Messages

181

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 V3468

« on: August 04, 2017, 06:21:29 PM »

Hi,
Does anyone have any more detail on what the following changes to Mach4 V3468 do?
SETVN Range (Start-End)
New angled meter added as a screen control in Hobby and Industrial 
Tangential planner optimized for CV
Regards,
Mauri.

182

Mach4 General Discussion / Has anyone machined using Mach4 anything with 4 Axis

« on: August 04, 2017, 06:10:27 PM »

Hi,
I am interested if anyone has used Mach4 to CNC Machine 4 Axis objects.
Regards,
Mauri.

183

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 mw sumulator problems loading

« on: July 27, 2017, 03:28:59 PM »

gorf23,
Copy your current Mach4Hobby full directory somewhere else on your computer system.
Then rename the directory to say Mach4HobbyMW.
Make sure that your have all the MW files in the Plug in.
Also make sure that in your profile you have the ModuleWorks directory.
Make sure that the Licenses are in the License directory for MW.
Then move the Mach4HobbyMW directory back to C:\
Then this will be used a the MW only and the other will be used for your Milling Machine.
If that does not work then reinstall MW onto this new directory.
Regards,
Mauri.

184

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 mw sumulator problems loading

« on: July 26, 2017, 09:01:42 PM »

gorf23,
You must have the following MW files in your Plugin Directory for MW to work. (see below)
Regards,
Mauri.

185

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Wonky Cutting

« on: July 19, 2017, 05:41:48 AM »

dq828,
You are thinking of the wrong simulation.
In Mach4 under the top menu, just the Mach4 - Hobby you have File View Configure etc.
Under Configure you "Select Motion Dev.."
Under this you select "Simulation Device"
You may have to in-tic the Controller Plugin and restart Mach4.
Then you should be good to go.
Regards,
Mauri

186

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Wonky Cutting

« on: July 19, 2017, 04:49:35 AM »

dq828,
Each machine and motor combination will have a different acceleration set as not two machine are alike.
Many factors come into play, like on a Mill how tight your gibbs are set, the size of the motor (Torque) being two.
You need to read the information provided to understand how to set and test motors in Mach4.
If you are using a Router Table and machining timber then you will most likely have a higher acceleration than say a Mill cutting Brass or Steel.
Regards,
Mauri.

187

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Wonky Cutting

« on: July 19, 2017, 04:43:43 AM »

dq828,
In the Mach4 Configuration page you will find CV Constant Velocity as well as Exact Stop, the CV need to be Ticked.
CV is an adjustable movement when approaching an 90Deg angle cut, for example say you are moving X axis at 1500 and are approaching a right angle going in the Y direction, then CV will slow the machine speed down to 100 cut the angle and then go back to 1500.
This is an alternative to doing a Exact Stop which means at the 90Deg angle it comes to a stop and the starts up again into the Y direction.

There are three ways of setting CV.
1) Using the CV Wizard as supplied by Mach4.
2) Edit machine.ini and replace all the =0 with your chosen CV Value on all 180 angles.
3) Write some code to automatically change all the 180 angles to the angle chosen.
I have used cutter TBN down to .05 Radius D-Bit on brass and the same cutter has been used for 6 days of cutting, so 100 on all angles was the best for us, it is always a compromise between speed and accuracy.

Every one has simulation, you need to select it in Config.

Regards,
Mauri.

188

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Wonky Cutting

« on: July 18, 2017, 04:39:58 PM »

dq828,
You must set the CV.
I use mm on our Mill
If you use mm then make all the same CV on all angles = 100.
If inches then CV = 4.
You can test this on the simulation Toolpath, make a small square then run it, if the corners are square at your speed then you have the right number in the CV.
Regards,
Mauri.

189

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 V3390 and HiCON

« on: July 12, 2017, 07:06:19 PM »

Hi,
We have only used the HiCON card.
The Basic card controls all the Mach4 operations as well as a spindle.
Your usage of other cards may differ depending on what equipment you have (i.e.) Stepper vs Servo etc., we use Steppers.
We also fully control Mach4 via buttons on our controller.
Regards,
Mauri.

190

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 V3390 and HiCON

« on: July 12, 2017, 03:53:21 PM »

Hi,
For those yet to decide on what controller to use with Mach4, then you should take a good look at Mach4 and HiCON (Vital Systems) as a great combination.
The system is rock solid, I can run Mach4 on the Mill as well as numerous other applications at the same time keeping the CPU continually at 100% and high disk loads and Graphics usage with no affect on the milling process.
We have been CNC milling highly detailed 2.5D images with Brass for the last month Non Stop with long runs exceeding 12 hours with TBN cutters down to .05mm radius with a very good finish, so both Mach4 V3390 and HiCON with latest drivers and firmware are processing true to the G-Code.
We have yet to try 4 Axis as Mach4 still does not display the Toolpath correctly, I am sure one day it will.
Regards,
Mauri.