3020 China mill ?s and issues.

[Naiveambition]

I'm sure my posts seem angry by nature, although not pointed at anyone, I am just getting tired of all the doors I try are slammed in my face concerning cnc. Trying to find a definitive option is still elusive concerning setups. Some use candle, some arduino, some ugs, so my problem is any one program acts fine in one way while the others don't. And changes amongst them all.
Example. Just went and changed all the values to what you suggested thru GRBL, and now I have and alarm code. Z is still the same. But-- if I use ugs it also changed my feed to slow , whereas before it was fine.

As for the steps I'm assuming 200 (website at1.8* per step) as for the rev I get 3.62 mm per rev so, at 200 steps per rev =.018 per step As for the 8 this is a guess on others setup.
Could this be an issue of all three are telling it something different as I went thru and tried to make adjustments. i don't know I'm just asking anything I can at this stage.
And grbl switches to inches upon startup says parser is set to mm then-- $13=1 then g20

 

[Leonardo]

Sir, I can understand your frustration very well and please, do not worry for your post. I do not feel offended at all.
Unfortunately I live in Argentina what would be around 15,000 km or so way far of your neighborhood. I would have loved to be closer to give you a visit and help you to solve the problems with your little machine.
Anyway, I want to encourage you to keep at there. I can assure you that this is not so hard to set all these parameters correctly and have your machine running well.
The most important thing we need to know are the specs of your leed screws. With this data we can make the calculations properly and set the grbl parameters correctly.
Could you give me some data about the machine? Brand, model, etc.? Perhaps I can find the screw's specs in internet.

 

[Naiveambition]

Great thanx 1610 cnc router Amazon,eBay etc... Woodpecker board . JLB steppers nema 17 Lead screw measures 8 mm with 2mm pitch Grbl.9j
Ok have had some success. Was able to complete program using grbl. All axes were moving. I unlocked grbl, done a soft reset, and used stock numbers for code. I noticed I have to use the z jog before the x,y, are usable. Just going to x,y, jog gives an undefined feed rate.
And what is the slide button on the jog screen used for . Is this the step increaser for x,y and z is below the z command. Since I noticed my step value increased on all axes just using the z step size box

 

[Leonardo]

Well, all your axis has the same pitch so you should set the parameters as follow:
$100 = 800.000 (X-axis travel resolution, step/mm)
$101 = 800.000 (Y-axis travel resolution, step/mm)
$102 = 800.000 (Z-axis travel resolution, step/mm)

Regarding the speed rate and acceleration I would start with the following settings:
$110 = 1200.000 (X-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$111 = 1200.000 (Y-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$112 = 750.000 (Z-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$120 = 80.000 (X-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
$121 = 80.000 (Y-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
$122 = 60.000 (Z-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
You will need to experiment a bit with these setting until you find the optimum values for your machine.

$13 parameter must be set to 0 ($13=0) because all the other setting are in millimetres.

As for the UGS problems, I would stop fighting with it and would try another parser. Please, give a try to GrblPanel. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
https://github.com/gerritv/Grbl-Panel/releases

 

[awake]

Does GRBL recognize the feed modifier, e.g. the following:

G0 X20 F3000

 

[Leonardo]

Hi Andy,
G0 is a command for rapid movement. It will position all axes on the shortest path at the faster speed.
The faster speed is set with the $110, $111 and $112 parameters.
Using the G1 command you will be able to modify the speed rate including the F command in the instruction line (G1 X20 F3000).
The value of F that exceed the one specified in the $110, $111 and $112 parameters will be ignored.
Also, take in account that G1 is a linear interpolation on all axes so the lowest axis speed will penalize the others.
I mean, if you send a G1 X20.00 Y27.00 Z83.00 F1200 but you have set the $110=1200, $111=1200 and $112=750, any of the axes will move faster than 750 mm/min. That is because you are moving the Z axis with a max speed rate of 750 so it will ignore the F1200 command and all the other axes will be "waiting" for the Z along the process.
Hope my poor English will let you understand what I am trying to explain.

 

[awake]

Thanks, Leonardo, and your English is fine! I have a project for GRBL in progress, but haven't yet gotten to the point of really trying things out. I have used Marlin extensively for 3d printing, and there G0 and G1 are treated as identical. Good to know that they are different in GRBL.

 

[Leonardo]

You are welcome Andy.
GCode is universal so there is not very special treatment in grbl. It use Linux CNC as a reference.

