Trucut SeriesOne/XT. Operators Manual. SeriesOne and XT machines running Mach4 Software

Transcription

1 Trucut SeriesOne/XT Operators Manual SeriesOne and XT machines running Mach4 Software

2 Table Of Contents Overview 1 1 Mach4 User Interface Primary Function Screens Program Run Diagnostics Shape Wizard Trace Wizard Settings Screens Control Button Group Settings Tab Group a File Tab b Run Tab c Jog Tab d Settings Tab e Outputs Tab f Offsets Tab g Process Tab h Calibrate Tab i Align Plate Tab Torch control Group Feedrate Control Group 24 2 Basic Operation Loading a Job Editing a Job Jogging the Machine Running a Job Homing the Machine Homing Exercise Pausing a Job Stopping a Job (Emergency) Plasma Fault Mode 27

3 2.10 Pre-Stop Setting Feedrate Changing Feedrate During a Cut Setting Torch Offsets Emergency Stop Tracing a Part System Hotkeys 32 3 THC Operation How It Works Home Screen Motion Sensitivity Antidive Sensitivity Puddle Jump Corner Antidive Delay Manual Height Control Saving THC Settings 35 4 Plasma Marking System How It Works Setting Torch Offsets 37 5 Calibration Calibrating the X and Y Axes Calibrating Pierce Height Squaring the Gantry, SeriesOne Squaring the Gantry, XT 42 6 G&M Codes 44 7 Troubleshooting THC does not appear to be working Torch is dragging from the start of the cut Torch pierces at the correct height, then crashes Cut height appears to be too high Torch dives at the end of a cut THC will not track rapid changes in height Torch touches off but does not light. 48

4 7.8 Torch lights but does not move The machine will not jog Jog speed seems slow Pierce height does not match what is entered on the 49 screen The machine is not cutting the correct length and/or width Torch shuts off in the middle of a cut. 49

5 Mach4 Overview Mach4 is a robust and modern CNC control software package. Unlike Mach3, it was developed on modern 64 bit computer architecture. This means Mach4 performs better and faster on new PC s available today. Mach4 has no motion controller built in, so the use of an external motion controller is required. All Trucut machine running Mach4 use the Ethernet Smooth Stepper motion controller. One of the most asked questions when you first start Mach4 is Why do I have the Hobby version. At the top of the Mach4 screen it will say Mach4 Hobby. There are two versions of Mach4. Hobby was the first to be introduced and got the most attention from the Mach4 developers, therefore, it is more functional than Mach4 Industrial. What are the real differences? At this point, the only real difference is the price and the fact that Mach4 Industrial lacks some of the things already built into Mach4 Hobby. Rumor is that Mach4 industrial will eventually have built in height control and a few other nice features. We have been using our own external height control for years now and it works as well or better in Mach4 than it does in Mach3. Given that, Mach4 Industrial would not offer any advantage to us over Mach4 Hobby Other than the title at the top of the screen. Page 1

6 1 - Mach 4 User Interface The Mach4 screen consists of two primary areas of interest. All of the primary functions, like Program Run, Tool Path Ops, Machine Diagnostics, Shape Wizard and Trace Wizard, are all accessible via the corresponding tab. Simply click a tab to move to another screen. All of the buttons related to running a program and also the program settings, are located in the lower Run/Settings screens. These screens are always visible giving you access to these functions from any of the above primary function screens. 1.1 Primary Function Screens This group of screens contains Program Run, Machine Diagnostics, Shape Wizard and Trace Wizard. You will spend most of your time on the Program Run screen Primary Function Screens Program Run The first screen we ll go over is the Program Run screen. This is where you will spend most of your time. There are three main areas of interest here. Page 2

7 The first screen we will go over is the DRO screen. This screen consists of two tabs. The first displays the machine position DRO s as well as buttons to zero one or all axes and reference all axes. The red LED s indicate the homed status of the machine. Green LED s mean the machine is homed and referenced. The machine must be homed with these LED s green in order for Soft Limits to work. Homing is also a good way to return to a known table position in the event of a program failure. When homing, you will be prompted to confirm the action by typing YES. This is to prevent accidental homing by hitting the reference button my mistake. The Machine Coordinates button changes the DRO s to reflect distance from machine zero, or the point the machine was referenced to. When this is turned off, the DRO s reflect distance from work zero, or the point where Zero All was pressed. When Distance To Go is active, the DRO s display the distance to go to the next coordinate. Remember Position records the current position in memory and Return To Position makes the machine return to that position. This differs from GoTo Work Zero or GoTo Machine Zero in that the remembered position can be anywhere. Page 3

8 The Program Extents screen displays the minimum and maximum extents of the program. This is a good way to determine if the program will fit on the material you have on the table. The GCode window displays the text for the program that is currently loaded. As the program run, it will cycle through the code in the window. The MDI tab allows the operator to enter GCode directly and run it. Pressing Cycle Start will run any GCode entered in the MDI window. The Tool Path window graphically displays the program currently loaded. As the program runs, the display will follow the part. Pressing Regen Toolpath in the Control button group will refresh the tool Path display window. Page 4

