Messages

751

General Mach Discussion / Re: Making sure I get the right control board

« on: January 28, 2018, 01:53:47 AM »

Check out the Gecko G540 - it is not cheap but it is of high quality and has full customer support etc.
Also browse the Gecko site - there is a mine of information there.

http://www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g540.html


Tweakie.

752

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Suggested OS

« on: January 27, 2018, 07:11:37 AM »

Just for information really...

A couple of years back large numbers of Win7 Pro PC’s were being replaced and scrapped here in the UK (government or large corporate concern perhaps). An enterprising trader removed the COA’s before scrapping the hardware.

I am not sure of all the rules here but using the Win10 Pro iso. (legally downloadable from Microsoft website) or an official installation disc, the Win10 Pro installation can be activated with the Win7 Pro key even though the free upgrade offer ended July 2016.
How is this possible? – I really don’t know but I have just done it with this disc and COA.

If you check out ebay, the old COA’s are around £6.00 and the new (unused) scratchable COA’s around £17.00.

Tweakie.

753

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

« on: January 26, 2018, 01:44:45 AM »

Hi, name is Ken. Live in the Austin Texas area. Normally work with data, but know nothing about electronics. Right now I'm still ordering parts to build my very first CNC.  Making it 2'x4'. I've got most of the hardware, motors, and drivers, but have some more questions. Hope y'all will be patient with me.

Hi KConn23,

Welcome.

Just post any questions you may have as a New Topic in the General Mach Discussion section and we will try to help.

Tweakie.

754

HiCON Motion Controller / Re: mach 4 upgrade and THC

« on: January 24, 2018, 11:01:43 AM »

I’m starting to think Mach 4 has a lot of problems and that's why a lot of companies are going Linux  I really wanted to make this work  so I hope vial systems can help fix this   since it’s a new build I do have the option to scrap the electronics and Mach 4

I think you would be in a much worse situation with LinuxCNC.

You can get full email support from the Artsoft Mach4 team to resolve any problems that you may be having. A quote from the Mach4 thread...

" We created the ticketing system and have added staff here at Artsoft specifically to work with hobby users. Our tech support team responds to and works with hobby users every day. Tuesday morning alone of this week I assisted 3 users in getting their machines up and running with Mach4 and a compatible motion controller right out of the box. No custom scripting required. In fact we have profiles for the common 3020 6040 table top CNC machines that we share with users and literally they are up and running within 20-30 minutes depending on their ability and knowledge. 

We created the help desk to better track and ensure that tickets are responded to and users are helped. Some folks do not want to post publicly what they have for questions, and to be honest I don't think that you would want to read 10 posts a day about how to license the software or what OS the software can run on.   Some users when they get answers post them on the forums some do not. We have kept the forums open for those that want to share publicly what they are doing or working on and that is the individuals choice to make and we respect that choice. We are providing support options for users in addition to forums rather then instead of the forums and in the end its the comfort level and choice of the end user. We will continue to add how to videos to our youtube channel so if there are specific things that you would like to see please let us know! Best regards, Jim. "

Hope this helps,

Tweakie.

755

Mach3 under Vista / Re: MACH 3: Errors with post processor file types in V Carve Pro

« on: January 23, 2018, 02:22:14 AM »

There is something really odd going on there.

Can you attach your .xml file.

Bottom right of main screen is your profile. In Mach3 folder copy <your profile>.xml and rename it to cole.xml and attach it to your post using Reply then the Additional; Options tab.

Tweakie.

756

Building or Buying a Wood routing table.. Beginnners guide.. / Re: Loosing my settings when I close Mach3

« on: January 23, 2018, 01:34:23 AM »

No.
Click X (top right) then confirm End Session?

Tweakie.

757

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Is Mach4 really Hobby Material?

« on: January 22, 2018, 07:38:01 AM »

Newbie question save me some time.

Is Mach4 lathe threading currently 100% functional as described in the manual for the hobby version?

and

What external controllers currently provide 100% functionality for lathe threading at this time?

Thanks,
RICH

Warp9 is expecting Mach4 threading with the ESS to be available soon.

Tweakie.

758

Building or Buying a Wood routing table.. Beginnners guide.. / Re: Loosing my settings when I close Mach3

« on: January 22, 2018, 01:39:42 AM »

Mach3 will save your settings (demo or not) when shut-down but Mach3 must be closed and shut-down properly.

Tweakie.

759

Share Your GCode / Re: Free DXF and Gcode files.

« on: January 20, 2018, 07:17:59 AM »

3Axis.co are now including .CDR files (a product of CorelDraw) and these can be easily converted to .DXF with one of the online converters - just Google CDR to DXF converter. The free software InkScape is another alternative. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkscape

Tweakie.

760

General Mach Discussion / Re: No X/Y Movement except Return To Zero. No Z except Return To Zero & Auto Tool?

« on: January 19, 2018, 01:54:25 AM »

Check that the Jog ON/OFF button (bottom centre of main screen) is turned ON (green surround).

Tweakie.