Hi everyone,
Today, as I was cutting acrylic for the first time, the spindle started acting up.
First, after I pushed spacebar to temporarily stop the job and then resumed the job, the spindle did not turn back on and broke the tip off my 30 degree engraving bit. I was having some issues with the acrylic melting/gumming up, which is why I stopped. But it wasn't anything major.
Then, for the next job, I ran a simple .05" pocket with a 1/4 O flute to mark my pilot hole locations. When the job started the spindle wouldn't turn on. I stopped the job before the bit plunged, repeated and got the same results many times. The sbp file definitely has the C6 command where it should be. And then for comparison, I switched to a different file and the spindle started.
I redid and resaved my toolpaths, and the next time the pilot hole toolpath worked fine. Then I ran the job toolpath, and I first noticed that every so often the machine would seem to stutter while cutting. And then the machine simply stopped moving, and then the spindle turned off. It was hard to get out of the SB3 software too, as the software believed it was still cutting and pressing the spacebar did nothing.
I continued restarting the jobs where I left off, and it continued to work for a while, then full stop again.
Finally I switched to wood. Running a pocket in plywood, all was well until I noticed a few stutters again, and then this time the spindle shut off but the XY movement continued until I did an emergency stop. Fortunately my bit didn't break.
Also worth noting...if I manually enter the C6 command, the spindle starts up for literally a second and then stops. I also tried pulling up the keyboard and pressing 1 to start the spindle. That worked at first. Then it wouldn't. After a full reboot (which I've done many times today), it worked for 15 minutes and then the spindle shut off. The housing was a little warm, but certainly nothing was hot. The fan works.
Ahhhh!!!
I am running a 48x96 PRS Standard with the HSD 2.2 spindle.
Any ideas what is going on? Shopbot is closed today due to snowmaggedon in Durham.
Thanks!