Messages

81

Mach Screens / Re: OEMCode 84

« on: January 03, 2007, 04:58:18 PM »

Hi,

Try 103 for the button and 83 for the led. 84 is the CV feed enabled led.

Check the Mach Wiki for the lists of buttons, leds, etc. 

Regards,

82

General Mach Discussion / Re: Version R2.0.030 and Z plate problem

« on: January 03, 2007, 12:40:27 AM »

?? Umm....no.  It works fine now.  If anything, it still sets it a little tight, but I can deal with that. 

The first release of Mach3 R2.0.030 really messed with though! 

83

General Mach Discussion / Re: Version R2.0.030 and Z plate problem

« on: January 01, 2007, 05:07:08 PM »

Thanks Brian,

The ProbeVar and the revised revision works much better.  Thanks for the probe var tip, I've looked through the wiki from one end to the other, but missed that.  I had to do a search to dig it out.  Guess I just wasn't looking hard or long enough to find it.   

I knew that the problem of the variance with my plate thickness was a slight overrun of the Z axis (you could feel it), but didn't know of a better way to do it than to adjust my plate thickness and keep the feedrate the same each time.

I'm thinking that many of the Ascension/ShopBot conversions are running a Z-zero routine similar to Gary's or mine and it would be a good idea for anyone that is to revise their macro.  I changed mine from the one that Gary is using because I didn't like the G92 offsetting and changing my work coodinates each time I zeroed and since I use a variation of the same file with a touch off for X & Y fixture location, the G92 really messed things up.  The variance between plate thickness and the position was a problem then too.

Happy New year all!

 

84

General Mach Discussion / Re: Version R2.0.030 and Z plate problem

« on: December 30, 2006, 11:42:35 PM »

Hi Brian,

I tried it with the added "While IsMoving Wend" and the results are the same.  Here's what I have found, but I'm not sure what's going on though.  If I manually zero the Z axis (paper drag under bit and zero the Z DRO), then G0 Z2 and run the macro, the Z axis retracts to approximately 3.6875" while the DRO reads 2.0".  This is a difference of 1.6875". 

My zero plate thickness is set at 0.3040" (more on this later), add that to 1.6875" and you get 1.9915" pretty close to the 2" retraction that is set in the macro. 

Now to really make things strange, the actual caliper measured thickness of my plate is 0.3125", but I've always had to fool Mach by telling it that it was 0.3040" in order for it to zero correctly.  1.6875" + 0.3125" is 2.0". 

For some reason the G31 is taking the distance that it has moved to get to the plate and adding it onto the set retract height.  If I were to run it twice without changing the Z position, it would go to 5.375" and read 2.0 on the DRO.

Again, this all works fine previous to R2.0.030 with the exception of the odd plate thickness setting needed.

 

Thanks,

85

General Mach Discussion / Re: Version R2.0.030 and Z plate problem

« on: December 30, 2006, 07:54:43 PM »

Thanks Gary,

At least I know I'm not losing it.   Couldn't figure out why I was cuttin' air when I had just zeroed it.  I tried to zeroed it again and I was set to cut even more air! 

86

General Mach Discussion / Version R2.0.030 and Z plate problem

« on: December 30, 2006, 06:40:34 PM »

I have a  Z-zeroing routine that touches off a plate.  With version R2.0.030, when the plate is touched and the Z is supposed to retract to a set height of 2" it goes to approx. 3.5".  If run a second time, it retracts even further.  I can't seem to find what may have changed in the latest version that may be causing this, but it seems to have something to do with G31 probing in any axis.  I reverted back to version R2.0.029 and it works fine.  I have a custom screen set with some added DRO's for this zeroing routine, but I don't see anything that should conflict with it.

Here's the script for the Z-zero routine.
 

CurrentFeed = GetOemDRO(818) 'Get the current feedrate.
PlateThickness = GetUserDRO(1151) 'You could put your z-plate thickness here instead
ProbeFeed = GetUserDRO(1152) 'You could put a probing feedrate here instead.


