Topics

1

Works in progress / Mach3Turn - 1st 'Beta' release of the SilverBlue Screenset for lathes

« on: May 09, 2006, 06:36:37 PM »

Hi all,

Finally after a short delay the Silver Blue Screenset for Mach3Turn is ready for test.

There has been no attempt to add extra functions to these screens. They have been done purely by request following the Mill screens we released.

Credit to the original author of the screenset interface. We have only put a wrapper around it. (We don't have lathes so cannot even test it fully !)

The DarkBlue screenset will follow shortly once I manage to bribe Mr Bean into it.

Please report any bugs etc but note that we don't intend to add new features.

The screenshots below give you a taster.

Again, full credit to Beano on his photoshop skills. We hope you like the look.


Team InsomniaX

Screenset can be download from :-

http://www.cnc-builder.co.uk/insomniax/

2

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Gcode Sample Request for Mach3Turn

« on: May 09, 2006, 05:45:09 AM »

Hi all,

Would someone please post a sample of GCode for the Mach3Turn program.

While we are doing the MachBlue turn screenset I'm not sure if the toolpath is displaying and updating correctly.


Thanks !

Shaun

3

Works in progress / The start of Mach Blue Lathe for those that requested a Lathe Set

« on: May 06, 2006, 08:12:38 PM »

Greetings,

Well don't ask me why because neither myself or Mr Bean have a Lathe equipped for cnc control although he does have a Lathe dating back to the 17th Centuary that he's quite proud off.

But as we are gluttons for punishment and quite enjoy our late night sessions abusing each other on MSN we have almost completed the lathe screen. Same comments as the MachBlue screens really. We are not reinventing the wheel, the layout and functions will be close to the original set with some minor tweaks.

It was hard to get Beano motivated this time..... I think he's took the hump as no one likes his 'preferred' colour scheme

Anyway It's almost complete but just going through a few final checks. Can some kind soul please post a G-Code example of some Lathe code for us to try......

As usual first release will be SilverBlue then the Darker Blue set....Then Who knows......

I think the front screen shows how Beano feels on this set..... (His abusive graphic to me will be removed when released)

Manual screenshot posted.....

Cheers.

4

Screen designer tips and tutorials / Screen .Set Installer Script details

« on: May 04, 2006, 04:36:39 AM »

Hi,

Following a request and a bit of ear bashing from Benny here's a quick write up on how to create an installer using freely available software. The software is called Inno Setup and is available from :-

http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

To make life easier I would recommend downloading the Quick Start Pack which is currently at version 5.1.6

The program has a wizard which does a decent job at putting the basics together but then it's a matter of selecting various functions to customize the install.

Once a script has been created it's easy to modify to reuse. The attached script is an example of an installer script in use with the MachPink screenset and should be a good start for people to use and with a few edits your up and running.

In summary I have a folder called BACKUP on my c: drive

Inside this folder is a folder called MACHTESTSCREENS

You can of course modify the script to look at other locations for the files.

Copy the .SET file you want to package up into C:\BACKUP and then put the graphic files into C:\MACHTESTSCREENS

For the text files that appear during the install you need to create three text files. I used .RTF format files. copy these into :-

LicenseFile=C:\backup\license.rtf
InfoBeforeFile=C:\backup\infobefore.rtf
InfoAfterFile=C:\backup\infoafter.rtf

Finally two .BMP graphics files for logo's are used. A large and small graphic.

WizardImageFile=C:\Backup\logo-lrg.BMP
WizardSmallImageFile=C:\Backup\logo-sml.BMP

Then a quick look at the Project / Setup Options / Appearance will let you select an icon for the installer and a few other tweaks.

To Install a font which we didn't do. Select Project / Install fonts and select a font. This will add a line to the script.


The script below shows it complete and simply reading through should show the areas to customise. i.e Web addresses, Set titles and names etc.



I hope this is useful for everyone who wants to distribute screensets etc.....

Cheers and good luck.

Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer the ones I know the answer too


-------------

; Script generated by the Inno Setup Script Wizard.
; SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS ON CREATING INNO SETUP SCRIPT FILES!

[Setup]
AppName=Mach3 Pink Screenset
AppVerName=Pink Screenset v1.0
AppPublisher=The InsomniaX
AppPublisherURL=www.cnc-builder.co.uk\insomniax
AppSupportURL=www.cnc-builder.co.uk\insomniax
AppUpdatesURL=www.cnc-builder.co.uk\insomniax
DefaultDirName=C:\Mach3\
DefaultGroupName=Mach3 Pink Screenset
LicenseFile=C:\backup\license.rtf
InfoBeforeFile=C:\backup\infobefore.rtf
InfoAfterFile=C:\backup\infoafter.rtf
OutputDir=C:\Output
OutputBaseFilename=setup
SetupIconFile=C:\Documents and Settings\Shaun\Desktop\logo\moon.ico
Compression=lzma
SolidCompression=true
ShowLanguageDialog=yes
WizardImageFile=C:\Backup\logo-lrg.BMP
WizardSmallImageFile=C:\Backup\logo-sml.BMP
WizardImageStretch=false
DirExistsWarning=no
UserInfoPage=false
InternalCompressLevel=ultra

[Languages]
Name: english; MessagesFile: compiler:Default.isl

[Files]
Source: ..\..\..\Backup\Machpink.set; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion; Languages:
Source: ..\..\..\Backup\MachTestScreens\*; DestDir: {app}\bitmaps\MachTestScreens; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs

createallsubdirs
; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files

[INI]
Filename: {app}\Internet shortcut.url; Section: InternetShortcut; Key: URL; String: www.cnc-builder.co.uk\insomniax

[Icons]
Name: {group}\{cm:ProgramOnTheWeb,Mach Pink Screenset}; Filename: {app}\Internet shortcut.url
Name: {group}\{cm:UninstallProgram,Mach Pink Screenset}; Filename: {uninstallexe}

[UninstallDelete]
Type: files; Name: {app}\Internet shortcut.url

5

Works in progress / 1st 'Beta' release of the MachBlue Screenset

« on: May 02, 2006, 06:31:22 PM »

Art,

Thanks for the words of encouragement. We really didn't expect to see a mass of response but maybe the odd one !

