Different colors = Different speeds?

[Charlene]

When I load a file in Mach 3, there are different colors tool paths on my table display... They are mostly blue with some pink/purple sections here & there. They are not separate lines, they are right in the middle of blue path and what seems to happen is that it cuts faster on the pink sections. I don't know how to do a screen shot in Mach so if someone can tell me, I will post a pic of what I am talking about.

I am cutting 16ga at 250ipm but it is not as simple as easy section vs hard section. And I would say that the pink section is when it is actually cutting at 250ipm...

Any help would be appreciated.

[JJsCustomDesigns]

Hit the "PRT SC" button. Open Paint and hit CTRL V to copy the image into paint. Crop it to what you want shown, open aa new paint file, "ctrl v" again and save the JPEG file. Then you can upload it here.

[Charlene]

Okay, lets see if this works.

[I Lean]

The blue looks like the parts you're cutting, the pink should be the rapids between the parts. Something's not quite right if it's cutting the whole time.....

[Charlene]

Sorry, the travel lines are pink too. But if you look at the blue lines and follow them, you will see segments that are solid pink. The file still cuts fine, just not at speed (except for the pink sections).

[I Lean]

Oh, oops....missed the pink lines you were actually asking about.

I haven't seen anything like that before on mine....so I guess I'm no help after all.

[Charlene]

Thanks anyways.

[trucutcnc]

The dashed red lines are rapids, the solid red lines are G2 or G3 feedrate arc moves and the solid blue lines are G1 linear feedrate moves. You can change the config in Mach3 so G1, G2 and G3 moves show as the same color.

[Charlene]

Is there a setting that would make the G1, G2 & G3 feedrates be different??

[trucutcnc]

Yes...If you go to Config -> Toolpath you can change Feedrate G1 Color and G2/G3 Color. Making them both 0,0,1 will make your toolpath all blue.

The feedrate is not different. The color is just telling you that it is a G1 linear move or a G2/G3 arc move.

[Charlene]

Okay, thanks! Now, would there be a reason why it would travel faster in some spots vs others when it is a similar cut path?...

[trucutcnc]

Depending on your acceleration/deceleration profile, the actual feedrate will vary from the commanded feedrate. It has to slow down coming into corners then speed up on straighter sections. It may look similar but Mach not see it that way. In CV mode Mach tries to maintain your commanded feedrate. The higher your acceleration the closer it will be.

A machine with slow acceleration will slow way down coming into a corner or curve, then slowly ramp back up. If you have a design with a lot of curves, you may never get even close to your commanded feedrate. A machine with high acceleration will decelerate into corners and accelerate out much faster, which will get your actual feedrate much closer to your commanded feedrate.

The downside to fast acceleration is that if your motors are undersized for the gantry weight and reduction, high acceleration can cause stepper motors to stall and servos to fault with position errors.

[Charlene]

Thank you... I have so much to learn... Thank you for your help.