9 Primary Function Screens Machine Diagnostics The Machine Diagnostics screen is not something used in day to day operation. It is used more for diagnosis if an issue pops up. There are LED s, DRO s, a code window and tool path display. We can run a job and watch this screen, noting which LED s are lit and how the DRO s are behaving Primary Function Screens Shape Wizard The Shape Wizard allows you to make parts simply by entering the part parameters and pressing Run Part. There are 26 parts available. To access the individual parts, click the tabs on top of the window. The part parameters are shown on the left with a graphic representation of the part on the right. The image is static. It does not update to reflect your parameters. Page 5

10 Kerf Compensation, Process, kerf width and lead length are selected on the far left. On parts with inside and outside contours, such as the one shown above, kerf compensation is figured automatically. Parts with only one contour have the option of selecting inside or outside contours. After generating a new part, you can return to the Program Run screen or you can select the File tab from the Run/Settings tab group Primary Function Screens Trace Wizard The Trace Wizard allows you to use the laser pointer or the optional camera to locate and mark points around an existing part. The first step is to press the button on the far left called Zero All Axes. As you progress, the instructions displayed below the buttons will change to reflect where you are in the process. The process goes like this (1) Move laser or camera to first point and press Zero All Axes. (2) Press Start. Select a file location and enter a file name. (3) Press Mark Point. (4) Move to next point and press Mark Point. (5) Continue marking points until all points are marked. (6) Press End to complete the process. See section 2.15 for further details. Page 6

11 1.2 - Settings Screens The lower panel in the Mach4 screen has all the controls and setting for running and setting up jobs. This lower panel is always visible even while switching between function panels above. We ll discuss each panel in detail Control Button Group This button groups contains the commonly used buttons in Mach4. There are other less used features available in the settings panel, which we will discuss shortly. Cycle Start GCode The Cycle Start button is used to start a job after it is loaded and the machine is zero d. Cycle Start can also be used to resume motion after a Feed Hold. The torch should be positioned at the desired start point and Zero All pressed prior to pressing Cycle Start. Dry Run/Normal Run Pressing this button toggle between Dry run and Normal Run. When Dry Run is turned on, the machine will run the part in X and Y axes with no Z motion or torch. In Normal Run mode the button will ne Green. In Dry Run mode the button will be Yellow. Feed Hold Pressing Feed Hold stops the machine in a controlled manner. After a Feed Hold, the button text will change to Resume, indicating that pressing the button again will resume motion. Page 7

12 Stop Pressing Stop stops the machine instantly. Depending on the speed, machine homing/reference may be lost. If position is lost, resuming will be difficult. For a controlled stop, Feed Hold is a better option. Zero All Pressing Zero All sets work zero to the current position. Press Zero All before pressing Cycle Start to run a job. Load GCode Loads a new GCode file into the system. Files must have a.tap extension. Close GCode Closes the currently loaded GCode file. Regen Toolpath Pressing this button regenerates the tool path. You may want to regen after moving and zeroing the torch to refresh the screen display. Reset Reset turns off any outputs that may be on and rewinds the GCode program to the beginning of the file. Regen Tool Path Regen Tool Path regenerates the tool path display window. Enable/Disable Enables or disables the machine. In an emergency, Disable can be used to Estop the machine, but this usually results in lost position which requires re-homing and loss of the job that is currently running. Page 8

13 Settings Tab Group The settings tab group provides access to every machine setting through the various tabs a - Settings Tab Group File Tab The file tab provides access to functions related to dealing with GCode files. The currently loaded file name is displayed toward the top of the window and a small tool path display window shows a graphic representation of the loaded file. The buttons are as follows Load GCode Loads a GCode file into Mach4. Edit GCode Opens the currently loaded file in Windows Notepad. Rewind GCode Rewinds the Currently loaded file to the top. Close GCode Closes the currently loaded GCode file. Regen Tool Path Regenerated the tool path window b - Settings Tab Group Run Tab The run tab provides access to functions relating to Run operations. Set Next GCode Line Sets the next line of code to be executed. The results may be unexpected. The machine will make a relatively un controlled move to the beginning of the selected line and begin running the part in X and Y axes. You would have to light the torch by pressing the Torch button. Page 9

14 Run GCode From Here This button allows you to select a line of code in the code window or enter a line number. The best way to restart is at the beginning of a part. If you have 100 parts on a sheet, and #50 fails, restart at the beginning of #51. If a part fails, make a note of the line number. If the machine has not lost position, all you need to do is roll the GCode to the next M114 line, select that line and press Run GCode From Here. A dialog box will appear prompting movement to the start point. Make sure X and Y are selected and press Move Selected. After the machine moves to the start point, press OK making the dialog go away and press Cycle Start. The job will run from the beginning of the part selected. If, for some reason, you lose position by moving the machine after the failure and pressing Zero All, recovery of the job will not be possible. As a precaution to this, you can home/reference the machine and position the material on the table so machine zero and work zero are the same. In this case, as long as the machine does not lose reference (red reference LED s), pressing GoTo Machine Zero will dive the machine to the reference point, which in this case is also work zero. From there you can use Run GCode From Here to start at the next part. The LED beside the Run GCode From Here button indicates the status of the function. The DRO beside the LED indicates the current line number. Page 10

