I want to try a ramp lead-in on some thick metal to help protect the nozzle etc. My understanding was that it allowed the torch to start moving as soon as the torch fires, hopefully punching through before it gets to the cut portion?
I tried a quick bit of code and got this…
N0270 M03
N0280 G04 P0.2
N0290 G01 X37.112 Y58.719 Z0.750 F1000.0
N0300 S20 (DTHC is ON)
N0310 G01 X30.757 Y69.772 F1200.0
To me this appears to use the pierce delay after the torch fires but before the ramp starts?
Do I simply need to set pierce delay to zero?
Is there a way to figure out how long the ramp needs to be or is it just trial and error or err on the cautious side and us a long ramp as possible?
Im not 100% sure, but i think you would just remove the delay, because you dont want any as you want it to move and ramp as soon as it fires, otherwise the ramp is not doing its job, and i am assuming that it automatically changes the degree of the ramp from your leadin point to your actual cut line. If you made the leadin so it would take atleast as long as your normal delay at feedrate to reach the part, you should be good to go.
With your S code to activate your THC, how does that work, and is there a delay? Thats something i would like to work into my system but haven’t yet. I have a THC301D and a smoothstepper. I think i could talk directly to the THC through the smoothstepper, unless there is now a way to do this without mach delaying to activate the THC.
Brian
Ok I’ll try no delay.
The s code comes from the post and talks to the THC via the s codes along with cut voltage etc, it’s a candcnc mp3000 system, there is a delay mine is set at 1.5s which is generally enough to get into the cut proper.
If using ramped leadins you do need to reduce or remove the delay. The other option is to try a wiggle pierce. Wiggle pierce uses the pierce delay to work out how many times to wiggle.
Brian,
The CandCNC controller has a Mach plugin that interprets the S command and directly switches THC, controls torch current etc. It has very little delay when switching THC on and off.
I see, i figured so. I think the smoothstepper has similar abilities that i have not learned about totally yet, maybe meant for laser trigger, but i am hoping maybe i can make that work with my THC301D in a similar fashion.
Brian
Thanks Les, with a wiggle pierce, I guess a longer dwell is needed but how much distance do you need to allow for a good wiggle?
Does it use all of the lead in length?
From what I can tell the longer the wiggle the better. Probably just a bit shorter than the leadin would be about right.
10mm lead in 8mm wiggle, 2.2s pierce delay allowed me to easily pierce and cut 10mm plate at 30A/300mm/min on my little hypertherm 30xp. It’s only rated at 6mm pierce so I think it’s quite an achievement.
Job worked nicely, should have used a loop on the corners as there was a fair bit of angularity caused by the lag angle but a file cleared that up.
Is there a reason I could not get a lead in on a straight cut line?
I use a straight cut test to gauge cutting speeds and voltages but could not get a wiggle or any type of lead in on it? It didn’t even have the pierce delay in the code.
To get leadin on open paths like a simple line you need to edit your operation and tick the ‘Leadins on open lines’ box.
I need to check what happens if you have a wiggle pierce with no leadin. I have a horrible suspicion it just ignores the pierce.