noticed the same thing, arc and curves are made of little short lines not true arcs.

    From what I can tell, SketchUp and PhalTScript together do not currently generate g codes for arcs, only G0 linear interpolation (straight lines). The first issue is that SketchUp does not seem to draw true arcs, just little lines that mimic an arc. Even if SketchUp does draw true arcs PhalTScript does not output circular data (G2 and G3 codes)in PhlatCode (CNC code) for use in Mach3 or EMC2.

    If you look at the current PhlatCode in Mach3 or EMC2 you will notice only G0 and G1 moves, these are all linear moves, and no circular moves G2 and G3 are present.

    If you want to cut true circles or arcs (circular interpolation) you could edit the PhlatCode files and add the arc codes yourself in a text editor or a free g&m code editor like NCPlot v1.2. I have been thinking of doing this for a plane I have been cutting out that has a bunch of round holes in it. On the other hand does it even make a difference on most planes if the round holes are made of little lines instead of true arcs?

    I am guessing that getting PhlaTScript to do true arcs would require a lot of work, but I am not sure. I just know that when writing G and M codes by hand it's easy to do linear interpolation with G00 and G0 moves. The next level is to start to do circular interpolation (arc cuts) with G2 and G3 and things start to get a lot more complicated quickly. The highest level for cutting CNC curves is arbitrary curves called nurbs, this usually requires a powerful CNC control to execute.

    For info on making true circular cuts: http://cnc25.free.fr/documentation/programmation_en/interpolation.htm

    You may already know how to do NC-programming, but just in case here are some links to learn if you want: http://www.linuxcnc.org/handbook/gcode/g-code.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-code
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNC
     
  8. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    mastertech, i think your rite....when i draw a circle and make it real big, i can see all the straight line moves....im glad its not my machine.....it just seemed to be so strange to see that as i was test cutting. randy.
     
  9. rcav8r

    rcav8r Moderator Staff Member

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    I think your printer is just fine.

    meistertek; good info on the G-code. I remember when I used to get stuff laser cut, the guy told me if I made my lightening holes octagons instead of circles it would be cheaper. I'm guessing his machine didn't use curves either. I never noticed a weakness issue by not using circles either.

    A few swipes of a sanding bar across the high points is close enough for me. :)
     
  10. meistertek

    meistertek Member

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    Later tonight I'll write a PhlatCode file to make a true circle to see if it works and post it here. I'd like to see if a G2 or G3 code would work, I don't see any reason it wouldn't though.
     
  11. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    maybe mark can fix this when they add pocket milling to the phlatcode. man i drew a circle and ended up with a stop sign, lols. it just freaked me out, wasent expecting that...randy.
     
  12. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    cool thanks man....would be nice....im gonna have to hunt down that g-code editor i seen it posted here somewere....
     
  13. dbtoutfit

    dbtoutfit New Member

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    Yea the G-code output is line segments from the PS. No doubt about it.
    This is a known issue.

    Look into your mach software you can help fix this by telling Mach to look ahead "said amount" of lines. Mach will then use more "circle interpolation" thus making your circles and arcs smooth/smoother.

    Eric
     
  14. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    eric, i have that set for 200 read ahead lines.....what should the setting be? randy.
     
  15. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    i think its sketckup now....just drew a arc, zoomed in on it and its just a bunch of lines. the phlatcode will just program what it sees?
     
  16. dbtoutfit

    dbtoutfit New Member

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    Your Mach settings sound good enough.

    Heres the issue, if you draw it in SU can you see the line segments?
    If so you need to right click on the line of the arc or circle, then click on "Entity Info".
    (Do not click the "face")

    You will see "Segments" In the Daig box. Change is from what ever it is (24 most the time) to 999.

    See how much higher res your arc and cicles are. Then redo PS.


    Eric
     
  17. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    will try, thanks bud. randy.
     
  18. dbtoutfit

    dbtoutfit New Member

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    K,

    Let me know.

    Eric
     
  19. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    eric you the man bud!!!! i cut at 100 segments...now its round....could not tab thou. the segments probally to small.....now i know about the setting, i will figure the most segments that i can still tab. thanks, randy.
    24 segments vs. 100
    [​IMG]
     
  20. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    it seems as if you tab first, then change segments to 999 it works, eric, thanks agian ....if i had to sand my holes after i cut them. ther would be no need for the phlatprinter, lols. i will do more test cutting. i want to get this stuff down. im gonna make the tabs like a inch long then change segments to 999, and test....thanks to you, i can monkey around with it now, and get some nice circles. peace, randy.
     
  21. dbtoutfit

    dbtoutfit New Member

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    Great Man!

    Glad I could help.

    Eric
     
  22. rjarois

    rjarois Moderator Staff Member

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    eric, the smaller the segments, seems as the tabs get smaller also. so i set the tab width to .600, and just used 200 segments for like a 3in. dia. the tab with ended up being like 3/64 not very wide....im thinkin ya can cheat it with like a 1.2 tab with a 10% depth or something. the 200 segment gave me a round circle, looked great....i will continue to mess with til i get it down. thanks to you, im one step closer, lols. randy.
     
  23. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Another way is when you click on the circle or arc tool, look at the lower right hand corner.
    You can change how many sides the circle or arc has there.
    If I understand right the more sides means bigger file and after converting it will be more code.
    I would recommend sticking with the least amount of sides that will give you a nice round circle. 50 is a good number. It will be very round and let you put tabs in easily.
     
  24. meistertek

    meistertek Member

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    I agree that the easiest way to get a circle cut on the PhlatPrinter is to change the number of sides generated in SketchUp.

    But, ;) if you really want a true circle you can use the following PhlatCode to create a 3inch diameter hole that's perfectly round. It's also kind of cool to hear the steppers cut a true arc in this video:
    http://www.vimeo.com/3036541
    Below is the PhlatCode used to do the cuts in the video. The code uses a G3 which is for counter clockwise circular interpolation.

    Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] true circle ccw.cnc (850 B)Â
     
  25. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

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    meistertek, I was wondering why you cut that CCW, until I noticed you are cutting the hole, not the circle. If you needed a circular part, you'd need to cut it CW to get the good "conventional" cut on the inside of the cut /outside of the disc.
     

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