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HI TorchHeads...

I have traced the THC code and as I don't use THC, I am a bit confused as
to the flow. When are you turning it on and when is it turned off in your
programs. I think I see the problem and its related to turning off the THC.
It must be turned off and zeroed after a cut when the torch is turned off
with the M5. Should I have it do this automatically on M3 (turn on THC) and
on M5(turn off the THC)? This may solve the problem but I don't want to
screw up your flow.

Can't find the 2nd problem with the G0 to G1 difference. ..yet anyway.

Art
www.artofcnc.ca

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., Art <fenerty@a...> wrote:

HI TorchHeads...

Hi-
I did not know there was a way to zero the thc after a cut! I use
macros in place of the m03 m05's so I can inset a zero very easily (
as long as you tell me how ). On a related subject, the plasma dxf
import it would be very nice if I could make it call my m40 instead
of the default m03 and m41 in place of m05. A header and footer
would also be sweet( I use a m42 for my header and m43 for the
footer ).

I have traced the THC code and as I don't use THC, I am a bit

confused as

to the flow. When are you turning it on and when is it turned off

in your

programs. I think I see the problem and its related to turning off

the THC.

It must be turned off and zeroed after a cut when the torch is

turned off

with the M5. Should I have it do this automatically on M3 (turn on

THC) and

on M5(turn off the THC)? This may solve the problem but I don't

want to

screw up your flow.

Can't find the 2nd problem with the G0 to G1 difference. ..yet

anyway.

Art
www.artofcnc.ca

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., "morgtod" <todmorg@h...> wrote:

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., Art <fenerty@a...> wrote:

HI TorchHeads...

Hi-
I did not know there was a way to zero the thc after a cut! I

use

macros in place of the m03 m05's so I can inset a zero very easily

(

as long as you tell me how ). On a related subject, the plasma dxf
import it would be very nice if I could make it call my m40 instead
of the default m03 and m41 in place of m05. A header and footer
would also be sweet( I use a m42 for my header and m43 for the
footer ).

I have traced the THC code and as I don't use THC, I am a bit

confused as

to the flow. When are you turning it on and when is it turned off

in your

programs. I think I see the problem and its related to turning

off

the THC.

It must be turned off and zeroed after a cut when the torch is

turned off

with the M5. Should I have it do this automatically on M3 (turn

on

THC) and

on M5(turn off the THC)? This may solve the problem but I don't

want to

screw up your flow.

Can't find the 2nd problem with the G0 to G1 difference. ..yet

anyway.

Art
www.artofcnc.ca

Now BOTH of you have me confused. First to Todd: Why are you
turning the THC off and on during the moves? The THC only "listens"
to UP and DOWN commands when the torch output is active (M03) AND the
TORCH ON input is active (from arc good). Any other time and the
signals are ignored in MACH2. On a M05 the Z axis is supposed
to "true up" so that the DRO matches the absolute position of the
head. I turn my THC on when I load the first g-code and leave it on
until I shut down the program. In the even the torch runs off the
material then the fault circuit in the THC hardware shuts off UP and
DOWN signals to MACH2.

To Art: Please don't fix something that is not broken. I have cut
miles of steel in the last two months and the THC works just fine as
long as you run the code with a G00 like the sample I sent. The
G28.1 problem may be interconnected with the THC but if the logic
works as we originally designed it, M05 should true up the Z and zero
out the THC move register. While it would be nice to have the THC
hold (waiting for TORCH ON) to work under ALL conditions, changing
the logic in the M03 and M05 section could cause things to get out of
sync. Honestly, I don't run G28.1 in code since I only zero at the
beginning of a cut. I normally break my designs into 4 or 5 separate
g-code files that cut logical groups of vectors. I return to 0,0,1
at the end of each and can just load and go for the next cut or
decide to do a reference on X and Y or all three. Some of my designs
have hundreds of individual cuts and the added G28.1 for Z each time
would be a real waste of time.

No worries, I do not intend to require any change in code, I was just
confused, because the unit was not rationalizing the DRO's when you went to
move back up. All I did was add a "auto-rationalize" into the spindle off
routine ( which I thought was there, but I can't find it). This should not
affect anythign else,but should allow the G28.1 to work if it is called ta
any time. Though it will require a test to see if it messes anything up, on
my end it looks OK, but if it messes up I'll remove the fix the same day.

