Ncstudio

[Wanderinau]

Hi I am in Perth

any one had experience with changing Ncstudio to mach3 on a Chinese machine.

Ncstudio is giving me the woops.

Many thanks

Peter

[dj_pnevans]

Peter sorry mate no idea Rod may know. Which part of Perth are you. I use Mach3 on my china cnc. David

[Wanderinau]

Hi David
thanks for the reply, I am in Munster, just in land from Cockburn sound

What type of Chinese machine have you, mine is a Jcut 1218b

Peter

[dj_pnevans]

Peter I will have a look on the web and let you know when I find it again as it has been some time now. Your not that far from me in Rockingham. David

[Wanderinau]

Hi David

Thanks for that, I am in behind Cockburn Cement just of Russel road so not far from you.

Looking forward to getting this Cnc running and having a play, lots to do

Peter

[dj_pnevans]

Peter found the site http://www.carving-cnc.com/ they have the new ones now. I only got the base and spindles from them and got the rest from Homann. I now want a much bigger one which I will build latter. David

[Wanderinau]

Hi David

Thanks for that, will have a look at that site during the week when I get a sec

What program are you using to generate your G codes.

The machine seems to run ok on NC studio but when I try to cut a circle ( as a trial piece ) it cuts an ellipse instead

I have been playing around with cut2D

Peter

[dj_pnevans]

I use Aspire. Try and cut out a square to see if it cuts the square. I had the same problem when I started all I did was set up my axis distance to 1:1. David

[Wanderinau]

Hi David
Thanks for the information on the Axis settings X & Y are now working to size, just need to tweek Z

Will keep you informed on my progress

Peter

[drmnz]

Hi Peter
I purchased a JCut machine a few years ago with NCStudio and after learning the software was pirated, I had another reason to change over to Mach3. When it came to disconnecting all the wiring from the drivers etc. I wondered if I would ever get the machine going! The process isn't difficult, but at the time it seemed overwhelming.
Converting the machine required discarding the computer card interface that came with the CNC machine, removing the little board inside the cabinet that was attached to the homing switches and drivers and then wiring the drivers and associated inputs up to a breakout board which was then connected up to the parallel port on a PC with a cable with 25 pin D plug and socket either end .
Originally, the machine did not have any limit switches, so these were added at the time of changing the interface. Consequently, I had some issues with "noise" probably from the VFD being picked up on the long cable runs to the limit switches and or may have been the runs to the stepper motors.
After I replaced the NCStudio interface, the machine was working. I was lucky enough to land a job to cut a 12’ sail boat from 8 sheets of marine ply. A steep learning curve, but great to get to know what the machine was capable of.
I'm upgrading the machine at the moment, so here's what I'm adding/changing: Increasing to 24V so there is less impact any noise can have on switching between states on the hall effect / limit switches, Homann Designs DigiSpeed, Ethernet SmoothStepper and a touch screen.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible support from a friend who made his own CNC from scratch as well as a lot of reading of posts on this site as well as support indirectly from RodM and Greolt. (Many thanks guys!)
A few words on JCut: Their pre-sales support was very good. After I paid the money I feel they performed less than expected. They did not ship the machine via the shipping company they indicated which added about $1000 to my cost which they refused to compensate. They never indicated the software was pirated and when I queried it, they advised me "just get over it and load the software". A driver failed and JCUT refused to send a replacement insisting I return the suspect component first. (It ended up quicker to purchase another driver elsewhere as I just wanted to get the machine working.) Emails took much longer to get answered if at all, after they received the money. Overall, the equipment they sent was OK. A lot of learning was required and this was made more difficult because I had no experience in many of these areas and the equipment sent was pretty much undocumented and required many hours of web searching and looking at other equipment to work out what was required. As an example; the vacuum pump seized because it uses water to create the vacuum which had pretty much evaporated in transit and consequently the insides had rusted together. It was just a matter of dismantling the workings of the pump, removing all the rust, lubing it up and reassembling it.
If I'd known all these issues beforehand I doubt I'd have gone through with it. A lot of learning and satisfaction is involved, so in conclusion it was good to gain the knowledge on the machine.

[Wanderinau]

Thanks drmnz for your reply

I bought my Jcut second hand, the guy had only been using the machine to drill holes in 25mm flat bar, so he was writing his own gcodes, so the machine was fine for him.
I have a suspect copy of Ncstudio on a cd, so mine is most probably a pirate copy to

Thanks for the information on the break out board conversion to Mach3, I will have a good look at that when I get on top of things, my cnc already has limit switches.

At the moment the machine is working ok in X & Y axis, still sorting out Z, not far way.

Many thanks
Peter

[Wanderinau]

Thanks for all your help, seem to bet getting on top of this problem.

Would like to ask what grease should i be using on the linear rails ?

Many thanks
Peter

[drmnz]

Hi Peter
I use CRC Dry Glide on the linear rails: http://www.crc.co.nz/Automotive-Lubr...d0036-6546.htm
Cheers
David

[Ch4iS]

I use Inox Lanox on my machine, use it on pretty much everything nowdays.

http://www.inoxmx.com/inox/mx4-lubricant/

[Wanderinau]

Thanks guy,s for your thoughts, much appreciated.


Both products sound good, have some Inox Lanox so will give it a try.

Cheers
Peter