Originally Posted by
Apocalypse Fabrication
In other news...
We cut our first products for sale. I think we bit off a bit more than we could chew at first, but we worked through it. First item we went to cut on 16 gauge was pretty/very detailed and the x axis found it a perfect time to stall (just like it used to when the bearings were too tight). I checked the gear set screws and they were all tight (this is a check I do every time I operate the machine now). After scrapping the first design cut; I resolved myself to finding out what was causing the x axis to stall.
I found that it would bind/stall even if I jogged the machine at 100% speed. I found that reducing the max velocity from 799.8 to 639.8 it would travel freely and not bind/stall anymore. I have no idea why it's binding/stalling, but I think I can live with the reduction in speed.
I also found, later, that cutting at 250 ipm (book specs on 16 gauge) that I get very finely jagged cuts... you can see the torch shaking as it turns direction at this speed. I think I will just use the 150 ipm cut speed charts from hypertherm, which were made for torchmate machines. Apparently, my machine cant handle the faster speeds either. Yes, I have double checked all the fasteners on the gantry for proper tightness.
I need to install the X and Y home switches so that I can start over on a cut when it invariably effs up. When installing the x axis home switch do I wire the a axis separately or do I link them together?
I was also having a problem with the consumable stuck error. It seems when it tried to pierce next to an existing pierce that it would pick up the little bit of dross from that previous pierce and stick the torch... leading to all sorts of bad things.