15 GoTo Work Zero Pressing GoTo Work Zero makes the machine move back to the point that work zero was set, which is the point at which the Zero All button was pressed. GoTo Machine Zero Pressing GoTo Machine Zero makes the machine travel back to the position where it was homed/referenced. This assumes that the machine is homed with the Home LED s beside the position DRO s lit green. Soft Limits On/Off Turns Soft Limits on or off. Soft Limits must be enable in Mach4 configuration for this function to work. The machine must also be homed with the Home LED s beside the position DRO s lit green. Single Block On/Off Single Block is mostly used for troubleshooting a GCode file. When turned on, it causes Mach4 to execute only one line of code. Pressing Cycle Start again executes the next line and so on. Jog Follow ON/OFF Jog Follow changes the way the screen looks when jogging and running a job. It s a personal preference thing. When Jog Follow is off, the part remains stationary on the screen and the axis cross hair moves around the part. When Jog Follow is on, the axis cross hair remains stationary in the center of the screen and the part moves. One is not necessarily better than the other. Thy them both. Require Machine Homing This feature is on by default and will not allow a program to be run unless the machine is homed. Homing is not required, but it should be done. If you prefer to run without homing, press Require Machine Homing and turn this feature off. Axes Limits Override Button This function allows the machine to be jogged off a limit switch. If you hit a limit switch and the machine stops, press Axes Limits Override which will allow you to jog the machine off the limit. Page 11

16 Enable Prestop Button The prestop function allows the torch to shut off before it reaches the end of the cut, thereby eliminating a stop divot in the cut. Use this button to enable or disable this feature. Prestop can also be controlled by using M codes M1115 and M1116 in the GCode. Note that for Prestop to work, there must be a lead-out or overburn on the toolpath. Page 12

17 1.2.2c - Settings Tab Group Jog Tab The Jog tab provides access to jog related functions. Jog Buttons The Jog buttons move the respective axis in the + or direction. Jog % Jog speed can be adjusted by moving the slider on the bottom of the screen. The DRO will change reflecting the jog speed percent (%). Slow Jog % Pressing the 5 key on the keyboard number pad will make the jog speed toggle between Jog% and Slow Jog%. Incremental Jog Step Causes the Jog Step DRO to cycle through various step settings. Jog Mode Sets the jog mode to Continuous or incremental. When set to continuous, the machine jogs as one would expect. Pressing the jog buttons or using the keyboard keypad make the machine jog at the set jog speed while the button or key is held down. When set to Incremental, the machine will jog the distance shown each time the jog button is pressed. Keyboard Inputs Enable/Disable This button enables or disables the keyboard keypad for jogging. While Keyboard Inputs are enabled and Mach4 is open, the keyboard keypad will be dedicated to jogging Mach4. If you open another program and try to use the keyboard keypad, Page 13

18 you will notice that the keys will appear broken. This is because Mach4 has them captive. Page 14

19 1.2.2d - Settings Tab Group Settings Tab This is where you set most of the program settings. Switch Offset Switch offset is the distance between where the torch touches the material and where the contact switch makes. This is adjusted by setting Pierce Height to 0.25 and pressing Reference Torch. Gauge the distance of the torch above the material. If it is 0.25, then the Switch Offset if correct. If it is not, then adjust the Switch Offset a little and check it again. This is a trial and error process. Once it is set, you won t have to worry about it again. Ohmic Offset Same as Switch Offset but uses an ohmic contactor instead of a reference switch. TOM Sensing Speed This is top of material sensing speed. This is the speed at which the torch will travel down while looking for the material. TOM Max Travel This is the max distance that the torch will travel while searching for the material. If it reaches max travel before finding the material, it will continue as if it found the material and attempt to cut the part. Safe Z Safe Z is the height that the Z will raise to while moving from part to part. Program End Z Program End Z is the height at which the torch will raise at the end of the job prior to traveling back to work zero. Marker Delay Page 15

20 Marker Delay is the delay in seconds that the machine will pause after lighting the marker torch. This is similar to Pierce Delay, but works with the marker torch rather than the cutting torch. This is only applicable to machines using the plasma marking system. Marker Height This is the height at which the Z will retract before lighting the marker torch. With marking, there is no pierce height. The torch retracts to marking height and the torch lights. This only applies to machines with the plasma marking option. Drill Delay Drill Delay is used to apply a pierce delay to the drill function. When you set up a job in SheetCAM to pierce the center of a hole, the torch will drop down, touch off, retract to pierce height and light the torch. Drill Delay controls how long the torch stays on. A delay of 0 (Zero) would be a very shorth burst. Pre-Stop Delay This setting delays turning off the torch when Pre-Stop is activated. If you find that the torch is shutting off too early, increase this number a little. For more information on Pre-Stop, see that section in this manual. Reference Torch Button Pressing Reference Torch will make the torch drive down to the material, stop, and retract to the pierce height set in the THC control group. It is a good idea to check the pierce height calibration from time to time by setting the pierce height to 0.25 and pressing Reference Torch. If the height above the plate is not 0.25, Switch Offset on the Setting tab should be adjusted. See the section on Calibration for more information on pierce height calibration. Page 16

21 1.2.2e - Settings Tab Group Outputs Tab Marker Up/Down The outputs tab provides access to control and view the status of common machine outputs. These outputs are activated and deactivated automatically by the program depending on the process you are using. You can view their status or override them here. Activates the output connected to the marker air cylinder solenoid. Marker On/Off Activates the output that lights the marker torch. Cut Oxygen Activates the output that opens the cut oxygen solenoid. Optional Stop When active, the machine will pause at every instance of M01 it encounters in a GCode file. Programs have an M01 at the end of every cut. When Optional Stop is active, the machine will pause at the end of every cut. To continue after an M01 pause, press Cycle Start. Optional Stop is a good way to make a nonemergency controlled pause. THC Enable THC Enable controls the output that tells the THC to activate. Page 17

