Dealing With Backlash

Okay, today I will talk about backlash, the final chapter in getting accurate cuts on the Phlatprinter \\\.


I have been observing the chat sessions on the Phlatforum and also the discussions which some are posting.


Seems there are a number of folks who cannot cut circles that are round.  They tend to come out oblong.  This includes my machine as well.  It is the reason I have been unable to cut my EO-Cub Balsa wing parts and have them align with one another.


In my last post I talked about backlash and how to measure it.  In this post, I will talk about how to get rid of it.


For those with the  Planet-CNC board, I am sorry, but you are out of luck here.  What is needed to correct the problem is a backlash adjustment in the software and it is disabled in the Planet-CNC code.


For those of you with parallel ports and Mach 3, there is a solution.  


I found a very helpful link while searching for answers to the backlash problem and this morning, I borrowed my wifes computer (the only one in the house that still has a parallel port) and hooked it up to my Phlatprinter \\\ to see if the information I had gleaned from the link would help me with my backlash.   


Turns out the guy was spot on the money!  So rather than me repeat what he is saying, check it out for yourself...  http://www.hossmachine.info/forum/yaf_postst6_Mach-3-Backlash-Compensation.aspx.


There are two places in Mach 3 that you have to setup.  It is very simple to do and it works!


I had measured my backlash as .024 and that is a lot of backlash.  It will show up with tab and slots not aligning as well as circles that are oblong


I have emailed Andrej asking him when backlash will be fixed in the Planet-CNC code but as yet, I have not received a reply.  I would rather not have to buy another computer for the shop and revert back to Mach 3, but it may be the only choice left.