I am curious if anyone knows if there is a command or a way to allow free move the torch head position in the X or Y coordinatoes in Firecontrol or Mach 3 in order to measure from point to point. I’m still setting up my Crossfire. It’s a gen 1 and weighing the advantages of the upgrade beyond the THC. I know some 3d printers allow for it in order to prevent backfeeding voltage to the control board but I never really seen a screen input that tracks the head position quite like the Langmuir softwares can so forgive my ignorance on the matter.
the movement system is leadscrews. You can not manually move the gantry in X or Y by hand. You have to use FireControl to move the carriage in the X/Y axis.
what do you mean by this?
You can use the straight line cut feature in Firecontrol to move a specified distance in X or Y. Just don’t turn on the plasma cutter and turn off the THC to prevent errors and that should move the torch a specified distance for you to measure.
As far as moving the gantry without using the stepper motors, its not going to happen and I don’t know why you would want or need to do that.
Every CNC machine, outside of 3d printers, uses a DRO(digital read out) to display the X,Y,Z coordinates of the cutter head.
It would not be possible on this table’s design as Y uses 2 lead screws that would have to spin in sync while the steppers are deenergized (impossible, as any difference in movement between the two would bind the table up if properly adjusted), and all steppers would need encoders to measure rotation / displacement while deenergized while you manually move the torch head (in theory).
Better to get a laser line system to mark out where your torch orifice is, and use the arrow keys to jog between points, going down in the rate as you need more precision.
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On my really old 3d printer, there was a function that would disable the stepper motors. This allowed you to move the print head by hand to various points on the print bed and level the bed by turning thumb screws under the bed.
Modern 3d printers use sensors and software correction to map the print bed surface, so it’s no longer needed.
I know my Centauri Carbon has it and it was only released in April. It is so you can move the platforum up or down and the head around for maintenace, cleaning, or clearing fouled up prints. I never bothered with it before when I was using bed slingers so this is the first printer I have been aware of the feature, but that is what got me thinking about it.
I wasn’t worried so much about alignment as I was just looking for an easy way to determine distance between two points in order to index a round piece of aluminum that is precut on the table. There is a unit I am aware of that allows that (the Arcdroid) but it also has a secondary function that allows you to copy the design of an existing bracket or something that is laid out on paper or cardboard and then cut out on metal. I have some aluminum discs that I get from a job site (it’s their scraps). They are flange covers and they have bolt holes around the edge. I’m just wanting to be able to position it on the table so I can cut off the area that has the bolt holes, if that makes any sense. I can probably just measure it once and make an index jig, but I was also just being lazy and hoping to measure it out on the table so I would have it exact, lol.
Can you use the jog function?
I use a lot of left over smaller items and I use the jog function to line it up where it will fit my left over metal.
I’m ot worried so much about lining it up so much as knowing the dimension I need to cut off first. I just want something more accurate than a tape measure to know the dimension in the future. Think of it as a DRO like you would find on a mill or lathe. I would actually put it on my mill but it is too deep to fit in the throat. It’s not a huge issue though, I just thought there was some positional info you could see on the screen if the torch was able to move freely
I was reading in Mach 3 there is a function to use offsets so I might read into that a little. I guess the primary issue is there is no way to free move the torch though.
Correct. Any torch movement you do would have to be done electrically through FireControl. Either manual jog buttons, or with a program.
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Put a pointer on your torch and line up the the edge of your part or where you want to measure from. Zero the axis you want to measure. Jog the torch on that axis until you reach the point you want to measure to. Read the distance on the DRO on the screen.
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Yeah when I made my first post I wasn’t thinking abaout the fact that the servos are screw drive. I’m used to belt driven 3d printers that are bed slingers so it took me looking at the crossfire and realizing the difference. I guess that is what happens when you are remote in a hotel with your cheap 3d printer vs being at home with the shop toys.
A belt driven plasma cutter just smells like a recipe for burning essential drive components.
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I’ve seen guys make them out of small scale mills and 3d printers. I guess it just depends on how big you can scale them up and how much spare drive belt you have around.
I’d be willing to bet Clough42 could design and manufacture a solution, like say an infinite jog using a potentiometer. I know I’d pay for an upgrade like that!
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