Messages

2631

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Trispokedovetiles: CNC code to cut tiles

« on: December 24, 2016, 03:43:49 AM »

Hi Peter,

Thank you for posting the link your free online CAD/CAM software which looks most interesting.

I think there are perhaps one or two changes which may need to be made to make it more Mach3 / Mach4 friendly and I will post more details once I have tested the generated code on my machine.

Tweakie.

2632

FAQs / Re: Sample gcode need larger scale

« on: December 24, 2016, 02:01:44 AM »

The issue my be that some Gcode has been prepared in Imperial units and some Gcode in Metric units and they do not contain the G20 / G21 as appropriate (this is the case with the sample Roadrunner file which was prepared in Inches but does not contain a G20 so the work comes out incredibly small on systems which have been configured in millimeters).

Tweakie.

2633

FAQs / Re: Windows 7 and Mach 3

« on: December 24, 2016, 01:51:11 AM »

Hi Steve,

I am a bit concerned when you say that you have been told that WinXP cannot be loaded on your new PC. I understand that you have loaded a 32 bit version of Win7 but please check that your PC is not a 64 bit machine – if this was the case then you cannot use the parallel port with Mach3 on that PC, an external motion controller would be necessary.
(I have never tried loading a 32 bit OS onto a 64 bit PC but I am guessing that it’s possible).

From your pics the LPT parallel port address, which is entered into Mach3 for the Port #1 address is 0xE100 (Config. / Ports & Pins / Port Setup and Axis Setup).

Tweakie.

2634

FAQs / Re: Sample gcode need larger scale

« on: December 23, 2016, 05:33:15 AM »

Many thanks for posting the link.

Those sample files are in a compressed format (.rar) and as you have said will require software such as 7-Zip to extract the archive.

Although some of those files have .TAP, .tap and some have .nc file extensions they are all Text files just the same. When loading Gcode files into Mach3 you have the option to select the particular file extension (.tap, .nc, .ncc, .txt) or, if you prefer just select All Files(*.*).

The individual .tap files within the archive are not, in themselves, compressed so once the .rar archive has been opened / extracted no further decompression of the files is necessary.

Tweakie.

2635

FAQs / Re: Sample gcode need larger scale

« on: December 23, 2016, 02:19:31 AM »

The guy who answers first in this thread posed a zip file with the sample codes in it.

Where exactly is the zip file ?

Tweakie.

2636

FAQs / Re: Windows 7 and Mach 3

« on: December 23, 2016, 02:13:25 AM »

Hi Steve,

From your pic's...

The Mach3 driver has not loaded correctly. You could try running Driver Test as Admin. and see if that works.

Your parallel port address is the first hex address of the I/O Range shown under the Resources tab, in this case 0378  (see attachment).

Tweakie.

2637

FAQs / Re: Sample gcode need larger scale

« on: December 23, 2016, 01:52:29 AM »

Umm I'm a complete Newb but after much fiddling with the sample G-CODES, I noticed they actually were in a compressed format. I unzipped them and then they were no longer Tap files but NC files. I ran the NC files and my problem of micro results was fixed. I don't pretend to know why, but it works. Aparently TAP files are compressed files. Unziping them outputs a "nc" file. Simple as that. Now the results are normal scale.

Where can I find the compressed Tap files please ?

Tweakie.

2638

General Mach Discussion / Re: Axis dros off after loading Gcode

« on: December 22, 2016, 10:31:44 AM »

Check your Gcode file.

Just as an example it could be scaling the Z axis or perhaps changing the coordinate system, offsets, etc.

Tweakie.

2639

FAQs / Re: Windows 7 and Mach 3

« on: December 22, 2016, 02:40:01 AM »

Hi Steve,

All attachments posted to the forum have to have a unique name. When you get the message (Sorry! There is already an attachment with the same filename as the one you tried to upload. Please rename the file and try again) you need to rename your attachment to something unique (perhaps add a letter or number following the name) then make the post again.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

2640

General Mach Discussion / Re: No communication between computer and controller box.

« on: December 21, 2016, 10:13:43 AM »

Unless something has gone screwy my end the .xml file you posted shows...

X Step 2
X Dir 6
Y Step 3
Y Dir 7
Z Step 4
Z Dir 8

Tweakie.