22 1.2.2f - Settings Tab Group Offsets Tab The Offsets tab allows access to the setting related to torch and marker offsets. Using torch offset is optional. When torch offset is set at zero, you would position the torch at your zero point, then Zero All, Cycle Start. If you set the torch offset, you would use the laser to position the machine, then the machine apples the offset so the mart cuts in the correct location Setting An offset Both marker and torch offsets are set the same way. (1) Find a clean piece of metal on the table. (2) Lower the torch close to the metal. (3) Pierce a hole by pressing the Torch button. (4) Slowly jog the machine so the laser fall into the hole you just pierced. (5) Press Set Torch Offset (Or Set Marker Offset) Page 18

23 1.2.2g - Settings Tab Group Process Tab number displayed under THC Set Volts. This tab allows access to the preloaded process database. Press Steel, Stainless or Aluminum to display a list of available processes. Select the desired process and the cut settings on the screen will update. Set Volts on the THC remote should be set to the Feed Rate Reduction is a way to automatically reduce the feed rate by a set amount. The published cut speed numbers are almost always too fast. Setting Feed Rate Reduction to 70% would reduce the published feed rate by 30%. For instance, a published feed rate of 190IPM would set on the machine at 133IPM. After selecting a process, the selected process is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Current Process LED s The Current Process LED s indicate which process the machine is currently running. These are used by the system behind the scenes to determine the state of the machine at any given time. The Fault light indicates that the plasma arc was lost during a cut. Page 19

24 1.2.2h - Settings Tab Group Calibrate Tab This screen gives you the tools to quickly calibrate the machine. For instance, if you noticed that the machine was cutting 1/8 too long, you can correct it by using this screen. When you press one of the Calibrate buttons, a dialog will appear. Enter a distance for the machine to travel and make sure there is nothing in it s way. When motion stops, measure the distance the machine traveled and enter it here. Follow the instruction on the next dialog that opens. Page 20

25 From the Mach4 menu, go to Configue -> Mach and select the Motors tab. Select the correct motor. This was displayed in the instructions dialog. Make a note of the Velocity and Acceleration numbers, these will change and you will need to set them back. On the lower left corner of the Motors dialog, locate Counts Per Unit. Highlight the existing number, right click and select Paste. This will insert the calibrated number. Reset the Velocity and Acceleration back to their original values. From the factory, these are set to Velocity = 600 and Acceleration = 15. When finished, restart Mach4. Repeat to calibrate more axes. Page 21

26 1.2.2i - Settings Tab Group Align Plate Tab To align a plate Align Plate allows the operator to rotate the job in the controller software to match the material on the table. This is done by jogging the machine down the left side of the plate in the Y axis or the bottom of the plate in the X axis. (1) Jog the machine so the laser is on the lower left corner. This is the corner closest the controller box on the machine. (2) Press Zero All. (3) Jog the machine to place the laser on another point on the edge of the plate either along the X axis or the Y. (4) If you jogged the gantry down the table to select an edge on the X axis, press the button labeled X. If you jogged the lifter carriage across the table to select an edge on the Y axis, press the button labeled Y. (5) The correction angle will update and the tool path display will reflect the change. (6) Press the button labeled 0,0 to move the machine back to zero along the angled edge. If you have torch offsets set, you can just hit Cycle Start and run the job. If no offsets are set up, move the torch to the zero point, press Zero All and Cycle Start. Keep in mind that the current correction angle will remain in the system until you either reset it to zero or align another plate. Pressing Reset To Zero returns the rotation correction to zero. Page 22

27 Torch Control Group The torch control group provides access to the common torch controls, settings and LED indicators. Torch On/Off Turns the cutting torch on or off Pierce Height This is the height at which the Z will retract off the material for initial piercing. Cut Height Cut height is only used if the THC is disabled. Under normal circumstances, cut height is controlled by the THC. When the THC is disabled, Mach4 will lower the Z to the cut height enters after piercing. Pierce Delay Delays motion for the time entered to allow time for the arc to pierce the material. Feedrate Antidive LED This LED will light when the actual feed rate drops below the commanded feed rate. This is used to lock out the height control when the feed rate drops to prevent torch dive. THC LED This LED will light when the THC is enabled by the software. It can be overridden from the Outputs tab. ArcOK LED This LED will light when the plasma establishes arc transfer. This is a means of telling the controller that the arc is established and it is OK to move. Page 23

28 Contact This LED will light when the torch contacts the material. To test this LED, you can lift up on the torch by hand until the torch mount makes contact with the plunger switch above it. The Contact LED should come on Feed Rate Control Group The feed rate control group provides control over the machine cut speeds. To adjust speeds on the fly, use the FRO (Feed Rate Override) slider. The machine speed will change instantly in response to moving the slider. The editable fields are Plasma Feedrate, Oxy Fuel Feedrate and Marker Feedrate. This how you set the program feedrate for the job. Any feedrate entered in SheetCAM will be ignored. Page 24

