Messages

1

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Mach3 Addons Manual

« on: September 11, 2007, 05:12:21 PM »

Hi,

The Addons Manual I have is dated 8/26/05. Is there a newer one available? Where?

Thanks!

-Patrick-

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: May 22, 2007, 01:50:02 PM »

Hello, all!

My name is Patrick Mullarky...Pat, usually...

I've been on this forum and CNCZone for a while, but I thought I'd introduce myself so you all will know that I'm not just a lot o' Malarkey 

My day job is electronic product design, specializing in microporcessor and FPGA embedded designs. Been doing electronics since before there *were* microprocessors and FPGAs...and a good deal before that! ...would you belive vacuum tube designs?...

I've been into metalworking since I was a youngster. I got started in a Jr. High Metal Shop, where the teacher was excellent. I eventually got to operate every machine in the shop...and since been doing metalwork off and on for over fifty years.

Since my day job is electronics, I naturally gravitated to CNC.

My usual shopwork involves restoring old machine tools...or elderly microscopes...sort of the big and the little of it all.

Lessee...my shop at the moment:

Bridgeport 2J with Acu-Rite MillPWR CNC
South Bend 10L Toolroom Model lathe
Bridgeport (!) 12x6 Surface Grinder
Really cheap Enco 4x6 Bandsaw...been cutting metal with it for a decade without trouble...
New 8x14 Lathemaster Lathe in the process of being CNC'd
Totally(!) redesigned and rebuilt MAXNC 10 mini CNC mill
Small home-brew 12"x12" table top CNC Router
A good complement of grinders, a small press, a buffer, etc., etc.
A gazillion (technical term) hand tools and measuring tools

I'm using Mach3 on the little MAXNC and the Router, and I will also be using it on the Lathemaster 8x14 lathe.

Finally, I think Art and Brian have done an absolutely amazing job of producing Mach3. I don't know how they do it. Program design, coding, debugging, writing excellent manuals, producing really excellent how-to videos, responding ever-politely to a continuous blizzard of forum activity and emails...it is an awsome performance!

Patrick Mullarky
Kirkland, WA

3

Competitions / Re: ******Guess and win a G100 Grex******

« on: May 22, 2007, 10:19:03 AM »

Lessee...has to be greater than 2,643,561, and it is certainly less than 2,643,563,    so...

I'd say it's  2,643,562

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: shuttlepro plugin

« on: March 29, 2007, 11:44:15 PM »

Hi, Brian,

I also would like to add my vote to the request that the inner knob be selectively made incremental. It just makes sense: you jog coarse with the outer ring, and then you sneak up on the touch-off with the inner ring. That would be a great addition to the Plugin!

Thanks!

-Pat-

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: temperature alarms for motors?

« on: February 14, 2007, 10:21:22 PM »

Oh, yes...I forgot to mention...

Thermal Protectors, such as referenced below, are a kind of fuse. Once tripped, they have to be replaced.

Snap-disc thermoswitches, on the other hand, reset themselves when cooled down.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: temperature alarms for motors?

« on: February 14, 2007, 10:11:59 PM »

DigiKey has Cantherm R20 snap-disc thermostats in a wide variety of temps.

For instance, an 80C Normally-closed switch is DigiKey part no. 317-1086-ND,  $6.60 ea.

Not truly cheap, but not expensive either...when you consider the cost of a cooked motor!

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: temperature alarms for motors?

« on: February 09, 2007, 01:42:26 PM »

Well, here's a thought:

Buy as many Thermodisc (www.tod.com->Products->Bimetallic temp switches) "click-style" resettable temp sensors as you have motors.

Strap the sensors to the motors with tywraps. Wire them in series, and use a Mach 3 input pin...or wire them in series with the E-Stop pin.

If any motor gets too hot, it will open (or close...your choice at purchase) and trigger the condition.

When the motor(s) cool down, the Thermodisc will reset (re-click?).

Thermodiscs can be ordered for just about any useable temperature range, say open at 90C and close at 40C...etc.

BTW, I don't work for or have any interest in Thermodisc, Inc. My day job is EE, and I'm simply famiiliar with the product.

-Pat-

8

Feature Requests / Re: Multi Monitors and Mach3

« on: January 29, 2007, 01:32:34 PM »

For me, at least, there's quite a difference between having a tab window streched across two screens and having two different tab windows open at the same time.

I would really like the latter, and have no real use for the former.

FWIW!   

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Testing parallel port output with a multimeter

« on: January 29, 2007, 01:17:04 PM »

I used the "use any interrupt assigned" selection successfully.

I'm not positive it matters for MACH as it's not mentioned in the docs. But, multi-threaded systems (like WinXP) need interrupts to function efficiently.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Testing parallel port output with a multimeter

« on: January 29, 2007, 12:58:53 PM »

You should see changes on the direction pins. I just checked my breakout board, and the direction pins change state when direction is reversed...and they stay at that level until another direction change.

You won't see the step signals with a multimeter, though. They are much too narrow. You'd need an oscilloscope for that.

FWIW, I'd guess your Parallel Port I/O address is not set correctly if everything else is working.  It might be wise to review the installation section of the manual and the installation video and play around with your Parallel Port description in the config tab.

Hang in there...it took me quite a while to get my Mach I/O running correctly...and I'm a long-time Computer Design EE in my day job! There are a large number of factors involved...and sometimes a bit of guesswork. I found the manual and email from Art Fenerty extremely helpful.

Getting two very simple pieces of equipment to talk to each other can often be very trying.  There's an old EE saying about Serial COM port hookups, "It always seems to take three hours to hook up three wires!"


Good Luck!