Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Announcement: MachStdMill screen set - release target

« on: July 12, 2010, 04:23:20 PM »

Dave, I attended your sessions at the workshop and came away very impressed.  I'm looking forward to getting V4 installed on my Bridgeport and actually cutting some metal!

Andy

12

Screen designer tips and tutorials / Screen Designer under WIN2K?

« on: July 12, 2010, 04:05:34 PM »

I tried to install Screen Designer under Windows 2000, SP4.  The install failed.  I went back to the original description on Klauss' site and it says that Screen Designer is supported on XP, Vista and Windows 7.  Has anyone succeed in running it under WIN2K or am I wasting my time?

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Set Z to zero automatically?Auto tool zero questions

« on: November 20, 2009, 10:51:11 AM »

I've read through this thread. It's obviously packed with info on how to make the edge finder and z probe. Two problems: it's very lengthy and a whole lot of it is gibberish to me. I was wondering if maybe I could boil it down to a third-grader's level with just a few steps and let you guys see if it makes sense. I have a fully functional CNC router with Gecko 201s, a Bob Campbell break out board, limit switches on the X and Y (none on the Z). I have parallel port. I want the zero systems badly. I don't need any help on how to make the plates. What I do need is the wiring and software know-how. As best I could tell from the thread I need to pick "probe" and "low" from the Mach program. I need two wires coming from the BOB. I need to download a screen program to create a screen with buttons and lights for operating the probe. Is that about it? I want to do it in the least difficult way and make it fancy later.

1. I understand I need the so-called Screen 4 package downloaded and installed. Yes/No
2. I understand I need to insert some script which I can copy from one of you guys. Yes/No
3. I understand I need wires coming from the BOB but I don't know which terminals Yes/No

Is this about it? Can you tell me which terminals on the BOB?

My sincere thanks, BB

www.ProjectCNC.wordpress.com

1. Yes - this package lets you modify the Mach3 screens to include the buttons and DRO's that will operate with the z-zero plate

2. Yes - This script is what runs when you click on the buttons that you have defined in  Screen4.  It is the program that moves the z-axis downward until contact is made with the plate, resets the z-dro to the value of the z-axis at the time of contact, and then retracts the z-axis.  There are several different scripts posted either here or CNCZone.

3. Yes - you will have to assign and connect an unused input on your BOB to the contact plate.  You will have to configure this input as a probe input in Mach3.  I'm unfamiliar with your specific BOB so I can't provide any guidance there.

I know you are looking for a "cook book" answer as how to make this all work for you.  That is how I started out also.  The problem is that your setup is different than mine, how you use your equipment is different than what I do with mine so there is no one "answer".

My experience was that after a somewhat frustrating and time consuming start, I finally figured out how to make this work for me.  On top of that, I now have learned enough that I can easily customize other aspects of Mach3 and make it work better for me.

Good Luck!

Andy

14

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: LAZYCAM MANUAL

« on: November 16, 2009, 04:24:03 PM »

Rich,

Thanks so much for the manual.  It has unraveled many of the LC mysteries and is very helpful.

Andy

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: There is a God!!!!!Keygrabber Axis Gain question

« on: October 30, 2009, 05:47:08 PM »

Brett

Thanks for the reply.  The 5th axis works just like all of the others.  I can control the direction and speed of the Z-axis depending on which direction and how far I twist the stick.  The problem is that Keygrabber won't save the setting for the 5th axis.  Whenever I bring up Keygrabber, the 5th axis appears in the Joystick table but it is always disabled.  So I assign it to the Z-axis, start Mach3 and I'm good until next time.  All five axis appear under the "Joystick" tab of Keygrabber.

I'm not sure that I understand your reference to analog mode.  The joysick has five axis that have variable postions, not just on/off like the switches.  The single stick can be moved left or right, moved forward or backward, and twisted clockwise or counterclockwise.  These motions can be done simultaneously.  These show up as axis 1, 2, and 5 in Keygrabber.  There are also two sliders (Saitek calls them throttles) that show up as axis 3 and 4 in Keygrabber.  There are a bunch of buttons and switches that appear under the "HID buttons" tab of Keygrabber.  I've been able to assigned a few of these without any problems.

