Hardware or Software Issue?

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FoothillFurniture
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Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

I have a file that I cut often. It's a simple frame for 3 tiles (just a picture frame for art tiles). It's 2 sided

The back gets routed first: pockets that are the insets for the tiles to sit in, and alignment pin holes.

The front is next. Alignment pins in the SB, then the 3 holes for the tiles. Last is the cutout for the outside of the frame.

Today I cut this and the pockets in the back didn't cut correctly, I didn't notice and flipped the workpiece over and routed the front, which was perfect.

So, the fact that the first side routed wrong, but the second side was perfect tells me that this wasn't lost steps? Is this correct? If I had lost steps, everything after would have been wrong, right?

So, I can't figure out what went wrong. The file is absolutely correct. I have cut it before with no issues and I cut it a second time today and it was fine. So, what could have happened. Could my computer have had a glitch or something like that? Everything with the machine seems fine.

It's and Avid Pro 4x8 with NEMA 34 motors and Mach 4.

File is attached and this picture is how the first side(back) was routed.
5_x_3and375_OnePiece_75.crv
(171 KiB) Downloaded 24 times
IMG_4756.JPG
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Burnside
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by Burnside »

Correct bit used? Had something similar today and realized the idiot (me) driving the CNC used a 1/4 down cut when a 3/8 was what I programmed. Things just looked wrong and took me a bit to figure it out.

FoothillFurniture
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

No, my tooling was correct. Just can't figure out how the cut didn't go according to the Gcode when I didn't have lost steps? No one here seems to have any ideas.
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adze_cnc
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by adze_cnc »

One needs to ask oneself: if the cut has been successful in the past and nothing has been changed with the software how could it be the software? So the answer to the limited question in the thread title is no it’s probably not the software. So, it could be hardware, or perhaps an excluded-middle case such as human error.

And as we don’t really know how the “first side routed wrong” and we can’t see everything you have done you should ask yourself: if I run the project again does this happen? Perhaps it was a one off thing because … What have I done differently this time?

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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by Leo »

I don't know what is wrong - other than, something is wrong. Not enough information is given.

I will sort of agree that "maybe" lost steps might not be the problem.

With such a lack of information I will venture to "guess", that maybe something moved while clamping the workpiece down, but that is just an uneducated guess.

Can you post some pics of the setup, or perhaps explain what is wrong?
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FoothillFurniture
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

Exactly! I have run this file previously with no issues and I ran it after this with no issues. Everything, file, machine, bits, exactly the same. So how does the Gcode not execute this one time? Also, most of the first side Gcode ran fine, it's like a section of the code got skipped somehow.
If this happened on the 2nd side, I would automatically assume lost steps, but that was not the case. Computer glitch?
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FoothillFurniture
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

In my original post , I attached the file (what was supposed to happen), and a picture of the final product (what actually happened). The workpiece was screwed to the SB, so not shifting.

Also, I'm not a newbie, I use this machine every day for a living, so I have made most of the normal mistakes and have seen just about everything that can go wrong, but this one is a mystery. Like I said in my last post, it looks to me like a piece of the Gcode was skipped somehow, I just don't know how that would happen?
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Tex_Lawrence
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by Tex_Lawrence »

FoothillFurniture wrote:
Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:41 pm
In my original post , I attached the file (what was supposed to happen), and a picture of the final product (what actually happened)....
Perhaps there's a clue in the gCode file itself? You might want to attach that here for others to peruse.
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by LittleGreyMan »

You wrote "the second side was perfect" but it doesn't match your crv file: it seems the outer profile is not the same or we don't see the right side.

Could you post a picture of each side of the project, showing the whole board?

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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

The picture I posted in the original post was the back(first side cut, the one that was wrong). I have attached a picture of the front side here (second side cut).


GCode also attached.
BackPins_Pockets.txt
(2.62 KiB) Downloaded 21 times
IMG_4755.JPG
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LittleGreyMan
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by LittleGreyMan »

Here's your G-Code in a G-Code viewer:
G-Code.png
Either you have an issue with your configuration (Mach 4 and/or machine) or you selected a wrong file.

FoothillFurniture
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by FoothillFurniture »

Yep, I ran one of those simulations too. I have cut this same gcode twice since this happened and everything has been fine.
I didn't choose the wrong file.


I suppose I'll never know exactly what happened.
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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by RickW3DS »

You "idiots" are fun to hang out with!
Maybe a power outage issue? Don't use Mach so I'm not commenting on that, restart everything and try again

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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by martin54 »

How do you know you haven't lost steps? If the alignment holes on the first side were cut first then you lost steps on the pockets then you might not know.
First operation on side 2 will probably be to go to X Y zero & then machine the holes in the spoilboard, it doesn't matter if your X Y position has changed from its original position everything on the second side should machine OK :lol: :lol:

How do you run your files? Do you upload the whole gcode to mach4 or run from a USB stick or somewhere else? If it skipped some code could that possibly be due to a communication error? I don't know for sure because I would expect the machine to hang if that happened. All the normal culprits like static or electrical interference normally result in lost steps rather than chunks of gcode being missed :lol: :lol:

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Re: Hardware or Software Issue?

Post by neilgill »

Good to know that it is all working fine now, If it ever happens again, go through all of the items mentioned by those who know and let us know what you find. Probably never find out what that "one time" glitch was and not worth the time to find out. But if it happens again then it will be a repeatable issue and then you can really do some research. If it does happen again then immediately run it again and make sure you get the same issue.

Neil

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