29 2 - Basic Operation Loading a Job Select the File tab and press Load GCode. Select the file to load. File type must a TAP file with a.tap extension. Make sure you re not trying to load.dxf or.job files Editing a Job Select the File tab and press Edit GCode. This opens the file in Windows Notepad. Don t do this unless you are comfortable hand writing GCode Jogging the Machine Jogging can be done one of two ways (1) Open the Jog tab and use the on-screen buttons to jog the machine. (2) Use the keyboard keypad. Hold the CTRL key while pressing the following keys. CTRL + 4 and CTRL + 6 jog the X axis, CTRL + 8 and CTRL + 2 jog the Y axis and CTRL + 9 and CTRL + 3 jog the Z axis Running a Job Jog the machine to the zero point on the material, press Zero All then Cycle Start. Hot keys for Zero All ae CNTL + 1 and Cycle Start is CNTL Homing the Machine While it is not necessary, the machine should always be in a homed or referenced state. When homed, soft limits work, the software knows where the torch is and top of material sensing is faster. As long as the machine is referenced, you can always press GoTo Machine Zero to take the torch back to the reference point. This is handy for crash recovery. By default, the machine will not allow you to run a program until it is homed. This can be changed on the Run tab for the current session, but if you restart Mach4, it will default back to requiring reference. Referencing is done when you first start up the machine or any time the reference LED s beside the position DRO s go red. Follow these steps to reference. Page 25

30 (1) Jog the torch close to the lower left (controller) corner of the machine without hitting the limit switches. (2) Press Ref All Axes. (3) A dialog will appear asking you to confirm. Type YES and hit OK. (4) The Z will go up and home to the upper limit, then the X will home to it s negative limit and the Y will home to it s negative limit. (5) When homing is done, Soft Limits will enable automatically. If you would like to run without homing the machine, go the the Run tab and turn off Require Machine Homing Homing Exercise This exercise will give you an understanding of how the homing works with machine and work coordinates. (1) Home the machine using the method above. (2) The machine should now be parked and homed. Machine zero will always remain at this point. When you press Zero All, you are setting Work Zero. (3) Jog the machine out into the middle of the table and press Zero All. This sets Work Zero to the current location. Machine Zero is still where the machined homed. (4) Jog the machine again. (5) From the Run tab, press GoTo Work Zero. The machine will to back to the point where you pressed Zero All in step 3. Repeat this as many time as you like. When GoTo Work Zero is pressed, the machine will go back the last point that Zero All was pressed. (6) When you ve seen enough of that, press GoTo Machine Zero. (7) The machine will go back to the point that it was referenced Pausing a Job The best way to pause a job is to turn on Optional Stop, which is on the Outputs tab. When optional stop is turned on, the machine will pause when it finishes the cut it is currently on. To resume, just turn off Optional Stop and press Cycle Start. Page 26

31 Another method if to press Feed Hold. Pressing Feed Hold makes a controlled stop near where the button was pressed. Any position moves queued in the motion controller when the Feed Hold button is pressed will be completed. For that reason, Feed Hold may not stop on a dime. When Feed Hold is pressed, the torch will shut off. To resume from Feed Hold, press Cycle Start. When resuming from Feed Hold, the torch will re-light Stopping a Job (Emergency) To stop in an emergency, press the Disable button on the Mach4 screen or press one of the red button on the gantry. Estopping in this manner usually results in lost position which means you may not be able to recover the job. If it s not an emergency, Use Optional Stop or Feed Hold instead Plasma Fault Mode The machine will go into plasma fault mode if the torch fails to light at the beginning of a cut. A message will appear alerting you of the failure. To recover and continue the job, correct the fault and press the OK button on the message box. If the fault has been corrected, the torch will light and the job will continue normally. If it fails to light again, the same message will appear. The message will appear 5 times giving you 5 chances to correct the fault. On the 6 th try, the job will stop and rewind. The fault code will tell you what the problem is. Most common faults are air pressure related and a 0-30 fault usually means the swirl ring needs replacing. After the fault has been corrected, press Cycle Start to light the torch and continue on with the job Pre-Stop Pre-stop is a feature that turns off the height control and the torch before motion stops at the end of a cut. This prevents a blow-out or divot when the torch stops at the end of the cut. Pre-stop works by looking ahead in the GCode to the next line of code. If the next line of code is that last line (the lead-out) the height control will disable and the torch will shut off. If you find that the torch is shutting off too early, you can increase Pre-Stop Delay on the Settings tab. This will delay turning the torch off. Page 27

