jog handwheel for plasma or big router was Re: Black Box Goals

Dale,

No wonder it isn't making sense. Let's try to clear it up...

The jog wheel we are talking about is NOT fixed to any motor. It is
usually EITHER on the front panel of the control, or included in a
handheld "pendant"(small box, often tee-shaped) on a long cord so you
can carry it around with you as you move about the machine. It works
using the "fly-by-wire" concept. When you are in "manual" mode
(sometimes called "jog" mode), turning the wheel will send pulses to
your drivers, and so doing will move the axis motors, moving the
machine. Most jogwheels have 100 "clicks" per revolution. Each click
can be set to several different values (on the control or pendant
panel using switches). This means each click can move a very small
distance (for fine positioning) or a larger distance (to get across
the table quickly).

One jogwheel is usually SHARED by all the axes of a machine, by using
a multi-position axis selection switch.

Hope this helps.

Ballendo

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "aspaguy" <spaguy@l...> wrote:
> If I understand the handwheel concept properly, the handwheel is
> mounted near the drive moter, such as on the other end of a double
> shaft moter. If this is the case, there would be times that there
> would be a 5x10 table between me and that handwheel, Particularly
> for the z axis. This doesn't sound excellent to me. But I admitt to
> having only a vague Idea of why I need jog controls and weather
they
> would be used in the middle of a project or just to set it up.
> Thanks,
>
Dale
>

>