Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Pause loaded cycle after certain amount of time

« on: September 28, 2018, 03:50:09 PM »

Oscar,
I'm not sure about the m30 not stopping the timer.  I don't see why it wouldn't.  Be sure it is saved as a lower case m30.mcs   . 
Also, you should be able to add the m3 to your resume timer.

Yes the file name was correct and the location was in the Macros folder of the profile, I tried it by writing

function m30()
scr.StopTimer(0)
plus the rest of the commands
end

and straight

scr.StopTimer(0)
plus the rest of the commands

I actually tried multiple different ways.

I could add the m3 after resuming but it is not always stopping at a point it was cutting, it might also stop during a rapid, the cuts are usually multiple repetitive parts, so there are usually many rapids.


Oscar

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Pause loaded cycle after certain amount of time

« on: September 28, 2018, 12:26:35 PM »

I created a custom m-code and added a call in the g-code but can't seem to get it working to stop the timer, not sure if its not loading because I have written the file wrong or it isn't just possible to load such commands with m-codes. But while testing it with the simulator controller I found out that my whole idea is flawed since Stopping the cycle in the middle of a cut turns the torch off but resuming it doesn't turn it on again. My only hope now is to get Mach4 or CamBam to show cycle time estimation, so I can adjust the amount off cutting on each cycle accordingly.

But thanks for helping out anyway, learned a few things that might be useful in the future!

Oh one more thing, is there a better guide for modifying the Mach4 Screen than the one in the Docs folder, as I understand the GUI is based on wxWidgets?

Oscar

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Pause loaded cycle after certain amount of time

« on: September 27, 2018, 02:18:29 PM »

Thanks for the help, I was able to do what I needed using his method, the only thing I have trouble with is finding a way to stop the timer when the cycle ends (the g-code ends), I don't expect I can add the command scr.StopTimer() to the footer of the g-code, right?

Thanks
Oscar

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Pause loaded cycle after certain amount of time

« on: September 27, 2018, 05:53:50 AM »

Hi,
Is there a setting in Mach4 that could pause the cycle after a certain time from the start of the cycle, I have build a plasma table and in the plasma cutters specs there is a 40% duty cycle per 10min, at around 5-6mins the thermal relay on the transformer trips and the torch turns off, so I would like to pause the cycle at the 5min mark. I know it would be possible to add a pause in the g-code but the feedrates change depending on the thickness of the plates cut so that isn't a viable option. Also the cutter is old enough that there are no output signals to use as a trigger of a pause, but if there is no time option in Mach4 I could wire a signal output using the thermal trip LED the cutter has.

Thanks
Oscar

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing on custom profile

« on: August 09, 2018, 04:25:08 AM »

Hi Oscar,
yes I've had the same battle with the mouse buttons. I've not found anyway to get a round it yet.
One feature that I do use is <Jog Follow> mode. Try it out.

Have you tried referencing your system before loading the code?

If I understand the explanation given elsewhere Mach will attempt to draw the tooplath at such scale so as to also include the 0,0,0 origin.
Thus if your machine is not referenced it could be that the 0,0,0 is at some considerable distance from the toolpath and therefore Mach has to draw a such a
large scale that your toolpath disappears. I also attached the gcode file, its very simple.

Craig

Well the Reference All button is greyed out, I believe because I am not connected to the machine.

But I found the problem, the moment I disable the Z axis from Axis Mapping and restart Mach4, the toolpath is not visible anymore, so the question now is if this is normal behaviour by Mach4 and I just need to check the settings on CamBam, I had used a Profile operation for the cad drawing I loaded in CamBam which is a 2D machining operation.

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing on custom profile

« on: August 09, 2018, 03:34:08 AM »

The machine is still in the making so I am not connected to it. I turned the Tool Path Limits ON and I can see the yellow line of the work area, I also made the Line width to 150 and still can't see the paths. Also is there a way to change to mouse behaviour, trying to pan with 2 mouse buttons has probably being the most frustrating thing I have done in my life.

Oscar

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath not showing on custom profile

« on: August 06, 2018, 01:36:21 PM »

Hi,
Those settings were actually the first thing I thought was wrong but nothing changed when tried other colors or line widths.

Oscar

8

Mach4 General Discussion / Toolpath not showing on custom profile

« on: August 03, 2018, 04:51:51 PM »

I am building my first cnc plasma cutter and installed Mach4 and the CSMIO/IP plugin, if it matters, and made a custom profile according to its instructions, the settings were mostly for the hardware setup and units. The problem is when I load a G-code on that profile I can't see the toolpath but if I open the default Router profile and load the g-code the toolpath is visible, am I missing something?

Thanks
Oscar