Art
www.artofcnc.ca

Now BOTH of you have me confused. First to Todd: Why are you
turning the THC off and on during the moves? The THC

only "listens"

to UP and DOWN commands when the torch output is active (M03) AND

the

sync. Honestly, I don't run G28.1 in code since I only zero at the
beginning of a cut. I normally break my designs into 4 or 5

separate

g-code files that cut logical groups of vectors. I return to 0,0,1
at the end of each and can just load and go for the next cut or
decide to do a reference on X and Y or all three. Some of my

designs

have hundreds of individual cuts and the added G28.1 for Z each

time

would be a real waste of time.

snip-
Hi Tom-
The reason for the thcon and off was an atempt to make g28.1 work
correctly. I need the g28.1 on each pierce because the metal I use
has all been handled by forktruck, causing a a crown in the center.
With the speed of my table a G28.1 takes less than one second and
insures proper pierce height and no blowback into the torch. turning
the thc on and off did not help or hinder the g28.1 thing.
Todd

Tom -
I also forgot to mention, I also used the thc on& off to keep the
torch from hunting during the pierce dwell time. On thinner metal it
doesn't make much differance, but on .375 an thicker the torch would
dive towards the surface during the pierce dwell time and glops of
molten metal would stick to the torch head. In other words, I m03,
dwell, thcon and this gives a very smooth entry , even on very short
cuts in thick metal. I'll change if you have a better way! :)
Todd

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., Art <fenerty@a...> wrote:

No worries, I do not intend to require any change in code, I was

just

confused, because the unit was not rationalizing the DRO's when you

went to
snip-

Hi Art-
I found that if I do a oem124 between each thc on and off things
work just right. If you could tell me how to do this from a macro we
wouldn't have to change the program at all and risk causing problems
for others. A side note- rc10 overwrites my settings and macros also,
maybe its a win2k thing?

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., "morgtod" <todmorg@h...> wrote:

Tom -
I also forgot to mention, I also used the thc on& off to keep the
torch from hunting during the pierce dwell time. On thinner metal

it

doesn't make much differance, but on .375 an thicker the torch

would

dive towards the surface during the pierce dwell time and glops of
molten metal would stick to the torch head. In other words, I m03,
dwell, thcon and this gives a very smooth entry , even on very

short

cuts in thick metal. I'll change if you have a better way! :)
Todd

I seldom cut anything over .250 and mostly 10Ga. I normally do a
pierce at about .190 and the next command is a G00Z.135 to drive the
head into the cut. There is a certain amount of head oscillation
hunting for the perfect height but it never gets out of the critical
zone. It quickly adjusts as the cut starts.

I can see on thicker material where the hunting might be an issue.
The fix of the G28.1 will allow us to program when and where we re-
reference the Z axis. The only time I need to do it on my table is
when I am at the extremes of the material. I cut 2' X 2' or 2' X 3'
squares and I have a set of magnets setup to position the material
and hold it while I clamp it down with a bunch of hand squeeze clamps
(like large aligator clips). Even 10Ga will curl from stress relief
and uneven heating so the clamps keep everything fairly flat. I use
my CAM software to break the cuts down into logical groups and I try
to cut from the center out and somewhat even them out over the entire
design.

I was concerned about Art making program changes since my version
seems to be doing the auto Z axis reset on an M05. I have not
installed the last 5 or 6 RC's since none of them addressed any THC
issues.

TOM C

--- In mach1mach2cnc@..., Art <fenerty@a...> wrote:

No worries, I do not intend to require any change in code, I was

just

confused, because the unit was not rationalizing the DRO's when you

went to
-snip
Hi Art-
Things seem worse with the thc offsets. Even with the thc off if I
do a g28.1z.1 it runs but it displays a number in the z dro, not
zero. Same thing hapens with the ref-z window. If there is a way in
g code or macro to do a oem124 or whatever the number is for zeroing
the thc we wouldn't need this fix. Thanks
Todd

Thanks Todd:

I'll remove the fix and give you a hook to the button in a macro.

Thanks for the tests..
Art
www.artofcnc.ca