Messages

881

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: The JoyStick Project example is done!!!!!

« on: October 14, 2014, 12:05:51 PM »

Just had a play............ this is very cool Scott! It is not meant to show off a joystick (though it is a practical, useful example) it is more to high-lite just one more thing that is possible in Mach4 that was not in Mach3, not realistically anyway.

Brett 

882

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: C.E. Johansson Roundness Tester Retrofitted

« on: October 13, 2014, 05:05:42 PM »

Very Cool Dan! When I saw the little bit of code in the first window I was going to ask what your secret was............ then you opened some more of it   

Good job!

Brett

883

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: JoyStick status bitmaps embedded into a screen set, BRETT's idea!!

« on: October 08, 2014, 02:02:41 PM »

That's awesome Scott! It will be hard for anyone to appreciate this unless they have attempted to do such a thing in Mach3. There were ways to do it but limited to impossible in certain cases. For example...... if you only had one page to display the joystick on you could design the one page and have one each of the five items making up the joystick on each page. That would mean you now have 5 pages. That's doable. But, lets say you had 2 joysticks. Now you would have to  create 25 pages to cover all the scenerios. Now, if you need just 4 pages to show all the possible combinations............ 100 pages.

Brett

884

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to backup Mach-3 parameters and settings

« on: September 30, 2014, 12:45:59 AM »

This is from the FAQs page. The FAQs page is an often overlooked gem. 

What Mach3 files should I backup?

At a minimum, any license files and profile XMLs (as well as any custom macros, screen sets, or brains used by those profiles) should be backed up. In practice, it may be easier to keep a current backup of the entire Mach3 directory as this ensures everything necessary to rebuild the system should be available in the event of a catastrophic failure. The definition of a current backup is one that has been done after any permanent changes have been made to the software to alter it from its previous state. This includes such things as changes to any licenses, macros, screen sets, brains, or plugins as well as the modification of any configurations. We recommend using a USB flash drive or some other portable storage device as the backup media.

http://www.machsupport.com/help-learning/f-a-q/

885

Tangent Corner / Re: We all make mistakes.

« on: September 27, 2014, 11:39:55 AM »

   You just need the right calculator Tweakie. It is amazing how the simplest things can quickly become quite complicated when you add a little acceleration or deceleration.

886

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feedrate on multi-segment curves

« on: September 26, 2014, 12:09:58 PM »

  

No problem, glad you have a solution. Mach3 is what it is as you said. The developers are working on tangential in 4 right now though and I think you guys are gong to love it.

By all means, post the pics. We like pictures.

Brett

887

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feedrate on multi-segment curves

« on: September 25, 2014, 10:42:47 PM »

I am afraid your files are not going to run like this  . You need to change your code so it is like the example.

 

888

Members Docs / Slow Zone defined

« on: September 25, 2014, 09:47:42 AM »

External motion devices may or may not support soft limits and/or have their own soft limits configuration. You will need to check with the hardware manufacturer to find out if and how their device supports soft limits.

I recommend you read and follow Section 5.6.1 of the Mach3 Mill Install and Config. Guide to configure your soft limits and slow zones. The manual covers all configuration settings but it does not define what the slow zone is very well so I will attempt to here. The slow zone is the distance away from the ends (determined by soft min. and soft max.) of travel that the axis will start slowing down. The axis will get slower and slower until it reaches the soft limit. The optimal setting for the slow zone is however far your axis will travel in the time it will take for it to go from zero velocity to max. velocity (speed) as defined in motor tuning. I would add a little for a safety factor in case that axis has skipped steps anytime since it was last referenced. The optimal slow zone will get bigger if the accel. (in motor tuning) is made longer (smaller number) because it will travel a further distance in the time it takes to go from zero speed (velocity) to max. speed (and max. speed to zero speed). In order for the soft limits to be effective you must have a solid homing (referencing) routine (home switches installed, configured and working properly or jogging to a specific point each time the machine is referenced). Obviously you must have soft limits enabled to see the benefits of them. You can enable/disable them by either clicking the soft limits button or using Script. The soft limits enabled led will be on when enabled and off when disabled.

As with all DROs in Mach, once you click in a box and type the number you must hit the enter key to set the value. Once you have made changes in the homing and limits config. dialog make sure you click ok so your changes will be saved.

889

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feedrate on multi-segment curves

« on: September 24, 2014, 06:57:00 PM »

I would be interested in knowing how the attached NC file runs. Note*** There aren't any A axis moves, this file is meant to be ran in tangential mode. Run it in the air first (as always) to check extents and what not.

890

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feedrate on multi-segment curves

« on: September 23, 2014, 06:16:06 PM »

Very neat! Post your Gcode and xml. I will have a look as soon as I can. I have a video and some notes I hope to post on tangential soon.