Plasma/Mesa Guru's

I am going to run over there and see about making some changes.

John,

I was able to use option 1 and wow, what a difference. The entire machine seems to be working like a guy expects it to work.

I still need to figure out the Corner lock, I am not sure if a larger or smaller number is better there? I put this into the plasma.hal file
setp thc.velocity-tol .1

I didn't have any ill effects, unfortunately the part I was making was just too simple to be able to tell if that did anything. I will be doing some more cutting and playing with it later this week. So far I can't thank you enough. What a difference! I now seem to have a usable tool, before it was kind of a gamble as to weather or not I should use the THC, it tracked well enough, but if I had a lot of pierces in the part I would end up with too much accumulated error and the tip would start dragging across my work during rapids.

I ran back over to use the plasma table again today and changed the velocity-tol to .03 and didn't have an issue with the tip touching down at all. I am still getting some slaggy parts... but I think that I just need to get the feeds and current figured out again on my machine. I recently upgraded my torch to a PT-37 from a PT-35. It sure seems like a nicer torch and the .25" material I was cutting with it last week was turning out fantastic. Today I was cutting 12g with a 30/40a tip and at the recommended feed and volts I was getting quite a bit of slow speed slag. I may have to adjust my motor tuning for a bit more acceleration. I think that when I was adjusting for speed a while back I may have turned that down a bit. I am sure that I will get it sorted.

Thank you again for your help. The machine is a joy to use now!

John,

Is that p-cap and p-term, something to set limits on torch movement? It would be nice to set a Min height. I still haven't got enough experience to with my machine to know the speeds and volts for all the different materials. Yesterday I had to cut some very light aluminum and although I follow the manufacturers speed and torch volts settings I still dragged tip on the part. If there was a min z setting that would take care of that I think.

I am building a new table at the moment, 4' X 5' so I can use it in my own shop. Should be finished with it in a couple of weeks, then I will be able to start gaining a little more time with the machine. Currently my big table is at a friends house, and using it once a week for five minutes, so I haven't been able to keep settings fresh in my mind and seem to make mistakes with it all the time.

Here it is John.

www.linuxcnc.org/component/option,com_ku.../lang,english/#13443

As you can see, it is really just a start of a machine at the moment. Of course all the other bits require a bit more time to construct than the base. But, I am working on it almost every day. My original goal was to get it completed by the end of the month. However, my checking account isn't bottomless, so I have had to space out the ordering of some of the supplies a little more than I would have liked. It is all coming together though. at this pace mid of Oct I should have a powered gantry.

hey John, happy new year...
i am using thc comp.. finally its working. but i have 2 issues...Z goes up whenever i abort the running program or it finishes smoothly...i read on forums and downloaded latest 2.4.7 source code but still same problem is there...
can you give me GIT link with up to date thc comp???
one more thing z axis is moving to correct posiition but AXIS GUI doesnt show any changes in Z...
i think both are related to same...
another question is should i use F+ or F- from THCAD?? i am using MESA 7I43 and modified HAL file accordingly. I Tried Both F+ and F- from THCAD and both are workking.

Hi! John, I have a couple of questions for you about THC.
Sometimes when I fill in a check box 'THC Enable' , the Z axis' motor starts rotating at a very high speed and then stops in 2-3 seconds. Only rebooting can resolve this issue.
You wrote :' I don't see where I actually made a "volts tolerance" pin in the THC component. There is a parameter for voltage tolerance that can be set to give you a dead band but I've never needed to use it.' I really need to use a ' volts tollerance' . In the HAL meter I can see the 'thc-voltage-tol ' signal but I can't see the ' thc.voltage-tol' pin which I have to connect to the signal. Though this pin is present in the THC component manual. I'll be really greatful for your help in this matter.