My new Shapeoko 3 is it just me?

[Rocket]

You won't believe it, I changed the g code as shown below
and it cut a perfect 4 inch square...wow...........

G20/
g1z-7.05f50
g1 x5
g1 y5
g1 x0
g1 y0
g0z1

But, does this mean that all the other stuff
I have tried to make messes up, because my
Shapeoko 3 does not understand basic code like
all other cnc's????

That would really suck.........right????

[Rocket]

Art,

Is it possible that Carbide 3 does not know of this problem
with their machines?

They should be informed....yes or no...

Is it the Carbide Motion software or my machine that is causing this problem?

Richard

[ArtF]

>>I changed the g code as shown below
and it cut a perfect 4 inch square... wow...... .....

G20/
g1z-7.05f50
g1 x5
g1 y5
g1 x0
g1 y0
g0z1

      Im assuming the square was 5" on a side.? , and I assume you started way above
the material?

  The G1Z-7.5 would mean to drop Z by 7.5" , not something youd normally do.

Normally, you jog your machine to a start position ( like just above a start point and touching
the material) and then youd initiate a "Set Zero" which makes all DRO's show 0 at that spot.
   
  Why the G20/ Im not sure, usually no slash would be needed.

 
Ive looked at carbide software, looks like it doesnt show much what your doing,
so I can understand your being lost a bit. I suspect yours is an arduino based cutting
machine. It does sound as if there is some question as to its GCode usage. Do they
compile a list of what they can accept and what they cannot accept? Id expect
at a minimum that information should be available.
  If you can get a list from them on what they accept and what they dotn , you may be
more easily able to convert files to cut. You shouldnt need to add a slash after the G20,
but that may be just the same as reomving the G20 altogether as some formwares
will see a slash and take the entire line as a comment. It may just be you need
to always remove any G20 or G21 from the code..and make sure the code is properly
metric or imperial..



Art

[Richard Cullin]

the supported gcode is here , but the details are scanty,
http://carbide3d.com/docs/list-of-supported-gcodes/
the first upgrade may be to a pokeys controller ;D

g20/g21 are supported

[ArtF]

Yes, hard to imagine why adding a slash made it work, but as a controller , its pretty basic. Curious they didnt use Mach3 or LinuxCNC,
youd think they'd get a better end result. Hard to say whats in there for stepper drivers though, Id like to see the electronics, looks to me
like the stepper drivers may be awful weak for a cnc table. Hard to say though, I wont pick on it without seeing one.

  We'll see how Rocket makes out over time, but I downloaded and ran the software to see if I could help, but you cant even run it
without the machine. And when you do run it, it seems its one small dialog with Run/Pause/SetZero.. not much else..
  Going by that alone, if it were me Id rip the guts out of it.. :) ..

Edit:  I did find a picture of the electronics on the web. It does look like the electronics is more suited to a 3d printer than a wood machine,
so I think very light cuts may be the way to go. Its one of those integrated boards, so to retrofit would take a pokeys and 3 drivers,
as I dont think youd be able to use the board thats in it. 


Art

[Rocket]

Art,

Yes, the square was exactly 5 inches on each side.

I have sent a few stl and dxf files of gears from Gearotic to
the head engineer at Carbide 3, he says he will try them today,
we will see. My patience is running thin.

Are you saying I may need to upgrade my machine to do what
I want to do???

Please explain the upgrade process to me.....

Thanks, R

[Richard Cullin]

I had a look at some of the user videos that google up for a carbide search. they seem to cut ply at 20ipm with 60 thou cuts.  so it seems a gentle touch is required mind you the spindle variations are plentiful.
the basis of the platform is grbl  , and that works ok . there are carbide/shakepo forums worth a look too
I have used grbl variant marlin for a 3d printer virtually trouble free but for cnc work mach3 leaves it for dead

before updating have a look at the forums / youtube to pickup usage tips

[Rocket]

Art and Richard,

Well now, did I buy the wrong machine?

I spoke with Carbide 3 prior to my purchase and asked them
if the Shapeoko 3 would make wood gears for clock building,
they said yes, no problem.

I am not happy.

Please  tell me how I can upgrade this thing and how much it will cost?

I may try and return it, if they mislead me.

All along I thought i was really getting stupid and making tons
of mistakes...so I least now I know it was not just ME>>>>>

Thank you for all your help.....I need more help...

