Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / How to set "Safe Z"?

« on: December 07, 2008, 11:36:21 AM »

I'm confused about the Safe Z thing. Seems to me that it'd be a good thing to have as I can then simply hit my "Safe Z" button on the controller and have the spindle move to a in good height to change tools... but how do I set the Safe Z in Mach 3?

I've found a "Global Settings" window under the Config/Safe_Z Setup.. but don't understand what the settings mean/do. Seems like the most important one is where you enter the Safe_Z amount. But what is that amount in reference to? The table? Home position? Soft limits? Is is negative or positive from these?

I guess I'm really confused about machine and work coordinates as the DRO's don't say which they are.

BTW, I just got this great CNC controller (pendant, mouse, whatever the thing is called?) http://www.randyray.com/TxMicro/ which is the reason why I'm now keen on getting my CNC setup together better. Check it out - all you do is plug it in and it works. No software, no batteries. Pretty slick for $225!

-- Rich --

2

General Mach Discussion / Surface grinding?

« on: May 13, 2008, 05:51:37 PM »

I'm pretty new at CNC and have been using Sheetcam and Mach3 for our router (fairly successfully after a couple of frustrating months)... and plan to get a CNC surface grinder later on this summer.....

I can't seem to find any info or indication that I can use Mach3 for surface grinding. Is this the case? I'll need other controller software? Any suggestions/recommendations?

-- Rich --

3

General Mach Discussion / What does the "To Go" button do?

« on: January 25, 2008, 03:12:17 PM »

Hi - as you can tell, I'm a real newbie at this. I can't find a manual on how Mach3 works (no, that "Using 3Mill.pdf" isn't very helpful at all). A few first questions:

What does the "To Go" button do when it's not blinking. What does it do when it is blinking?

What does the "Machine Coords" button do when it's not blinking. What does it do when it is blinking?

What does the "Ref All Home" button do? The pdf only says that it's "equivalent to referencing all axis". What does that mean? Referencing them to what?

The pdf also talks about the "De-Ref All" button with the mention of a "referenced state". What is that?

Enough for the moment! I really would like to start using my machine but can't seem to get started. Does anyone here live in the Amherst/Greenfield/Noho area of western MA and is willing to help out?

-- Rich --

4

General Mach Discussion / "Screens General" tutorial video version?

« on: January 20, 2008, 09:24:23 PM »

I'm a spanking newbie at Mach3 and machining... Be kind! I'm working my way through the tutorial videos at the Mach website http://www.machsupport.com/Videos/Mach3%20Video%20Selections/Mach3%20Video%20Selections.html which are uniformly completely over my head....

First I'm try to figure out what the parts of the Mach3 screens are all about. He "Screens General" video looks substantially different from the version of Mach3 I just downloaded and installed. The one in the video looks cleaner, simpler, neater. Is that an older version of Mach3 or one that hasn't come out yet?

I'm finding a lot of the buttons very confusing. My version has a very thin area around many of the buttons when "light up" when the button is ''pressed". Or maybe unpressed. Some are red, green or yellow. Some blink and some don't. I guess this is what is referred to as "LED's"? I can't tell if the color state means that what the button says whenit's off or on state. For example, the "Machine Coord's" button says that whether or not it's surrounded by red or not. It'd be nice if when in one state it would say "Machine Coord's" and in the other state say "Part Coord's".

There're also other buttons on the video which are not on my version ("conversational"), and a very enigmatic button called "To Go" on my version which leaves me wondering. So that's the button you press when you gotta go?    ;-)

So my questions are:

Where can I get a nicer/easier-to-understand interface screen(s) for Mach3? I've seen something on Youtube called "Area 51" which seems much more understandable... but can't seem to find out how to get a version of that.

Is there some written text somewhere of what all the buttons on the screens do?

-- Rich --