Recent Posts

1

Brains Development / Re: Basic pendant brains

« Last post by servomac on April 24, 2026, 10:40:20 AM »

hi
have you ever considered going down the modbus/arduino route. I have recently developed a control station setup using this and it seems to work fine. currently testing it on machine now. If your interested i could send you some details.
regards
servomac

2

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: Rapidchange ATC

« Last post by edcross on April 23, 2026, 07:12:03 AM »

Any progress ??

3

Mach Screens / Re: simple numeric keyboard for input in DRO

« Last post by TPS on April 22, 2026, 06:58:57 AM »

hello TC,
you can have a look to the screenset i attached.
you can use MachScreen (https://kd-dietz.com/index_eng.html)
from Klaus to modify your screenset.

the basic idea i used in my screenset is to draw all key's you need in the
background picture, the place a transparent button over each key.
the button itselv contains a small basic script. i use a userlabel to add or delete
the individual key to a string.

for example the code for button G:

Code: [Select]

Sub Main()
SetUserLabel(255,GetUserLabel(255) + "G")
End Sub
does nothing else than adding a "G" at the end of the string and this is done in
each button for the specific letter.

the ENTER Key will have this code:

Code: [Select]

Sub Main()
  Code GetUserLabel(255)
  SetUserLabel(255,"")
End Sub
does nothing else than excecute the Code witch is in Userlabel(255) and clears Userlabel

the backspace button only cut's the last character of the string:

Code: [Select]

Sub Main()
SetUserLabel(255, Left(GetUserLabel(255),Len(GetUserLabel(255))-1))
End Sub
and so on.

there is no code check at all because Mach3 will verjfy it.

hope i could point you in the direction of my idea of this permanent "keyboard".

 

4

Mach Screens / Re: simple numeric keyboard for input in DRO

« Last post by Thom on April 22, 2026, 04:54:33 AM »

I will give this a try, thank you.
Maybe you could give me an idea of how to place a numeric keyboard on the screen permanently for MDI.
I have a screen with number buttons, that's it so far.
Would you know of anyone who does this for monetary compensation?
After two years of trying myself, it's time to try another way.
Thank you again for your unselfish help and time.
TC
 

5

Mach Screens / Re: simple numeric keyboard for input in DRO

« Last post by TPS on April 22, 2026, 01:15:23 AM »

Sorry Thom,

you are right, version of reply #3 is for a MDI input.
i have made so many version's of it so i lost the "track" here.

but is is like a popup window.

in the attached screenset i made a MDI input via touch screen (page 50) years ago. 

6

Mach Screens / Re: simple numeric keyboard for input in DRO

« Last post by Thom on April 21, 2026, 02:22:39 PM »

Sorry but I thought this was modified for an MDI input keyboard on Reply #3. Not being able to write scripts/code makes some functions difficult. Thank you for the reply.

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 scale issues

« Last post by Bill_O on April 21, 2026, 07:26:42 AM »

You need to incorporate the screw pitch.
I also suggest lowering the microsteps.
That is very high

8

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: page up, page down for z axis not working

« Last post by Bill_O on April 21, 2026, 07:24:01 AM »

If it is a number keypad make sure NumLock is off.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle won't start - pwm bumped to minimum setting - Advice please

« Last post by scottrich on April 21, 2026, 02:16:16 AM »

Since it works when you toggle “Step Low Active”, check:

Ports & Pins → Spindle Setup: make sure PWM is enabled and min PWM isn’t set too high
Try lowering Minimum PWM (e.g. 0 or very low)
Verify Output # for spindle is mapped correctly (Ports & Pins → Output Signals)
Check pulley settings (Config → Spindle Pulleys), max speed not set too low
Also confirm your S command in MDI (e.g. M3 S1000) actually outputs a valid speed

The “pwm bumped into minimum” error often happens when Mach3 can’t output a valid PWM within your defined limits.

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 scale issues

« Last post by robertsears on April 20, 2026, 10:56:27 PM »

Hello,
I have a Harbor Freight mini mill that I converted into a 3-axis CNC machine using a Heavy Metal ball screw conversion kit and Automated Technologies electronics. For my workflow, I design parts in Fusion 360 and run them in Mach4. I also installed the Mach4 Mill post from Autodesk’s website into my local library.

To test the setup, I created a small bottle opener. However, every time I run the G-code, the finished part comes out at about half the intended size. The scaling is consistently off—the part is always noticeably smaller than the original design.

In my machine setup, the units are set to inches, while the unit mode is set to metric. I’m wondering if this mismatch could be the issue, or if my motor settings might be incorrect.

Motor settings:

Counts per unit: 40960.0
Velocity: 35 units/minute
Acceleration: 0.49 units/sec²

Motor specs:

200 steps per revolution (1.8° per step)
128 microsteps

My calculation:
(200 × 128) ÷ 0.625 = 40960 counts per unit

I’d appreciate any insight or suggestions on what might be causing this scaling issue.