RR

[Rocket]

I had a look at some of the user videos that google up for a carbide search. they seem to cut ply at 20ipm with 60 thou cuts.  so it seems a gentle touch is required mind you the spindle variations are plentiful.
the basis of the platform is grbl  , and that works ok . there are carbide/shakepo forums worth a look too
I have used grbl variant marlin for a 3d printer virtually trouble free but for cnc work mach3 leaves it for dead

before updating have a look at the forums / youtube to pickup usage tips

I am not interested in 3d printing, I bought the unit to create wooden gear clocks...
Looks like I may have pissed away 1400 bucks.....shit...

[Rocket]

Art,

Do you feel I would be better of trying to upgrade this machine,
or start from scratch and purchase a different unit?

RR

[Richard Cullin]

the machine will probably do what you want , but first you need to learn how to get it to do what you want

you seem to have it moving ok in your 5" square , in the air
next step
try cutting  some ply in your square , just a shallow cut say 50 thou deep and go slow 20ipm
experiment with different speeds / depths and spindle rpm
get a feel for what sort of load the machine can tolorate

[Rocket]

It cut through .25 ply..

That is not the problem, when I make a gear in
Gearotic, post it, and load the code into Carbide Create
it makes a mess of the output.

Gear looks like it was made with a hammer by a 3 old....

Could I get a Pokey usb cnc board and change over from
the Carbide board?

[Nate]

It may be helpful if you post a picture of the bad gear.

[Richard Cullin]

my point is that if you overload the machine by cutting too deep or too fast or both then that distorted gear is the result.

you need to establish some working parameters for your machine first
how fast how deep what spindle speed work with what material you are trying to cut

its like towing a trailer home with a Toyota corolla versus a f300 pickup  , with the corolla you need to slow down and be much more careful

[ArtF]

Rocket:

I wouldn't recommend changing anything, not until your quite familiar with what youre doing
and can run jobs. While the hardware isnt top end, its not bad. The electronics, though a bit weak isn't
so bad you need to do anything. The software , this "carbide", is truly horrible, but again workable
though only barely.
  You need to figure out what exactly is bothering it in the text, and fix it. Id think the
makers would be happy to help. Id just keep in mind, down the road when you DO have it all working
and understand the issues, that you probably DO want to replace its electronics. The software
choice and electronics choice they made in design was a bad one IMO. Its making an acceptable
machine into a rather cheap copy of a useful cnc device. (All this is only my opinion I might add,
and based only on looking at their software and exploring their forum. My apologies if this
makes any shapeoko users feel bad, its not my intent, but I think your wondering just
what I think, and I don't think Id be doing you any favor by praising the unit as I see it. )

  It would take a pokeys 56 or 57 and 3 stepper drivers. All told probably a couple hundred
bucks and a bit of wiring. That however, would make the machine orders of magnitude more
capable and useful. You could run Mach3, Mach4 or Auggie on it at that point. Youd have graphical
displays of the loaded file and what will happen when you run it, and it really helps in understanding
whats happening. It ISNT however, something to do when your not familiar with G code and how a machine
works.
  My advice, find out whats wrong, ask them , and us, when your wondering on something. Fix the trouble
by finding what you need to edit, its likely its only one line its choking on or doesnt understand.
Then , when you've cut a few gears and your familiar with things, look at an upgrade and get rid
of that silly program. Whether you go Mach3, or Auggie, you'd be magnitudes better off.

           But really, do not do this until your ready or feel you are. What you have CAN work, though you may
have to edit files from GM to make them work. If you find the problem I can probably make a post change for you
to make the files work directly when posted, or at least in a condition where you know what you have to do to make
them work.

 So look at it as a learning exercise, you just got a wooden flute, learn to play it before you turn it into
a digital synth that makes any other sounds you may want. Your mechanics look pretty good, not great,
but Ive seen much much worse do great things, your software is all that's holding you back, it will simply
take a bit of work to figure out how it works on normal GCode files.

 Good news is they use Meshcam, a very good program, and Rob , back when I dealt with Meshcam as
one of my OEM's was a great guy to deal with. So the makers of shapeoko must have some idea as to what
Gcodes are messing it up and it messed up with both Meshcams files as well as Gearotics. ( And I assure
you both programs put out good cutting code. ). So the problems are likely known, and Im sure other
users of that machine can help you with what is wrong with the Zeroing or code run.

 Yell when you have questions, Im not very particular about what someone is using, Ill help where I can
on any topic I can, and others will kick in as well when they see something they wish to straighten
you out on.

Art