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3 Posts
Hi,
I am new to this site, (just found it around an hour ago,) but the community seems really great from what I've seen so far, so I hope you guys can help a newbie like me.
My family has owned and operated a small, trophy company for around eight and a half years, now. Most of what we do involves putting trophies, plaques, etc. together and engraving names and dates onto them. Our engraver is a New Hermes Vanguard 3400. (A small cnc router. Kind of ancient and finicky, but it's a good, little engraver, when it wants to be.) I'm running Gravograph 98 on (I think) Windows 98. (I would check, but I'm at home right now, and I forgot to look when I was at the shop last night. -_-) As I said, I'm sort-of a newbie. I do know how to operate the machine, just not how to fix it.
I boot up the EP control module, "Ready to receive" comes up on the CM screen. I open the program on the PC, put in the dimensions of the plate I want to engrave on, clamp the plate into place in the engraver, and type what I want into the program. If I try to set X & Y from the Control module, it seems a bit sticky on Y, making grating noises like it's trying to move but mostly staying in one place. (It also won't let me set Z over the actual plate I'm engraving, like I've done and seen my Dad do many times. Though, that's probably just me forgetting a step. I'm notorious for that.) If I try to set X & Y from within the program, it throws everything off, and the machine engraves the air a few inches away from the plate. And, I've only gotten it to do that much twice.
The main problem comes when I try to set X & Y from the CM. First, the engraver head (not sure if that's the right name for it, but that's what I'm calling it) tries to move, makes a few painful-sounding scrubbing noises when moving in the Y axis, wiggles around within a half-inch of space in its home corner (x=0 y=8), then stops. CM acts normally, ("Ready to receive", "0.1% of capacity. 512 bytes", "Engraving",) up until the machine freezes up, at which point I get the message, "Limit switch pressed, X to reset". I press the X button on the CM. "Waiting for Data, Press (check mark symbol) for reset". I press the check mark button on the CM. "0.0% of capacity 398 bytes", "Ready to receive, press (odd button with two triangles pointing away from each other) to restart". I press that button, then the process repeats.
Usually, my Dad could fix the machine if it had any problems, because he's worked in machinery (especially with cnc's,) since before I was born. He started working on it and got it to run again, a few months ago, by shutting everything down and leaving it overnight. Came back the next morning, running fine. But, he recently got sick and passed away suddenly, and the engraver's decided to be hateful again. Meanwhile, business is piling up, and we could use the money.
Sorry, if I rambled, just trying to make sure I cover everything. Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.
God bless, and Happy Thanksgiving, all - Lizzie
I am new to this site, (just found it around an hour ago,) but the community seems really great from what I've seen so far, so I hope you guys can help a newbie like me.
My family has owned and operated a small, trophy company for around eight and a half years, now. Most of what we do involves putting trophies, plaques, etc. together and engraving names and dates onto them. Our engraver is a New Hermes Vanguard 3400. (A small cnc router. Kind of ancient and finicky, but it's a good, little engraver, when it wants to be.) I'm running Gravograph 98 on (I think) Windows 98. (I would check, but I'm at home right now, and I forgot to look when I was at the shop last night. -_-) As I said, I'm sort-of a newbie. I do know how to operate the machine, just not how to fix it.
I boot up the EP control module, "Ready to receive" comes up on the CM screen. I open the program on the PC, put in the dimensions of the plate I want to engrave on, clamp the plate into place in the engraver, and type what I want into the program. If I try to set X & Y from the Control module, it seems a bit sticky on Y, making grating noises like it's trying to move but mostly staying in one place. (It also won't let me set Z over the actual plate I'm engraving, like I've done and seen my Dad do many times. Though, that's probably just me forgetting a step. I'm notorious for that.) If I try to set X & Y from within the program, it throws everything off, and the machine engraves the air a few inches away from the plate. And, I've only gotten it to do that much twice.
The main problem comes when I try to set X & Y from the CM. First, the engraver head (not sure if that's the right name for it, but that's what I'm calling it) tries to move, makes a few painful-sounding scrubbing noises when moving in the Y axis, wiggles around within a half-inch of space in its home corner (x=0 y=8), then stops. CM acts normally, ("Ready to receive", "0.1% of capacity. 512 bytes", "Engraving",) up until the machine freezes up, at which point I get the message, "Limit switch pressed, X to reset". I press the X button on the CM. "Waiting for Data, Press (check mark symbol) for reset". I press the check mark button on the CM. "0.0% of capacity 398 bytes", "Ready to receive, press (odd button with two triangles pointing away from each other) to restart". I press that button, then the process repeats.
Usually, my Dad could fix the machine if it had any problems, because he's worked in machinery (especially with cnc's,) since before I was born. He started working on it and got it to run again, a few months ago, by shutting everything down and leaving it overnight. Came back the next morning, running fine. But, he recently got sick and passed away suddenly, and the engraver's decided to be hateful again. Meanwhile, business is piling up, and we could use the money.
Sorry, if I rambled, just trying to make sure I cover everything. Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.
God bless, and Happy Thanksgiving, all - Lizzie
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