From reading the thread, I got the impression that your were able to achieve motion in multiple axis simultaneously.  When I run the same joystick using Art's joystick plugin and I move the stick diagonally, the mill table moves diagonally.  Under Keygrabber, if I do the same thing, the table will move only in one axis.  It seems to depend on which direction I started moving the stck first.  I have to return it to the neutral position before I can start movement along the other axis.

Andy

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: There is a God!!!!!Keygrabber Axis Gain question

« on: October 30, 2009, 10:32:53 AM »

Reading this thread inspired me to try using Keygrabber with my Saitek AV8R-01 joystick.  Prior to this, I've been using Art's joystick plugin but it allows me to only control the X and Y Axis. 

The AV8R joystick has a usb connection and five axes of control: Joystick axis 1 - left & right motion, Joystick axis 2 - up & down motion of the stick, Joystick axis 3 - left throttle, Joystick axis 4 - right throttle, and Joystick axis 5 - clockwise & counter clockwise twist of the stick.

I set up axis 1 to control the X-axis, axis 2 to control the Y-axis and axis 5 to control the Z-axis. Saved the settings and started Mach3 from within Keygrabber.  All was good (well almost).  The joystick controlled the axes as expected.  However, when I restarted Mach3 through Keygrabber, the axis 5 setting was reset to "disabled".  I did check the time & date stamp on the default.grab file and it corresponds to the time that I changed it.  I went back and reassigned axis 5 and axes 3 and 4, saved and restarted Keygrabber.  Axes 1-4 were as assigned, axis 5 was again reset to "disabled"  Anyone have a clue why this is happening and how to get around it?

The second problem that I encouter ed was with jogging more than one axis simultaneously.  With the plugin, I could move the X and Y simultaneously.  With Keygrabber, I can only jog one axis at a time.  I checked that the slow jog rate is set to 100%  Any suggestions here?

As a reference, I'm running Mach3 Rev R3..042.029 under XP.  The version of Keygrabber.exe 4.0.0.11.

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Andy

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Set Z to zero automatically?Auto tool zero questions

« on: October 13, 2009, 05:31:37 PM »

Greg:

 Finally got everything working and am extremly pleased with the results.  Thanks very much for posting this project and guiding me to it.  I made a few changes to the script and posted it on CNCzone.  Now its on to implementing the laser crosshairs.

Again, thanks very much - Andy

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Set Z to zero automatically?Auto tool zero questions

« on: September 25, 2009, 09:48:26 AM »

Greg: 

Thank you for your response.  I will read through the thread that you suggested.  Last night I found and went through the Scripting Tutorial which helped a lot.

Hood:

Thank you for your response.  After going through the tutorial, what you said make more sense to me.  This weekend I'll just have to try a few things.  I now realize how powerful these scripting features are.  I just need to master them!

Andy

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Set Z to zero automatically?Auto tool zero questions

« on: September 24, 2009, 01:18:44 PM »

I read through this thread several times and it appears that this is exactly what I want: a Z-axis auto-zero function using an additional button and user DRO's on the main Mach3 screen.  I got the probe wired up, enabled it in Mach3 and Mach3 seems to recognize a "touch". 

The harrdware and configuration seem to be OK but I get lost as how to modify the screen to add the buttons and DRO's and how to install the scrtipt behind these.  I've played with Screen4 a bit.  I kind of undrestand some of the scripts that are posted earlier in this thread but somehow I'm missing the actual steps necessary to put all the pieces together.

Could someone point me in the right direction?  Please use small words and short sentences as I get confused easily

20

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Lazy Cam tool offsets. Do I need Lazy Cam Pro?

« on: September 09, 2009, 12:54:18 PM »

...That said, I respect your opinion astr, but disagree with it. 
RICH

I keep hoping that the LC quirks will be resolved but keeping tripping over stuff that is very frustrating and I don't have the time to figure out a work around.  For example, I wanted to cut out a relatively simple shape that I import as a dxf file.  Using the offset feature and a 0.25" diameter end mill, LC will not generate a tool path.  If I redefine the diameter of the end mill to be 0.2495" or 0.2505" it works.  Set it back to 0.2500 and again it fails.  This is only my most recent experience. 

As a toy, LC can be fun to play with.  As a tool that only works only while standing on one leg and when Mercury aligns with Mars, is not very productive.