But... The fact that your giving it a try dulls the pain

We mentioned earlier that the colour scheme is undecided. The silver scheme was easier to work with in Screen4 so that was posted first.

Beano has shifted his photo shop layers and curves and a bit of jiggery to make the next release. Simply titled MachBlue.

I had a peak over at the dark side (Yahoo forum) and noticed your post on the screen release and the comments on the background.

Hopefully this may be more suitable for some people. I actually prefer this one myself.

It's available for download at the same place.

http://www.cnc-builder.co.uk/insomniax/

Again any comments appreciated.

I must warn you all now that as much as I tried I couldn't fight off Beano's Mach Pink release so watch this space ........

Cheers

6

Works in progress / 1st 'Beta' release of the MachSteelBlue Screenset

« on: April 30, 2006, 07:47:41 PM »

Hello,

The time has come to finally Beta release the screenset that Mr Bean and myself have developed over the last few weeks. 

It's in a new thread as we hope to capture as much feedback on this specific screenset in one place.

A few notes beforehand. This screenset follows the layout of the standard screen supplied with Mach3 as close as possible. The idea for this set was to provide a set that was hopefully cosmetically more pleasing for our own personal use and share this with fellow Mach users out there. It's not a radical leap into optimizing screen layout.

The screen is designed for 1024 * 768 resolution, however latest development releases of Mach3 have a Hi-Res feature that will allow this screen to be used at higher resolutions with a much higher clarity than previously was available in Mach3.

Its true to say that the way the set is constructed allows a lot of flexibility in colour schemes.. These may come next depending on the level of interest.

Please feel free to download the installer program. (Obviously we have tested this but backup any Mach folders first !)
The installer also includes an uninstaller so you can be assured any trace of the screenset is removed after evaluation.

This can be downloaded from :-

http://www.cnc-builder.co.uk/insomniax/

At this stage the hotkeys are still being worked through.

Bugs and feedback appreciated.

The InsomniaX

Santiniuk & Mr Bean

7

Mach Screens / Screen design requirements with latest development versions

« on: April 27, 2006, 05:17:12 AM »

Hi,

Sometimes I find myself stumbling over to the Mach Yahoo support section. After a mind numbing experience I find I can manage to escape back in time to this great forum

I remember reading that there had been changes to the screen requierments with the latest development releases.

I'm trying Version 1.90.030 and now find that the screen set Mr Bean and myself are working in does not auto enlarge correctly if selected in the State page.

The screen does scale but ends up cramped to the top left.

I have deleted any objects I can see that are outside of the visible screen area but it still does not scale correctly.

I've tried searching the Yahoo section but cannot find the post on the new requirements.

Has anyone knowledge on this ?

Thanks.

8

Works in progress / An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"

« on: April 09, 2006, 07:08:30 PM »

Hi,

After seeing Benny's exotic screensets I thought I'd have a bash at making one. Well it was more of a joint effort with Mr Bean and something to do late at night...

Firstly I was learning Screen 4 and secondly I have no artistic talent.

But more dissapointingly I think our method  creating the screen is wrong. The buttons are all individual graphics. I have a decent PC so have not noticed any speed problem but I see the later screens appearing have one graphic with defined 'hotspots'.

Is this the new way to go ?

I have discovered some of the bugs and limitations of screen4 on the way and hope to see these fixed soon. i.e LED states not correct on loading.

The attachement is for a 1024*768 screen although the bottom section would need to change as the actual graphic is larger than this and I forgot about the task bar and title bar 

I call this screen Mach Blue..... Because...... It's Blue........

Forgot to say it was work in progress but is now about to be abandoned......

9

General Mach Discussion / Mach and dual screen usage

« on: March 27, 2006, 05:06:25 AM »

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker of the forum and a big fan.

After reading a post over at the Zone regarding Dual screen usage I thought I'd give it a go. Not a lot else to do over here with this awful weather we are having.....

So here are the results. I suspect they will leave Benny in a state of turmoil as he plans his next screenset !

On a serious note I'm purely an amateur who purchased Mach 2 after building a home cnc and got hooked. The things I cut are basic but I would think that for the pro's out there a multiple monitor setup would be useful. It's quite cheap to do now.

Imagine having various toolpath views etc.... Ok I'm getting carried away....

I tried the new screen 4 designer and selected a new custom screen of some hideous dimension, basicaly 2560*1024 (i.e a 1280*1024 screen doubled)

Screen4 allowed me to design a screen that would cover both windows.

Finally a test to see if Mach 3 would run dragged over a split monitor and it works fine.

Maybe I just have too much time on my hands

Cheers

10

General Mach Discussion / Surfacing Wizard - Mach 3

« on: January 02, 2006, 10:01:06 PM »

Hello all,

I have lurked long enough here and really hope this forum format takes off.

I'm hoping for a bit of clarification. I purchased Mach2 and have now moved to Mach3. To be honest I have not done a lot with it as I'm in the process of building another machine. My first machine is limited by table size.

My query is around the surfacing wizard. In Mach2 I had the option to select the units mm/inch. This seems to be missing on the Mach3 version. Unless it's staring me in the face and I'm missing it !

Can someone please clarify this. I'm a metric only person and really struggle with those inches !

Thanks,