Messages

21

Mach4 General Discussion / When will a new Production release of Mach4 replace the V4300

« on: May 23, 2020, 04:40:52 PM »

Hi,
The Mach4 V4300 has been on the Production status since August 2019.
The program has a number of issues.
V4322 Fixes these issue.
We are now at V4498 that has many more issues fixed and improvements made over the V4300 version.
I cannot see how anyone would use V4300 especially if cutting 4 axis models on a rotary axis.
I would like to know when we will all get a new release with no issues so we can do some machining with confidence.
Regards,
Mauri.

22

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on 4 Axis Toolpath?

« on: January 13, 2020, 10:01:55 PM »

SMAV,
The only way it will display correctly on the Toolpath is if the Top of your chess piece is Z=0 and Z=0 in the Mach4 setting.
If Z is set to anything else it will NOT display correctly in the Toolpath, however it will cut correctly.
This makes it very difficult when cutting anything but a previse round shape to the accuracy you want to cut.
For example if you are cutting it out on say a 25mm diameter steel rod that is accurate then if the G-Code has Z=0 as the top of the Rod you intend to machine then it will display correctly in the Toolpath as well as display correctly.
So when you load your G-Code it will display correctly, however as soon as you enter the correct Z height it will not display correctly.
In other words Z being ZERO at the Centre of the Part then it will NOT display correctly, but Z = 0 at the TOP of the Part then it will.
So until the fix this issue, it is best to ignore it.
Regards,
Mauri.

23

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 cv tuning wizard slider inoperable

« on: September 21, 2019, 03:49:45 PM »

Hi,
CV can be tricky to use.
I use it with our Mill which has a max speed of 1000mm/min and the Router Table with a max speed of 4000mm/min.
On the Mill we have carved in brass 1mm lettering and intricate line drawings using .05mm rad cutters with great results under the microscope.
Depending on what is being machined and the amount of axis used plus the accuracy of the machine you initially set up the CV say X and Y and .0100mm.
After processing what I do is then reduce the feedrate on each angle to say 150 being the Max the rest I leave as is, this for example produces very good lettering results.
Mine is an automated process, so I can make the Max Feedrate any number I need depending on which machine I am using and what I am cutting.
But you can manually edit machine.ini where the CV federate is display and make the max federate changes there.
Regards,
Mauri.

24

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Controller buttons and lights no longer function from Mach4 V4295 to V4310

« on: September 20, 2019, 11:54:28 PM »

Hi,
My mistake.
Problem solved, I had started Mach4 without the HiCON plugin and that caused my HiCON settings in Mach4 to be removed.
Reentered all my settings and all works as it should (Controller and Buttons work as normal).
No issues with Mach4 V4310 works fine with HiCON on the Mill.
Regards,
Mauri.

25

Mach4 General Discussion / Controller buttons and lights no longer function from Mach4 V4295 to V4310

« on: September 20, 2019, 07:27:06 PM »

Hi,
I am not sure if there are any users that have Controllers with full button control with Mach4.
I have been using it with our Mill and HiCON for many years with no issues.
I have Signal Scripts for each button and when pressed while Mach4 V4284 to V3804 is running enable the lights and function perfectly.
Enable/Disable
Cycle Start
Cycle Stop
Feed Hold
Enable/Disable Spindle
MPG E-Stop
E-Stop
However I have tested every Mach4 V4295 to V4310 and with this Mach4 program versions the buttons no longer function, in other words no longer communicate with Mach4.
Does any one know what has changed in the signal scripts for this to no longer function?
Regards,
Mauri.

26

Mach4 General Discussion / Things you need to know about Toolpath when performing 4/5 Axis processing.

« on: July 19, 2019, 07:56:24 PM »

Brian and others at Mach4.
This has been a long saga, and when programmers are programming they do not always take into consideration the real world.
Please review the attached PDF and see if in someway you can fix the Mach4 Toolpath so it actually can be used in the real world of machining for any user performing 4/5 Axis processing on a Mill or Router Table.
Having a program that displays correctly in Simulation Only is not what users I am sure want.
Regards,
Mauri.

27

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mill Profile Initialisation String

« on: July 07, 2019, 08:03:42 PM »

Craig,
Interesting question.
If you make the Label Code "Blank" it will show nothing.
The list of G-Codes is part of the system.
For example if you change you default settings from "mm" to "inch" then your will see G21 go to G20 on that list of codes after a Mach4 Restart.
However like you I cannot find any anywhere else that makes a difference.
Steve is the person who knows.
Regards,
Mauri.

28

HiCON Motion Controller / Re: Mach4, Home backoff limits

« on: June 30, 2019, 10:01:37 PM »

Boots,
Below are my settings as an example.
Regards,
Mauri.

29

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath Display with 4 Axis

« on: June 30, 2019, 09:47:19 PM »

Hi,
The GPU heat issue:
Make all your Screen sets with the main screen so it is not displaying the Toolpath (make a tab display window or a button display window).
All PC's doing long cutting runs will overheat especially during the hot weather when continually displaying to the Toolpath.
This is worst with NVidia cards up to 100% GPU usage followed by No Video card 75% and lastly AMD 60% (all depends on file sizes).
All will soon after start running hot with the auto fan control cards eventually running the fans at 100%.
When not displaying the Toolpath then the GPU will be no more than 1% usage.

The crap image Toolpath issue:
After some more testing on three different machines with the CNC machines, I found that I could not see the forest for the trees.
The main reason for the 4 Axis Toolpath display issues are that All Axis must be set to Zero before loading the G-Code.
On 4 axis I and many others set the g-code Z point as the Centre of the Job, however Mach4 Toolpath wants to load the g-code with all Axis at Zero, so if your starting cut is set to say 50mm up and that is what you set the Z axis to in Mach4 and then load the g-code file, then it will display essentially a crap image.
Once the G-Code is loaded and displayed correctly, then set Z Axis to 50mm and run the code and all will display OK in the Toolpath.
If at any time you get a crap image then restart Mach4 and make sure the Axis are set to zero and then load the file.
Sorry for all the previous dialog above.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Mauri.

30

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath Display with 4 Axis

« on: June 28, 2019, 09:27:58 PM »

Craig,
Amazing both did at the same time.
Regards,
Mauri.