Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Automatic Tool Change bug when using Mach 3.43.35

« on: May 01, 2011, 02:32:42 PM »

Posted this on the Mach Yahoo site.
I was using Mach 3.43.22 with David Bagby's MSM enhancement for Mach 3 and
having no trouble doing ATC tool changes. I upgraded to Mach 3.43.35 because of
the Estop script bug in Mach 3.43.22. Now I can't do any ATC tool changes. All I
get is a message in the status bar saying Tool Change Complete. I made sure that
ATC tool change was enabled on the Config screen. Still no ATC tool change. I
went back to Mach 3.43.22. ATC tool changes work again. Sorry for posting bug
here but didn't know where to do it on the Mach form or web site.

Eric

2

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / TLO Woes

« on: August 11, 2010, 11:48:22 AM »

Hi Dave,

Ran a simple program to see if two tools of different lengths will return to the Z 0 of the part. I used a touch plate and the TLO was saved in the tool table. When I ran program Tool #1 was above  part Z 0. When program called for Tool #2 it was at part Z 0. I put Tool #1 back in and switched to machine cord. and ran tool down to the TLO numbers in the tool table Tool 1 was at the top of the part. Did the same for Tool 2 same results. It seems that Mach 3 remembers the last tool Z zero. So if Tool #1 is 1.0 inches shorter than Tool #2 Tool #1 is 1.0 inches above the part. In MC go to tool offset length and both tool are on top of the part.  I've operared CNC equipment at my work and by changing from one tool to the other you can see the Z DRO going up or down according to the tool number and physical length of the tool .Is this a bug in Mach3 of am I doing something wrong? Using MSM Beta 4 and Mach3 R043.010
Thanks.

Eric

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CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Made my first chips today with MSM

« on: August 07, 2010, 03:10:41 PM »

Hi all.
I commend Dave for all the help he gave me resolving several issues I've had with MSM. Well I'm happy to report that everything is working and I made my first chips with MSM today. WHAT A RUSH!!!! I just did some simple passes at .100 per pass at 3.5ipm in some 6160 aluminum with a 5/8 rougher end mill. Didn't make anything useful yet that's for a latter date. Been spending way too much time in the shop testing MSM. Wife said that it was time to put my toys away and pay some attention to her can you imagine that. LOL Can't wait for Mach V4 to be done.

Eric

4

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Homing and Limit Switch Probblems.

« on: August 04, 2010, 06:21:40 PM »

I just installed Beta 3. I was able to probe and home now I can't do either. I have all other axis disabled and am only using Z until I can get this figured out. Every thing worked pretty good in Beta 2. One thing that I found curious is Z will move in plus direction when the ref button is pressed but it gets stuck on the limit and won't back off. I had to disable the Z++ in the config pins box. The Z axis shows 0.0000 in the DRO. When the Z++ is enabled the axis stays stuck on the switch. The signal screen show that Z home and Z++ both light when the limit switch is activated. Another curious thing is when i shut everything off for lunch and went back and turned everything back on I had no power to my BOB. I did some investigating and my PP cable was grounding out the 5 vdc input voltage to the BOB. I disconnected the earth ground wire and everything started working again except limits and probing. It's been really hot and dry here in Missouri and very humid. Can heat and humidity play havoc with grounding? A long time ago when i started my mill conversion i read somewhere that there should be another earth ground besides house ground and both grounds had to be connected together to bring them to the same ground potential so there would be no resistance between them. All AC grounds went to machine base and all shielded grounds went to the other earth ground. Worked pretty well until today. I think i might have done some damage to some of the IC chips on my BOB. Z axis and Z limit still function though. I'm going to uninstall Mach and MSM and delete everything associated with it and uninstall the PP driver and do a fresh install of Mach .010 and MSM Beta 2 and see if that helps. If everything works like it should I'll go to Beta 3. Sorry for the long ramble but what I've seen of MSM I really like. The screens are fresh and clean and make sense how they are laid out. Probing is really cool. I haven't ever really use it before. It will be great for part setup. Again sorry for rambling on. Thanks in advance.

Eric

5

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Where's the V4 documentation?

« on: July 23, 2010, 10:38:14 PM »

Read on the Mach3 Yahoo group that the Version 4 documentation was ready for posting so Where's the beef?

Eric