32 IMPORTANT: Pre-stop will not work unless there is a lead-out and/or an over burn set in the job in SheetCAM Setting Feedrate The SeriesOne and XT machines do not use a hard coded feed rate in the G-Code. Instead, feed rates are set on the machine in Mach3. In the Feed Rate section toward the lower right hand corner of the Program Run screen, you will find three feed rates Plasma, Oxy/Fuel and Marker. If running a plasma process, you would set the plasma feed rate. Oxy/Fuel and Marker feed rates would set speeds for those processes. The process is decided in SheetCAM Changing Feedrate During a Cut To change a feed rate, you can type in a new one at any time, however, the new speed will not update until the next cut. To change a feed rate on the fly, use the red Feed Rate Override slider. The number above the slider represents the FRO percentage. IE: 100 means the machine is running at 100% of the commanded feed rate. To change the FRO value, drag the slider up or down. To reset it back to 100%, press the Reset FRO button Setting Torch Offsets This section will go over setting tool offsets for the cutting torch. If you have the Plasma Marking System, see section 4 for more information. Setting the laser offset means that you must use the laser dot to zero the machine before every cut. If you would rather just use the torch head itself as the reference point, skip this step and ensure that both Torch Offset and Marker Offset are both set to zero on the Settings page. To set up the torch offset, follow these steps Select the Offsets tab in the Setting tab group. Find a clean spot on a piece of material, drop the torch to 1/8 off the material and light the torch briefly piercing a small hole. Press Zero All. Jog the machine so the laser drops into the hole you just pierced. Press the button labeled Set Torch Offset. Leave Marker offset set to zero. If you have the Plasma Marker System, see Chapter 4, Section 4.2. Page 28

33 This process sets the cutting torch offset relative to the laser Emergency Stop Emergency Stop can be achieved one of two ways Press the Reset button in Mach3 in the lower left corner of the screen. Push one of the red Emergency Stop buttons on the gantry side covers. Either method will stop the machine. Note that after an E-Stop, the machine will most likely lose its position. The faster it was moving when it was E-Stopped, the more likely it will be that position has been lost. If you just want to pause the program and it is not an emergency, use Optional Stop instead Tracing a Part The Trucut Tracing Wizard is a utility built into the controller that allows the operator to place points around a part on the table. This is called a point cloud. The operator would place points at key locations on the part, such as a corner, a hole center, etc. The Tracing Wizard is accessed by pressing the Trace Wizard tab at the top of the Mach4 screen and brings up a screen like the one below. From here, just follow the instructions on the screen. Move laser or camera to the first point you wish to mark and press Zero All Axes. Page 29

34 The screen will change to one similar to the one shown below. Press Start. This will make a file dialog appear. Select a location and file name for the point cloud file. Do not use a file extension. The program will automatically add that. The next screen will appear. The file name and path will show below the buttons. Next, press Mark Point. This will mark your first point. After marking the first point, jog to the next point and press Mark Point again. Page 30

35 Continue this until all points have been marked. After all points have been marked, press End. This will save the point cloud file. You can now use the points as a guide to complete the part in CAD. Connect the points using lines and arcs. You can also mark larger holes using three points, then in CAD, crate a circle through 3 points. To make a hole using a single point, place the point at the center of the hole, then in CAD, create a circle on that point. Page 31

36 You could end up with something like this. Now you can add details such as corner radii, like this. After the part is drawn, the points are no longer needed, so you can delete them. Once the part is done to your satisfaction, save it as a DXF file, import into SheetCAM and cut System Hotkeys Hot keys allow you to perform certain action by using keyboard keys instead on using the on-screen buttons. System Hotkeys are as follows CNTL + Keypad 1 Zero All CNTL + Keypad 7 Cycle Start CNTL + Keypad 2 Jog Y- CNTL + Keypad 8 Jog Y+ CNTL + Keypad 4 Jog X- CNTL + Keypad 6 Jog X+ CNTL + Keypad 3 Jog Z- CNTL + Keypad 9 Jog Z+ CNTL + Keypad 5 Toggle Slow Jog CNTL + Keypad / Toggle Torch On/Off Page 32

37 3 THC Operation How it works The Trucut automatic height control works by reading the tip voltage from the plasma and raising/lowering the torch to make that voltage match a voltage set by the operator on the THC remote control. The remote consists of 5 screens, each containing different functions. Pressing the left and right arrow keys will move to the next or previous screen. We will discuss each screen and what each does Home Screen The home screen is where you will leave the remote 99% of the time. Here you can turn the THC on and off by pressing the ON/OFF button, increase the set voltage (height) by pressing the up arrow and decrease the set voltage by pressing the down arrow. The home screen also has an indicator tag in the upper right corner to indicate whether the anti-dive feature is active. Current tip volts are displayed above set volts. Press the right arrow to move the next screen Motion Sensitivity Motion sensitivity adjusts the reaction time of the THC. A higher number here makes the THC respond faster to a change in height, but also makes it more unstable and jittery. A higher number is needed for cutting material like corrugated. A lower number makes the motion more stable and smooth. A setting of 2 or 3 works well in most cases. To change the sensitivity, press the up and down arrows. You can set sensitivity between 1 and Antidive Sensitivity This controls the point at which the internal anti-dive activates. This is a percentage. For instance, a setting of 8 would cause anti-dive to activate at 8% above the set voltage. If set voltage were 120V and Anti-Dive Sensitivity were 8, anti-dive would engage and inhibit Z motion when it sensed 129.6V. Why is this important? When the plasma crosses a gap or hole, the tip voltage goes up and the response from the height control will be to lower the torch to reduce the voltage. By recognizing that we crossed a gap, we can engage anti- Page 33

