Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 and TrueCrypt full disk encryption

« on: August 13, 2013, 04:11:22 PM »

Is there any known bugs with TrueCrypt system encryption interfering with the Mach3?  Sometimes my computer freezes up when task switching between Mach3 and Windows explorer.  I think it could be a conflict between the TrueCrypt disk encryption driver and the Mach3 driver.  Does anyone else run this way and have no computer freeze ups?  I'm still trying to figure out why the Mach3 freezes up my computer.

2

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Looking for source code or free program to generate a Gcode Toolpath

« on: July 29, 2013, 01:34:45 PM »

Any open source programs available to parse Gcode or plot a toolpath?  My Gcode programs is complicated with parameters and lots of subroutine files.  I want to see what it does without loading into the Mach3.

3

General Mach Discussion / Save DROs to text file

« on: July 29, 2013, 01:27:58 PM »

What's the best way to save DROs to a text file, in case of Mach3 freeze up.  Macro pump, every 60 seconds?  I need a way to get back the DROs if the machine crashes.

Sometimes when I task switch to Windows Explorer and try to do something, it causes the Mach3 to freeze the entire computer and this requires a reboot.  This still happens even though I've disabled all non-essential Windows services and start-up programs.

4

General Mach Discussion / Flatten my G-code

« on: July 08, 2013, 10:42:14 AM »

Is it possible Mach3 show a "flattened" view of my G-code program?  For example:
- all subroutines expanded
- all variables resolved
- all comments retained
- all calculations and variable assignments removed

The attached trace shows an example.  I think it is easy to reads.

5

General Mach Discussion / Intermittent macro weirdness

« on: April 04, 2012, 11:17:28 AM »

I have a macro for single-profile thread milling that experiences an intermittent bug.  I've seen it randomly switch from incremental to absolute positioning.  My workaround is to pre-generate the thread milling Gcode, then it works 100%.  Attached is the Gcode that calls my VB macro (M5001.m1s) for thread milling.  And also attached is the Gcode produced by this macro.

I think the problem is that I don't wait for the machine to complete a Gcode instruction after calling the Code() function.  It's really not necessary and would only slow down the overall operation.  I used to have it wait after each Gcode instruction, but then the machine would momentarily pause at times.  It bothered me, so I removed all the waiting, now I've got this bug. 

Just before my VB macro exits and returns control to Mach3, it waits for the machine to stop moving.  This is the only wait in the macro.  I believe at some point during the operation it is switching to G90 (absolute positioning) where my Gcode is depending on G91 (incremental positioning) to be active.  It seems like it might be running a G90 instruction out of order, since that's always the last instruction executed.

Until I figure out what exactly is going on, I will continue to pre-generate my thread milling Gcode.

6

General Mach Discussion / Gcode logging/tracing

« on: March 13, 2012, 08:24:54 AM »

Is there a way to log or trace all Gcode instructions to a file?  Many of my Gcode programs use variables, and I would to see the actual Gcode instructions with the real values (not variables).  Attached is an example Gcode program.  It measures the inside depth of a part, then cuts a slot in a single CNC operation.  It's nice to have a record of the actual Gcode that got run.  Maybe an option to allow all Gcode instructions to be written to the Teach file?  The Mach3 Teach facility currently only logs Gcode instructions run from the MDI window and macros.

I have also done the same with a macro using my own custom logging and tracing, but that seems to be more complicated than necessary.  

In the attached Gcode program I need to see the actual Gcode instructions that got run, after the variables have been resolved.

7

General Mach Discussion / Feedrate for 4th-axis rotary table

« on: August 18, 2011, 06:19:32 PM »

Mach3 has worked great with my 4th-axis rotary table, rotating around the X-axis.  Now I have repositioned the rotary table to rotate around the Z-axis.  Then set Config->Toolpath->Axis of Rotation to "Z-axis".  However it is still using the Z-axis DRO to calculate the feedrate, when it should be using the X-axis DRO.  Has anyone gotten Mach3 to correctly calculate the feedrate for a Z-axis rotary table?

The calculation from IPM to DPM would be something like this:

Z-axis rotary feedrate in deg/min = (360 * IPM) / (2 * PI * (SQRT(X^2 + Y^2) - T))

where:
IPM is the desired feedrate in inches/min
X is the X-axis DRO
Y is the Y-axis DRO
T is the tool radius
PI is 3.14159...

Does my formula look correct?  Is it possible to input this formula into Mach3 anywhere?

Thanks, Rick