Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Guidence Request... Surface probing with Mach3 & a Gecko G540.

« on: May 07, 2018, 01:30:26 PM »

I've Googled, searched, & read, but what I've found seems to be beyond my technical ability to understand.

I have Mach3, a Soigeneris controller with a Gecko G540 & USB Smoothstepper, and Vectric Aspire for CAD-CAM.

I need to be able to create 3D models of existing wooden door panels that can have varying degrees of warpage so I can bring in to Aspire so I can have an accurate model of the panels in order to V Carve or route a 3D model into the panels.

I see Mach 3 has a digitizing wizard. Will that Mach 3 built-in digitizing wizard and a digitizing probe off ebay get me what I'm after, or do I need something else, too?

Let's say I buy the probe shown in the following link. Where to I plug it in to? The G540? Do I need software other than Aspire?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-3AXIS-DIGITIZING-TOUCH-PROBE-3-8-SHANK-HIGH-PRECISION-LED/332578284189?hash=item4d6f35e29d:g:0b0AAOSwyYFaEzV1

Hopefully somebody can help me with this.

Thanks!
Chris

2

General Mach Discussion / A really quick Mach3 XML file question

« on: May 20, 2015, 05:01:30 PM »

Does the xml file contain all of the Mach3 settings for my machine?

So, if I make a backup copy of it before I do some Mach3 tuning for my machine, and I don't like the new settings, can I just reload the old XML file and be back where I started?

Whoops, 2 questions... Sorry!

Chris

3

General Mach Discussion / I've got CV Brain lock... I know even less, now... Help!?

« on: May 19, 2015, 02:44:15 PM »

I've read so much about CV settings, trying to figure it out myself, that I can no longer even see straight when I think about CV settings. I know they can vary from machine to machine, but I don't even know where to start.

The machine is a 4' x 8' Vytek Rebel CNC router table. The issue is rounded inside corners. Outside corners are fine. I didn't have any CV issues until I figured out my feed rates were too slow, which was why I mostly made dust instead of chips. So, along came me needing to route some aluminum plate, and I knew I had to have my feeds & speeds dialed in. Once I had my feed rates correct, higher, I started noticing the rounded inside corner problems.

I need help figuring out how to get my CV settings correct. I've attached screen shots of some of my Mach3 settings in case it'll help.

Does LookAhead affect CV results? Mine was set to 20, but I read that it should be 200, so I set it at 200.

Do X, Y, & Z, velocities & accelerations affect CV results?  I got my initial settings from the place I got my control box from and I've never run the motor tuning stuff in Mach3. Are there any changes with velocities & accelerations I should make?

Does toolpath feed rate affect CV results? It seems that I  had no CV rounded corners when I had my feed rates too slow. After I increased feed rate to get chips, not dust, I noticed the rounded inside corners. Why would I get rounded inside corners, but nice sharp outside corners?

What are the units in CV Dist Tolerance? Mine's set at 180 units. Is that 180 thousandths? 180 stepper steps? Or something else? What should I have that set to?

Stop CV on angles Mine's unchecked. Should I enable it, and what should that angle be?

What's G100 Adaptive NurbsCV? I have it enabled... Should I?

I'm lost. I'm trying to learn the intricacies in Mach3 so I can figure this kind of thing out myself, but I'm overwhelmed with the CV stuff.

Does anybody have any ideas for me? I'd sure appreciated it!.

Chris

4

General Mach Discussion / How can I copy & send my XML file w/o also sending my license code?

« on: December 06, 2012, 11:23:50 AM »

A member on another forum has purchased the same CNC router, controller, & design/toolpath software I have. He's also using Mach3, but I don't know if he's purchased a licnese for it or not.  He's requested that I send him my system profile XML file to make his setup easy. I'm good with that, but I don't want to send him the XML profile with my Mach3 License code in it.

How do I remove my license code from the XML file? Can I just open the file in a text editor and remove the line of code with the license number?

Thanks,
Chris

5

General Mach Discussion / Video card question - Onboard vs Seperate video card

« on: September 21, 2012, 10:57:14 AM »

ArtSoft says Mach3 needs a seperate video card rather than using the motherboard integrated video. Anybody here know why that is?

Chris

6

General Mach Discussion / Steppers won't power up with Mach3

« on: September 20, 2012, 02:28:43 PM »

Running  Mach3 on an XP machine with a Soigeneris STDR-4C controller.

After my hard drive failure, I'm getting close to being back up and running. I've got Mach3 installed, SmoothStepper, and my macropump all in the right place.

When I start Mach3, my steppers don't power up. I get a message on Mach3 that says there's an external estop request or my limit switches are active. I'm sure my estop switch isn't activated, and the X,Y,& Z limit tabs aren't near any of the limit switches. Below is an image of the error message I get. Anybody seen this before?



I have clicked the button that says "fix it for me...", but that doesn't fix it for me.

7

Mach3 under Vista / Which version of 7 for Mach3? Home? Pro? Ultimate? 32 bit? 64 bit?

« on: September 13, 2012, 03:17:22 PM »

My XP machine is dying. I don't have the smarts to put a new machine together that'll run XP. So I guess that means I need to get a 7 machine. I've read the forums about 7, and there doesn't seem to be any definite answers.

So, what's my best chance? If I had to guess, I'd say it's 7 Pro 32 bit.

Thoughts???

Thanks,
Chris

8

General Mach Discussion / How can I easily record all of the settings in Mach3 setup windows?

« on: September 12, 2012, 02:34:36 PM »

I want to make sure I can re-install Mach3 and get it working again if my computer dies and I have to get Mach3 set up on a new one.

How can I make sure I have all the settings recorded? Are all of the hundreds of settings in Mach3 in the xml file? Can I just reinstall Mach3 on the new computer and copy the xml file over to it? Do I need to do a screen capture of each of the many Mach3 setting windows?

Thanks!
Chris

9

Tangent Corner / Spindle power problem

« on: September 10, 2012, 04:47:48 PM »

Last Friday, right before beer:30, Mach 3 crashed on me. It's happened before, although rarely. The error message said something about the USB port or connection... I don't remember. Last time that happened, it was a loose USB cable, so I wasn't too worried about it. I reseated the cable, then attempted to run the job again, but the spindle didn't power on. I turned everything off and gave up on it for the weekend.

Come Monday morning, the spindle still won't power up. The relay in my controller, a Soigeneris STDR-4C, activates, but still no power to the spindle. My electrician friend came by and checked the 3-Phase out, and it's good to the spindle power supply/speed controller.

Any ideas for me? I need to get this thing back up and running.

Pre-thanks!

Chris

10

Mach3 under Vista / Should I build a new Windows 7 machine, or a new XP machine?

« on: June 16, 2012, 11:57:56 AM »

I'm running Mach 3 with one of Jeff Birt's Soigeneris STDR-4C drive control boxes. I've run it all with a couple 5 to 7 year old Dell XP 'puters. Any trouble I've ever had with the system failing has been tracked to the XP 'puter... bad USB ports, bad USB card, or a bad video card, yesterday's problem was just a loose USB cable, WHEW!

It got me to thinking maybe I should build a new machine, and am wondering which is better, switching to Windows 7, or reusing XP.

Is it tricky to set up Windows 7 to run Mach 3? I'm not as tech-savvy as I probably should be.

I'm thinking, to save money, I could use my old Dell XP case, power supply, and optical drive. Is this reasonable? I do have a buddy that has built many systems for himself, and he's willing to help out.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Chris