38 dive and prevent the torch from diving into the gap or hole and crashing. There is usually some movement before Anti-Dive engages. If you notice the torch diving into holes, lower this number. If you are cutting material that tends to warp rapidly, like light gauge steel or aluminum, raise this number to prevent anti-dive from engaging accidentally. A setting of works well in most cases. To change the number, press the up and down arrows. To effectively disable anti-dive, enter a high number here, such as 30. When Anti-Dive engages, a flag labeled ANTI-DIVE will appear on the upper right corner of the home page on the remote. When the ANTI-DIVE flag is visible, there will be no Z axis movement Puddle Jump This number controls when the THC engages. You can use this delay to make the torch clear slag on thicker metal. For instance, if you pierce ½ plate at.25 and engage the height control instantly, the torch could dip into the slag puddle left by the pierce. Increasing the delay would make the torch travel a short distance at pierce height before dropping to cut height, clearing the slag puddle. To change this number, press the up and down arrows Corner Antidive Delay Corner Anti-Dive monitors the machine speed and compares the actual speed to the commanded speed. If the actual speed is less than the commanded speed, Corner Anti-Dive locks the THC to prevent the torch from diving into corners. If we engaged this feature immediately, the THC would not enable until the machine reached commanded speed. Corner Anti-Dive Delay adds a delay so the THC can enable and drop to cut height in a timely manner. 1-2 seconds works well and should be at least ½ second more than Puddle Jump Manual Height Control This screen allows you to control the torch height manually while cutting. To use this feature, the THC must be turned off on the Home screen. This feature is particularly useful for those using an Oxy/Fuel torch where no voltage based automatic height control is available. Page 34

39 Basic Operation For the height control to operate properly, you must first set the target voltage, or set voltage. This is done using the up and down arrow keys on the home page. There are three ways to determine a starting point for the set voltage. Open the Hypertherm manual that came with your plasma and look at the cut chart for the amperage and consumable you are using. Look under Best Quality Settings and enter the voltage from the chart on the THC remote. Select the desired process from the Presets tab. This will load process parameters and display the correct set voltage for the process. Turn off the THC from the home screen and cut a small sample part. Pay attention to the Tip Volts on the remote. Set the set volts to the same number. This will get the height close. After you start cutting you can dial it in. Once you have a starting point for the set voltage, you can dial it in closer while it s cutting. As you change the set volts while cutting, the height will respond instantly. If the height looks too high, lower the set volts. If it looks too low, raise the set volts. Once you have it dialed in, make a note of that number for the amperage and material you are running. After a few jobs, you ll remember the set volts, and if you notice it is off a little, you can adjust it on the fly without ruining the job. In many cases, the book settings are accurate and others they are not. Pierce height has little effect on the cut height since cut height is controlled solely by arc voltage. If the pierce height is off when the cut begins, the height will move rapidly to the cut height determined by the set volts entered on the home screen when the THC enables Saving THC Settings Any parameters that you change on the THC remote control will be automatically saved to non-volatile memory when you cycle the THC from on to off. If you power down without turning the THC off on the remote, the parameters that were last saved will be loaded on start-up. Page 35

40 NOTE: The DL05 PLC EEPROM memory has a maximum limit of 100,000 writes. That means that after 100,000 save cycles, the PLC memory may become unreliable. Under normal, or even heavy use, this limitation should not be an issue. While the PLC is saving data, the remote display will show a PLC COM Timeout error. This is normal. If you would like to limit the number of EEPROM writes to the PLC, just power down the controller without cycling the THC to off. This works great if you cut the same material most of the time. Page 36

41 4 - Plasma Marking System How it works Plasma marking has been around for years but only available on expensive hidefinition plasma machines. All of that changed when Hypertherm came out with their Powermax 45XP. The 45XP can operate at very low current setting (as low as 10A) and still use a contact arc start method. Our plasma marking system includes a new Powermax 45XP with a machine torch. The marker torch is mounted beside the cutting torch on it s own lifter. When the system switches to marking, which is set up in SheetCAM, control switches from the cutting torch lifter to the marker torch lifter. The marker torch must be set up in Mach3 with an offset. This offset either. 1. Tells the software the X and Y offset of the marker torch from the laser, or 2. Tells the software the X and Y offset of the marker torch from the cutting torch. If you set a marker torch offset relative to the laser, then you must also set a cutting torch offset relative to the laser. You will then use the laser to set your zero before running a job. If you set a marker torch offset relative to the cutting torch, then you would leave the cutting torch offsets at zero and use the actual cutting torch position to set zero before running a job Setting the Torch Offsets to set the marker tool offset, first figure out if you want to use the laser all the time to reference zero on the machine. If you do, follow these instructions 1. Find a clean location on a piece of material and jog the torch to that location. 2. Lower the cutting torch to about 1/8 off the material, press Zero All and press the Torch button briefly to pierce a small hole. 3. Make sure the position DRO s are zero d out. If they are not, press Zero All now. 4. Jog the machine so the laser dot falls into the hole you just pierced. Page 37

42 5. Go to the Offsets tab and press the button called Set Torch Offset. This will set the offset distance between the laser and cutting torch. 6. Repeat steps 1 5 but instead of firing the cutting torch, use the marking torch. Note that when doing this with the marking torch, the torch may not pierce all the way through. Just put the laser dot on the mark. 7. On the Offsets tab, press Set Marker Offset. This will set the offset distance between the laser and the marker torch. If you don t want to use the laser at all, follow these steps 1. Lower the marking torch by pressing Marker Up/Down, light the marking torch by pressing Marker On/Off and make a visible mark. 2. Press Zero All. 3. Raise the marking torch by pressing Marker Up/Down again. Jog the machine so the Cutting torch is centered on the mark you made with the marking torch. 4. Go to the Settings screen and press the Set Marker Offset button. This will set the marker torch offset relative to the cutting torch. Page 38