Code "G90 F" &ProbeFeed

If GetOemLed (825)=0 Then
Code "G4 P5" 'Time to get to the z-plate
Code "G31Z-5 F" &ProbeFeed
While IsMoving()
Wend
Call SetOemDro (802, PlateThickness)
Code "G4 P0.5" 'Pause for Dro to update.
Code "G0 Z2.0" 'Change the Z retract height here
Code "(Z axis is now zeroed)"
Code "F" &CurrentFeed
Else
Code "(Z-Plate is grounded, check connection and try again)"
Exit Sub
End If

Regards,

87

Mach Screens / Re: newbie question

« on: December 29, 2006, 10:31:55 AM »

Mark,

I don't know if you noticed, but that button has a VB script applied to it in Mach.  If you go to Operator/Edit Button Script and click on that button (in Mach), the script will open in the VB script editor.  If you look at the script applied to the button on the offsets page, that same script should be applied to the copy that you placed on the main page.  You may want to place a small DRO next to it with the same properties as the one on the offsets page also.

You can leave the Jog button as is and instead of copying the "set tool offset" button and resizing it (resizing it will make it hard to read because it's a bitmap button), you can add a plain button in screen4 and when you double click on it, you can put "Set Tool Offset" in the button text field and check the "VB Script Function" button.  You can then copy and paste the script in Mach from the button on the offsets page to the one you placed on the main page.  By making your own plain button, it can be made smaller to fit in somewhere easier.  It's a good idea to close the file in Screen4 before you edit the script in Mach and then if needed reopen it to make any layout changes.

Resizing is done by changing the values in the button properties or by dragging the handles when the button is selected.  It is easier to select some buttons if you turn off the background bitmap with the IMG button at the top of Screen4.

Hope this helps a bit.  Keep pluggin' away at it and you'll get it. 

88

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Yes/No or Ok/Cancel dialog

« on: December 28, 2006, 12:21:14 PM »

I worked on this a bit while away for the holidays and I have one problem.  The GetCoord dialog pops up behind Mach3 and I can't seem to come up with a way of making it pop up in front of Mach3.  I have to go to the taskbar and click on it to bring it to the front.

Here's what I have.

Thanks.


'TLC Logo

Sub Main ()
    Begin Dialog ZeroToolCheck 200, 50, "Do you have the bit zeroed on the material?"
               
    OKBUTTON 50, 25, 40, 12
    CANCELBUTTON 100, 25, 40, 12
       
    End Dialog
    Dim Dlg1 As ZeroToolCheck
   
    Button = Dialog(ZeroToolCheck)
       
If Button = 0 Then Exit Sub 'Dialog returns -1 for OK, 0 for Cancel


Code "(TLC Logo)"
GetCoord ("Desired X & Y location for the center of the logo")
Xloc=GetXCoor
Yloc=GetYCoor
If Xloc <= 0 Then Exit Sub
If Yloc <= 0 Then Exit Sub
While IsMoving ()
Wend
Code "G0 X" &Xloc & " Y" &Yloc
While IsMoving ()
Wend
Code "G92 X0 Y0"
While IsMoving
Wend

LoadRun ("C:\Mach3\GCode\TLC Logo.tap")

End Sub

89

General Mach Discussion / Re: Custom Icons, How?

« on: December 28, 2006, 12:15:31 AM »

If you have a profile of your own set up, you'll want to be sure that the shortcut target is made to look for that profile by appending the target with  /p "Your Profile Name Here" without the quotes.  Then, yes, right click and rename the shortcut to "Bretts Mill" or "Bretts Mach3.   

Regards,

90

General Mach Discussion / Re: Custom Icons, How?

« on: December 27, 2006, 11:33:29 PM »

You can make a shortcut to your profile with this in the shortcut properties target field "C:\Program Files\Mach3\Mach3.exe" /p YourProfile.  Then give a different name that the installer won't overwrite.