Messages

391

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate does not stay stable!!

« on: November 22, 2020, 01:00:22 AM »

I must say without forgetting.  I installed mach4 demo hoby and tried it there was no fluctuation.  feed rate was fixed

Not really a fair comparison - if you had also installed the Mach4 Parallel Port driver plugin / motion controller the results may well have been the same as they were with Mach3.

Tweakie.

392

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need Help Connecting USB CNC Board to Mach3

« on: November 21, 2020, 10:00:39 AM »

The ESS details are here; https://www.warp9td.com/
The G540 details are here; https://www.geckodrive.com/g540-4-axis-digital-stepper-drive.html

(They are not the only quality products available but I use them both and the manufacturer's backup and support is second to none).

Tweakie.

393

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate does not stay stable!!

« on: November 21, 2020, 03:25:10 AM »

If the Mach3 (on screen) feed-rate varies when the Parallel Port is disconnected that would indicate that your PC is not up to the task of providing the necessary pulse stream fast enough.
The Parallel Port is really not that brilliant when operating at high kernel speeds so it may be best if you consider using an External Motion Controller. There are many to choose from but avoid the cheap Chinese types. The ESS from Warp9 is good and that will operate with Mach3 and also Mach4 (if you need to move on from Mach3 at some time in the future).

Tweakie.

394

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need Help Connecting USB CNC Board to Mach3

« on: November 21, 2020, 01:02:21 AM »

Only you can decide if Mach4 is the way to go but as mentioned earlier the ESS from Warp9 and the G540 from Gecko would be a good combination which are good for both Mach3 and Mach4.

Tweakie.

395

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help on WARP9 SMOOTH STEPPER

« on: November 20, 2020, 05:41:39 AM »

Port 3 Pins 2 through 9 can be configured as Inputs or Outputs. Check your settings in the ESS General Config. to make sure they are set to IN.

Tweakie.

396

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need Help Connecting USB CNC Board to Mach3

« on: November 20, 2020, 01:10:00 AM »

Sorry, but it is as I suspected, that board will not operate with Mach3.

Tweakie.

397

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need Help Connecting USB CNC Board to Mach3

« on: November 19, 2020, 01:08:52 AM »

Your USB board needs a Mach3 Motion Controller 'Plugin' in order to operate. If you do not have this plugin then the USB board is useless as far as Mach3 is concerned and it needs to be replaced. As your USB board also contains the stepper drivers then they need to be replaced as well.
As Mach3 is now obsolescent you should look for replacement parts that are also compatible with Mach4 (the ESS from Warp9 and the G540 from Gecko would be good but they are not cheap).

Tweakie.

398

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: 3d-modeling and g-code generating for beginners

« on: November 18, 2020, 10:24:36 AM »

If your 3D modelling package will output an .stl file then MeshCam may be a good choice for creating a Gcode file for your CNC.   https://www.grzsoftware.com/

Tweakie.

399

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cycle start and spindle start

« on: November 18, 2020, 10:05:36 AM »

Hi kk,

It is a little more complicated but yes you can add the Code M03 and the delay Code to the Start Button using a Screen Designer such as Klaus’s Mach Screen which can be downloaded from here;  http://www.kd-dietz.de/index_eng
Buttons and Macros are programmed using a subset of VB (Visual Basic) called Cypress Enable and the following documents relate;
http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Mach3_V3.x_Macro_Prog_Ref.pdf
http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/VBScript_Commands.pdf

As you suspect a bit of learning to do 

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

400

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cycle start and spindle start

« on: November 18, 2020, 01:08:16 AM »

That is the way of Mach3 and we generally learn to use things the way they are.

You could of course change the way Mach3 works for you by using one of the screen editors to change the Cycle Start button from an OEM to a VB Button which could then contain the code of your choice.

Tweakie.