New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

[johnyank]

Hi'
My name is John Mumley, Live in upstate NewYork on a fifty acre hobby farm with lots of wood. Last year I bought a bandsaw mill and started cutting wood ...then what to do with it.
this time last year I started my cnc build took me three months to compleat it. as i have cows and goats and chickens, i had to put it away for the summer and and go back to farming .
Winter has now set back in, in upstate new york, and I'm back at it and have a sh-t load of questions. you will be hearing from me often.
johnyank

[funskypilot]

Hi  I'm  Ron from south central Mich.   As a retired Sheriff detective and a 42 year career in aircraft mechanics I think I finally met my match trying to learn how to make my newly acquired Cnc  to just move an inch.     I bought a Bob Cad 5050 three axis 6x6 table.   The prev owner was making yard signs using Dos.    Well I loaded windows XP on his old machine and now the 37 pin cable that plugs into the bobcat controller  and ya ya board in the computer won't talk anymore!    I talked with Aneheim Automation that made the box in 1992 and they don't seem to have any of the pin outs that they can help me with on a 10 year old controller .  I didn't think that  wording diagrams were like tax paperwork and now they want me to buy a new unit so they can only help you with it for 10 years, what the heck.   I guess a software called Quick Step has a wording diagram to go from a 37 pin on the controller end and wire it into a 25 pin plug on the computer end.     I promise to become a frequent talker if someone could make my Cnc talk and play with me and many I would even let it make a yard sign for me.   I would buy more updated controllers and computers but I have 2 new controllers and extra servo motors that must have some use.     I have over a thousand dollars worth of version 24 Bob cad cam and Mach 3 software and I set here with my emergency stop switch in hand to no avail.     H.              E.        L.          P.                The old dog is feeling old !          Coop

[mancman4]

Hi, I'm Jason from Manchester in the UK.

I work as an electro-mechanical engineer in a semi-conductor plant making micro-chips.

I am new to CNC and like many on here will be scratching my head with more questions than answers.

I have a Proxxon MF70 CNC micro mill which i will be using to help make and engrave jewellry.

Most of my work will be miniature carvings and engravings using 0.3mm endmills and the like.

I must say from what i have read the site appears to be a great place for help and advice and its a credit to all those involved in setting this up.

[Bazaro]

My name is Matt,
 I am an electrical designer for a metal fabrication facility that manufactures anti terrorist barriers. I design electrical control and hydraulic systems for our product. But I frequently get pulled into the shop for machine repair. I recently have been updating our CNC plasma table powered by Burny Phantom software and DC servos. It is a large table at 17 X 40' with a Autocut 200 on it and an SC11 standoff controller. So while researching info on the burny I came across Mach 3 and started thinking I could build a CNC plasma table at home. So here I am and am already designing and purchasing material to build a 4X4.
Also I have a small index milling machine that I would also like ot automate. I have been doing a lot of research and reading and design.
I have some G code experience but I have alot of industrial automation experience as I have 15 years experience in process control and automation.
I have a small shop at home and have lathe, mill, welders, and all sort s of hand tools so a plasm table will fot right in. I make a lot of parts now at work on our table for home but I do not like interupting production for home projects.
Next when asked why I would build a CNC table for home I answer because I can.
Home town Reading Pennsylvania USA.
-Matt

[Jeffthom]

Newby here...

Just retired from NASA and trying to set up a hobby machine shop in my new garage (with attached 3BR rambler) .  I am a EE by degree and have built most everything from chips to OS's to major systems designs.  Also can confuse myself in about 12 seconds trying to admin my home/ shop network.

BobCAD suggested Mach3.  I just got BobCAD v24 Mill Pro and am looking for interface down to machine(s). However, I see where a couple of add-on vendors were apparently surprised by changes in the Mach3 code and/or config tables. Is Mach3 changing support or authorship staff? 

I have limited $ and time.  If I must create my own 'Postprocessor', I will.  However, I would sure way rather rely on a well tended project.  I have more than enuff places to make mistakes as it is - LOL.

Does Mach3 allow:
4-axis support? (x,y, z,a) with proper command threading?
Dual Z support?  i.e. - z1=quill, z2=knee
Spindle speed control?
Coolant pump control?
All at once??

Thanks - lovin' the excitement!

Jeff Thompson

[Overloaded]

Welcome aboard Jeff T.,
Just what we need ... A Rocket Scientist !  No, really ! Happy to have ya !
Not changing staff, maybe adding though.
To answer your "allow" questions :
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
Enjoy your stay,
Russ

[Jeffthom]

Hi Russ,

Homer sez it best ...  "WOO-HOO!!" 

Help me out if you can, please.  What is the interface between Mach3 and the basic machine.  I would like to provide simple step/ direction inputs for all axes.  That puts all the load on Mach3.  Is this reasonable?  I'm assuming I can get 3 or 3.5 D motion in real time. 

Who governs things like acceleration ramp/ de-ramp conformity?  Mach or the host machine controller?

Imagine machining a spiral ramp in Z.  Lotta mechanical machine constants to manage there.

Are there documents that will smarten me up, including the Mach3 developer API and/ or internal 'register' set?  NDA issues?  You know the drill!! 

Thanks in advance, order on the way.

Jeff Thompson

[Overloaded]

Hey Jeff,
  Download the docs from the Support tab at the top of this page.
Also, the DEMO version that is good up to 500 lines ... with a few restrictions.
Mach is step/dir, pulse stream can be improved and the work load of Mach by using an external controller like the Smooth Stepper (or others) that use USB.
If you have a CAM that can put out up to 6 axis's, Mach can likely handle it.
For best assistance and support, please direct you future queries to the appropriate discussion board.
Welcome again Jeff !
Russ

[Ayman]

Hi, My name is Ayman, I live in Jordan and I know nothing much about CNC, but I liked the idea of building one and control it from a PC, I graduated as Electrical Engineer but working since then as Microsoft consultant, I want to build the stepper motor driver, communicate through serial port, I want to use PICAXE on the driver but want to build something that is compatible with Mach 3, so I joined here to see if someone can help me do that.

[Chirp]

Hi name is Chirp. I do injection molding. I need a working CNC mill badly. I have an old  3 axis Tree milling machine in very good condition that needs a new controller. I have Mach3. What board do I need to put into a PC to run my servo drivers? Will that board need to be matched to the servo drivers?  Help from anybody please. nshannahan@gmail.com I am in Easton, Maryland.