You can find more info here:
https://github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki/Grbl-v1.1-Commands
and here:
http://linuxcnc.org/docs/html/gcode.html

 

[Naiveambition]

Finally made it back to the machine. And while I would LOVE to report good news, again failure.
So hooked up limit switches , set all needed setting, and now it will try to home only the z axis by slamming all the way to the work for 20 sec. Even reset the mm inches and still a parser error . Always in alarm mode upon hookup till unlocked. Was not this way starting out.
Using grbl first, my y axis was reversed, so changed that direction and good to go. But using ugs the y axis is now reversed.
I understand I'm flipping back and forth from ugs to grbl , and while it may not be a relevant argument , I'm looking for anything that actually WORKS!!!! It amazes me that all my feed/jogs are great in ugs, but terrible in grbl. I don't have undefined feed rate in ugs, but do in grbl
What is going on here??, I'm am actually to my breaking point with this, so much so that I'm ready to just give up the whole cnc adventure, simply because I'm finding you have to be on a programmer level just to make the machine move at all. I've read a hundred websites , done everything anyone suggested, With a error in one way or another every single time. AMAZING!! This is not fun in any way.
Is all this related to a cheap machine, or is this the way all cnc is,

 

[Leonardo]

I am sorry to know that nothing work and I agree that this is not fun at all.
When you say grbl, are you talking about GrblPanel, the parser?
I can tell you that, when all is working well with a machine, you can use different software (parser) with almost the same results. I tried five or six of them with my machine and all of them work. Just prefer GrblPanel because it is more clear for me and like the macros possibilities.
As for the alarm mode, grbl (the firmware GCode interpreter) always starts in alarm mode. You must to unlock and home the machine every time you turn on it.
Are you sure that your hardware is OK? What about the motor drivers?

 

[Naiveambition]

Leonardo, thanks for putting up with my ?s. That's what I love about the hmem community and wish the world was more accepting to freely shared knowledge. Hats off to you my friend
Yes I am referring the the grbl panel. and yes all my axes move in the correct directions, but the lag time is unbearable. So that's what I mean by not working. I've changed the time to respond at 1 sec. And in between jogs it will stop and wait on the next command. No successive commands. Move stop move stop.... getting to a home /zero test position is crushingly long.
Now with ugs, all my problems disappear. I have alarms when I trip the limits, need to unlock, very fast, consistent jogs. ( no time in between multi jogs) with ugs my issues are run related vs pre gcode.
I kinda expected the grbl panel to operate the same speeds/ function as Ugs.

Now the grbl panel in a Gcode run, yes , it will move at a nice expected speed. So I guess my issues are pre g code. It has always changed to inch $13 from mm automatically at startup, quoting grbl parser set to mm.
The alarm came after I was messing with commands it seems. But maybe this means I may be doing something in the right direction . Could this be a driver issue? I keep getting a driver update about a cpu bridge when I start the computer. This program came with the machine but they want 20$ to get updated.
I may conjure enough anger resistance tonite to see if can get it to home. Maybe once I accomplish this I can run a gcode file to see if it makes it thru.

 

[Leonardo]

You are welcome! I am glad you are seeing some improvement.
As for the GrblPanel problems, in the picture you can see two screenshots. What you set in the setting screen will be reflected in the interface. Please check those values. Then, one click will move the axis the selected Distance at the selected Feed Rate.
Regarding the change from milimeters to imperial units, take a look at your GCode file. If you have a G20 instruction at the start it will set inch mode.

 

[peter2uat]

@Leonardo - a BIG thank you for showing WHERE to set those settings - the second panel did it.
So I am - maybe - a step nearer to get our machine running.

 

[Naiveambition]

some success tonite and as usual only one step. I can get the machine to home and it will finish its cycle and wait, like it should. Buttt!!!!! Wanna guess?
Homes perfect in ugs. Doesn't do anything in grbl.
I spent a good while with a new file trying to perfect my orientation to match the machine. And while my work cor. And machine cor. were both zero. Both programs came up with errors.
Grbl made it to spindle turn on and a quick buzz of the work and shut down saying waiting for OK failed., then will disconnect from board.
Ugs did make it a bit further but continued Java runtime errors. That's never really changed though.
So when you stated earlier many control programs will work, I don't understand why I'm having such huge differences between the two. I've also noticed that my grbl panel is not like yours at all. Yours has plenty of more control options

Here's a screenshot for version 3.6.1. Every change I've made has been done thru the $= method.

 

[Leonardo]

The program you are using IS NOT GrblPanel.
Please, download the correct one following this link:
https://github.com/gerritv/Grbl-Panel/releases
Also, please, tell me where are your machine zero. I will make a simple program that I know is working to test your machine. I think that you are having problems with the post-processor too so, in this way we will be sure that you have a GCode program that works with grbl (the interpreter).

