11.2
Verification of axes scaling and motion directions
First motion control should be made at low speed. After pressing Tab key on a
keyboard – manual feed rate panel should open. In „Slow Jog Rate” enter e.g.
10%. It means that the motion will have 10% of maximum speed, defined in Mo-
tor Tuning.
SoftLimit switches should be disabled for these tests. Find the
button on
Mach3 main screen – if there is a green light around it, then click this button to
switch it off. If necessary press
on the main screen, Mach3 program will
be in standby mode. There should be green light around the button.
You can control XY-axes by arrow keys on a keyboard, Z-axis by „Page Down”
and „Page Up”. You can also use the buttons from manual feed rate window.
You should check each axis if:
•
Motion direction is changing. If not, it may mean incorrect connec-
tion of DIR Signal to a drive.
•
Directions are not changed. If so, you should change an axis direc-
tion in „Config
Homing/Limits” menu.
When all axes have their motion directions configured correctly – you can specify homing directions
(sides). For 3-axis machine XYZ - most common configuration is homing of XY-axes in negative direc-
tion and Z- axis in positive direction. In „Config/Home/Limits” for Z axis there should be „Home Neg”
selected.
Before further tests, you should check axes scaling. The best is to use dial gauge or other precise
measurement tool.
In manual feed rate panel set the Jog Mode and 1mm step size. „Slow
Jog Rate” does not apply to motion in positional mode (step motion) so
speed is set on the main screen in „Feedrate” area. For this test, you
should enter low value e.g. 100mm/min. Now, after pressing e.g. right
arrow on the keyboard the X-axis goes 1mm right. You should go this way at least
10mm (each axis), verifying with dial gauge the distance actually made by the axis.
The dial gauge should be reset after 1mm. If you see clear difference between the
positions (requested and actual), it means that that the „Steps Per” parameter in
the Motor Tuning window is set incorrectly. You should go back to the sections
about configuration and verify your settings.
Always approve your settings on Mach screen by pressing ENTER. Otherwise, the value will not be
saved.
C S - L a b s . c . – C S M I O / I P - S - C N C C o n t r o l l e r
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