43 5 Calibration Calibrating the X and Y Axes Calibrating the axis will be necessary if one or both axes are not cutting the length that they are commanded. Follow these steps to calibrate the axis. 1. Jog the X axis so the gantry is exactly 10 from the end of the rail. You can use any measurement, but 10 is a nice round number. You ll be doing a little math in a minute. 2. Press Zero All to zero all axis DRO s. 3. Press the tab labeled Calibrate in the setting tab group. 4. Enter a distance to move in the dialog that appears. Page 39

44 5. Enter how far the machine actually moved in the next dialog that appears. When measuring, don t forget to subtract your beginning measurement. 6. The calibrated steps per unit will display next to the button. This number will also be copied to the Windows clipboard. 7. In the Mach4 menu, go to Configure -> Mach 8. Select the Motors tab. 9. Delete the existing number for Steps Per Unit. 10. With the cursor in the blank data field, right click and select Paste. This will paste the calibrated number into the Steps Per Unit field. 11. Restart Mach4 and repeat for the Y axis. It is not necessary to calibrate the Z axis, but you can if you want to. Page 40

45 5.2 - Calibrating Pierce Height In order for Pierce Height to work properly, the software needs to know the distance that Z travels after it touches and makes contact with the floating head switch. To do this, follow these steps. 1) Check that the floating head switch is connected and working properly by lifting up on the torch so it makes contact with the floating head switch mounted above the floating head. When this switch makes contact, the yellow LED labeled Contact should come on. If it doesn t, do not continue. Automatic referencing will not work. 2) Set Pierce Height to.25 and find a piece of ¼ material you can use as a feeler gauge. We use a piece of ¼ cold rolled. A ¼ drill bit works well also. 3) Jog the torch over some fairly heavy material that will not distort when the torch touches off to it. 4) Jog the Z down to about ½ off the material and press Zero All. 5) Press Reference Torch on the Settings tab. The torch should go down, touch off and come back up to.25. Use your ¼ feeler gauge to check the torch height. If it is too low increase Switch Offset (Just to the left of the Reference Torch button). For Instance, If the height is less than.25 and the current switch offset is -0.55, enter and repeat the above process. Note that there must always be a in front of the number. If it is still not right, re-adjust the Switch Offset and repeat. This a trial and error process, but the good news is that once it s done you shouldn t have to do it again. Page 41

46 5.3 - Squaring the Gantry SeriesOne Machines To square the machine, you first need to cut a square and determine if it is square or skewed. If it is skewed, the machine is out of square. To square the machine, you will loosen the belt tension on one side of the machine. With the tension loose on the belt, you can skip teeth on the timing belt to move this side of the gantry fore or aft depending on your test square. Measure the cut square corner to corner or put a framing square on it to determine which direction to move the gantry side. Again, for coarse adjustment more than 1/16" - 1/8", loosen the timing belt tension and skip a tooth. For fine adjustment, loosen one side of the drive chain and tighten the other. For instance, loosen the rear chain bolt 1/2 turn and tighten the front bold 1/2 turn. See the graphic examples below. The skew in these images is exaggerated for graphic purposes. You will not be able see the skew by eye Squaring the Gantry - XT Machines XT machines are driven independently on each side of the gantry. These machines have squaring stops on the rear of the table. To square the gantry do the following 1) Ensure that the racks are engaged. 2) If the machine is on and Mach3 is running, Jog the machine to the rear of the table close to the rear limit trigger pin. If the machine is not running and Mach3 is shut down, you can disengage the racks, move the gantry to the rear of the machine, then re-engage the racks. 3) Exit Mach3 and turn the machine controller OFF. Ensure racks are engaged. Page 42

47 4) Pull the gantry rearward until it rests against the squaring stops. 5) Turn the machine controller ON and start Mach3. 6) The machine will be resting on the rear limit. From the Run tab, enable Axis Limit Override so you can jog off the limit. Page 43

48 6 - G&M Codes G00 - Rapid move at the speed defined in motor tuning. Speed can be altered by setting a reduction percentage in Jog Speed. G01 - Feed rate move. G01 requires that a feed rate be set as well as destination coordinates. G03/G03 - Circular interpolation at a given feedrate. G02 Clockwise arc motion at feedrate. G03 Counterclockwise arc motion at feedrate. The clockwise direction is determined by viewing the arc from the positive side of a vector normal to the arc plane. Like the G01 command, G02 and G03 require a feedrate (F) as well as destination (or distance) coordinates (X, Y, and/or Z). The feedrate will default to the current feedrate if it has been commanded previously in the program. G04 - Makes the machine pause for a given number of seconds. For instance, to pause for ¾ of a second, the code would look like. G04 P0.75 G52 - Temporarily shifts program zero to a new location. G52 is used to shift program coordinates when tool offsets are used. M14 - Initiates the cutting sequence, including TOM sensing and torch ignition M15 - Initiates the cut end sequence. M Moves Z axis to Safe Z. M1101 Enables THC. M1102 Disables THC. M1103 Turns cut oxygen on. M1104 Turns cut oxygen off. M1105 Moves Z axis to End Z. Page 44