 

[Naiveambition]

As far as I know machine zero is front left for homing. My work zero changes dramatically though. I'm having trouble finding a correct one thru fusion. And ugs seems to always be opposite of what he screen shows.

After the other night disappointments I went to try some files knowing that I'm at least homing correctly and found that java has two different platforms (32&64) after chasing runtime errors. So ran a file with the correct orientation and a correct machine and work zero. There was a null point error , but I was able to override these, rest of the program ran flawlessly and even finished with returning to home.
I was so excited I could do nothing but walk around the house throwing my hands up in "Victory" for 10 minutes. Couldn't scream it out since it was 130 in morning.
So mission complete so far. We know that everything works as it should. So now onto the grbl panel. Leonardo was correct in I had the wrong grbl panel. So, as downloaded, the jog buttons and everything were their correct speeds and feed. Why there is an issue between the two???
I did try a file again with the new grbl panel and it immediately went to a crazy zero start point. My guess is I need to fully understand the work and machine coordinate system. I read somewhere you need to set work zero, then home , disconnect, reconnect, then return to zero. I could not find the return to zero on this grbl panel, but I haven't done any research since everyone's examples were a different panel than mine.

 

[Leonardo]

Well, that's great. I am happy to know that you are on the road!

I remember to have saw the screen you showed but cannot recall the name of the software. Anyway it is not GrblPanel.

Mr. Gerrit Visser, the author of the software, wrote a well documented manual so I would suggest you to read it to know how to configure the program for your machine. You can fin it here:
https://github.com/gerritv/Grbl-Panel/wiki/Using-Grbl-Panel
Regarding the machine zero location, I am pasting here a diagram from LinuxCNC and a link to the site with all the details:
http://linuxcnc.org/docs/html/user/user-concepts.html#_machine_configurations
Hope this helps a bit more!

 

[peter2uat]

I have just one problem - even after reading the documentation by gerrritv I cannot find where to input those $x data into GrblPanel.
My CNC 3018 pro max is working just fine with the newer 1.8"TFT-controller , and I can jog all axes and start/stop the spindle and a running file. The machine came with Grbl v1.1 already installed. I have connected the computer with USB to the TFT-controller, the COM-port is active and I can communicate with the TFT-controller, send/delete files, and can run the provided .nc-files.
If I connect to the Arduino directly (on another COM-port) I understand that all control has to come from the PC. I am not yet into fusion360 or any other desing program, this will be the next hurdle. I would - for a beginning- be quite happy to Gcode just a square, set home, set start position, lower the spindle to the touch-pad, lower the spindle to the material and start milling ramp by ramp down to some depth. How can I do this with GrblPanel?

 

[RM-MN]

I have just one problem - even after reading the documentation by gerrritv I cannot find where to input those $x data into GrblPanel.
My CNC 3018 pro max is working just fine with the newer 1.8"TFT-controller , and I can jog all axes and start/stop the spindle and a running file. The machine came with Grbl v1.1 already installed. I have connected the computer with USB to the TFT-controller, the COM-port is active and I can communicate with the TFT-controller, send/delete files, and can run the provided .nc-files.
If I connect to the Arduino directly (on another COM-port) I understand that all control has to come from the PC. I am not yet into fusion360 or any other desing program, this will be the next hurdle. I would - for a beginning- be quite happy to Gcode just a square, set home, set start position, lower the spindle to the touch-pad, lower the spindle to the material and start milling ramp by ramp down to some depth. How can I do this with GrblPanel?

According to the documentation there should be a settings tab at the top of the screen that lets you change the values. Have you read through the GRBLPanel wiki?
https://github.com/gerritv/Grbl-Panel/wikiGRBL-Panel settings tab wiki.
https://github.com/gerritv/Grbl-Panel/wiki/Settings

 

[peter2uat]

It was not the GrblPanel which was making the problem, but the TFT-controller. After unplugging the Grbl-settings came up and can be changed. When starting the panel anew it had the old settings again. Forgot the double-click... too.
But at least I can now control the machine from the computer.

@awake - you were right with the problem between the two controllers. I had read about this earlier but did not realize this.
This handheld controller is available here NEW Controller 1.8"TFT
and as I have seen there is a 3.5" touchpad controller TFT35
So now these problems have been cleared lets get on to new ones - designing. I have only had lots of contact with 123design by autodesk for quick and dirty designing of garden railways, so this will be a new path finding a software for more substantial parts in wood and aluminum.