Messages

2531

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper motor acting funny

« on: February 23, 2016, 02:02:22 AM »

Hi Beni,

I think you have given this it's best shot.

From your first picture the driver test results indicate that your PC (fine with your existing controller) will not work successfully with Mach3. If you can obtain another PC, with parallel port (or with PCI slot to fit a parallel port card), to try then this may be the way forward.

Your Step2600 controller uses 1/2 step microstepping which may never give truly smooth movement, at least not as smooth as 1/8th microstepping so at some time in the future you may also wish to consider a new controller.

Tweakie.

2532

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper motor acting funny

« on: February 22, 2016, 12:24:39 PM »

Hi Beni,

I am assuming that your stepper motor controller uses 'microstepping'. At this stage your settings are unknown but it is common to have 1/8th microstepping so set your x and y axes 'steps per unit' (in motor tuning) to 532.8 (66.6 x8). This should make movement less jerky so that you can then use the axis calibration feature (Settings page) to get the correct 'steps per unit' for each axis of your machine.

If necessary, increase the Velocity settings for the x and y axes (in motor tuning) to get a reasonable speed of movement (this can be fine tuned later).

Tweakie.

2533

General Mach Discussion / Re: How does feed hold work when using a smooth stepper? Is it delayed?

« on: February 22, 2016, 03:02:52 AM »

Hi Mark,

I think your understanding is correct.

From the ESS doc...
A smaller buffer size is more responsive to Feed Hold commands, but more sensitive to the ESS running out of data if your computer gets bogged down. 
A larger buffer size is less likely to experience the ESS running out of data, but will take longer to respond to Feed Hold commands.

Tweakie.

2534

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Seig Super X1LP HiTorque Mill CNC Conversion

« on: February 22, 2016, 01:43:44 AM »

Nice work - you make mill conversion all look and sound so easy 

Tweakie.

btw. Welcome to the forum.

2535

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hall of shame

« on: February 22, 2016, 01:20:38 AM »

Hi Graeme,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Tweakie.

2536

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hooray! I helped myself, or how to let Mach3 know what tool you are using!

« on: February 21, 2016, 11:17:10 AM »

Excellent work Leslie - thanks for sharing the info.

Tweakie.

2537

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 20, 2016, 11:28:35 AM »

so mach3 will not work with 64bit  windows 7, no matter what?

Requirements if using an external motion device for machine control:

An appropriate external motion controller such as Warp9 Smooth Stepper or similar
Desktop or Laptop with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
1Ghz CPU
512MB RAM
Video Card with 32MB RAM(Large G-code files, especially 3D files will require a video card with 512MB RAM or higher)

Tweakie.

2538

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 20, 2016, 01:18:34 AM »

Thanks for the reply Tweakie. could this be resolved with a parallel port card? if so, any particular type?

Requirements if using the parallel port for machine control:

Desktop PC (Laptops are not supported) with at least one parallel port
32-bit version of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (64-bit versions will not work)
1Ghz CPU
512MB RAM
Non-integrated Video Card with 32MB RAM(Large G-code files, especially 3D files will require a video card with 512MB RAM or higher)

Tweakie.

2539

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 19, 2016, 02:19:55 AM »

I've decided to make the move to Mach3, and I'm already a little frustrated. I can fire up Mach2, go to the Motor tuning page, and all is good. I got to mach3, where I have enabled the lpt1 port, and then to the motor tuning page, and I can't get a motor to move. So I guess this is an intro, and a plead for help.. I've watched a few intros, and thought I'd read the manual, but..... here I am... lost... 

Welcome to the forum.

If you post your question as a New Topic I am sure it will get many answers / suggestions as to resolving the problem.

Could be that the Ports and Pins (Step and Direction) are not set correctly or that one or more enable signals are required.

Tweakie.

2540

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 19, 2016, 02:16:00 AM »

hi
I have been working with and around CNC machines my entire working life (over 30 years). I have purchased myself a small CNC router/mill for using at home making, mainly, guitar parts. I have downloaded and installed Mach3 and unfortunately it doesnt work. when running the drivertest it reports "No driver sensed installed. Run driver test" I have repeatedly uninstalled and re-installed to no avail. can anyone advise me as to what i am doing wrong? P C is more than up to spec although, i am wondering, is windows 7 supported?

Welcome to the forum.

Win 7 is supported but if you are using the LPT parallel port then the PC has to be 32 bit.

Tweakie.