Anything Manufacturing - Small to Medium Scale Metal Work (CAD/CAM included!)

Oh, and my cheap Amazon monitor arrived!

Wanted something small I can swing it away and this is perfect.



They really imported tons of cut charts onto this thing, damn.

 

Is that 3M Marine 5200 sealant or are you just happy to see me





Pretty stoked with how everything is turning out.



Monitor mount arrives later today so I'll be able to mount that up along with the PC and run some wires down underneath the table.

 

Who's the Sheetcam expert here?

 

Table is running! However, with a minor hiccup.

As I jog the torch, it thinks it's moving for 600ipm. I have it set to 600ipm, but it's running significantly slower than 600ipm.

Distance traveled, it believes it ran for 48" until it hits a soft limit, but has only physically traveled about 16" to 17" roughly.

Same goes for both X or Y. This is where it sits when it thinks it traveled +48" X and +48" Y.



There's an option in Machine Setup (on the computer) to tell the controller that I have a (specific size table) as well as the motor setup (1:1 or gear reduction 3:1). This tells me the controller and its drivers handle everything without the use of dip switches.



If my theory is correct, the file used to flash the controller (when choosing the correct table) may be the wrong one (incorrectly named?) because the travel and speeds are the same regardless of the option I choose whether 1:1 or 3:1.

I did try the other table options as well.



However, Optimum is locked so I can't manually choose what to flash as the software itself does that based on your choice.

Restarted both the controller and computer multiple times to no effect.

I bet it's something simple I'm overlooking...

 

did they send new firmware update with the 3:1 gear reduction motors?

 

It's all built in to the Optimum system; just got done doing a software update and I am already on the latest.

You choose the table option you're running, and it flashes to that table configuration that you choose - options are only 1:1 (standard), gear reduction (3:1), and servo.

You get nothing sent to you if say, you bought a gear reduction kit and installed it on your setup. You just change what you have on the computer that's connected to your controller.

 

Interesting. 16" is 1/3 of 48", which says the table thinks it's got 1:1 gearing instead of 3:1.

 

Yep!

Exactly why I posted on the STV group that it "coincidentally" moves about 16".

I provided this information thinking it'd be a light bulb for someone, but the only response I got so far was to "choose the correct table" in Optimum. I stated I had done so in my initial post but, you know...people sometimes don't believe what you say I guess.

 

@Pyrotech

I stand corrected on my own statement.

No one responded, but I opened up the control box myself and I do indeed see dip switches!



So it seems what I read (in old posts when I searched) is just for the software side but people worded things in a manner as if it applied to the physical movement as well.

I'll call STV tomorrow to see what the proper positioning for these is.

I'm betting that's what it is considering my table arrived with a 1:1 drive setup, but the 3:1 gear reduction kit was given to me after the fact.

 

FTFY

 

Naturally, I'll post back when I hear what STV says about the positioning.

It's the only thing that makes sense in my eyes.

 

It always fucking is...

 

I use Mach3, but I'm not remembering having to to do an adjustment for my gear reduction.

I remember adjusting my rapids and accelerations in the settings, but I don't recall any thing for my gear reduction that had to be entered.

I'm here to learn what the issue is.

 

I'm 99.9% sure it's the dip switch position based on what I see when I opened up the box, but you sure as hell know I'll post my solution here once we find out!

That's one thing I love about Mach 3 though - for those building their own (or extending), y'all can go from stepper on a ballscrew or leadscrew, to servo, or rack and pinion setup and simply adjust your movements within Mach 3.

Myplasm users do the same which is why I wasn't able to find any results when I searched the STV Facebook Group.

 

The worst part? There are very few Optimum users in the Optimum STV group (225) and the group has like 1 post per week? I mean maybe 2 but it's stupid slow with no movement. I knew Optimum was somewhat recent but didn't realize how few users were actually on it.

The other group, STV Table Owners, consists of long time owners (2.3k) and the sort and just about everyone there runs Myplasm.

 

Called STV, and yep dip switches need to be adjusted!

After flipping just two switches on three of the drivers...

https://youtu.be/4NwxxXBvFPU?si=tPPRyq123NTl3fMY

 

Fucking aye

Stand arrived for my controller, so I got to putting it together and of all fucking things



Dude in Malaysia just had to put in 4 coarse, 2" long bolts and 4 coarse 3" long bolts.

The bolt in the middle? A random ass bolt that threw me for a loop. I carry tons of hardware but mostly all metric so I said screw it and skipped using it.

Everything is fully wired up and tucked away!



Keyboard arrived too, but I've got another monitor coming in to replace the small one I recently purchased. Decided it's too small to work on.

But here's the layout and how it'll sit!



Super stoked. Now to wait for everything to cure.

 

Is the keyboard wireless? I love being able to move my KB around the shop. Makes it easy to clean too. Flip it upside down on hit it with some compressed air. Done deal. Saves on the abuse the laptop keyboard receives as well.

 

Yes sir!

Opted for a cheap one too so I don't feel bad in case something happens to it.

It's got a touchpad so I played with it a bit and it's as responsive as my laptop was.

 

Haven't swung by my buddy's house lately since he got his laser, but he's sent me plenty of pics and videos.

Fucker is badass.