Messages

3161

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Ref All Home not working with G100

« on: August 18, 2013, 09:59:51 AM »

Personally, I'd ditch the G100 and get a different motion controller.
The G100 firmware was never really finished, and most abandoned it years ago. You might find that it needs an older version of Mach3 to work correctly. I know that most newer motion controllers sometimes need plugin updates to work with newer version of Mach3, and afaik, the G100 plugin has never been updated.

3162

General Mach Discussion / Re: recomended software

« on: August 15, 2013, 05:05:50 PM »

I'll second V-Carve Pro, but it won't do 3D carving.
I've heard good things about ArtCAM Express as well, and it can be a good value, if you don't need to many of the extra cost options.

3163

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need help with pulse per inch math

« on: August 15, 2013, 11:36:49 AM »

I'd set the switches to 1/8 step (off-off-on-on - 1600steps/rev) - 8000 is way to high and will slow you down.
The ballscrews I think are 5 turns/inch, so 1600x5 = 8000 steps/inch

3164

General Mach Discussion / Re: Really basic spindle control question

« on: August 14, 2013, 10:17:08 PM »

As far as I know, Run From Here does not work in the Demo version. If you're not seeing the dialog box for a Preparation Move, then Run From Here is probably not working for you. If I remove my license file, Run From Here will not work for me.
When you click Run From Here, Mach3 reads the g-code from the beginning up to the current line. It then asks you to click Cycle Start. Upon clicking Cycle Start, the Preparation Move dialog box will open.

In Mach3, your either in the middle of running g-code, or your not. It doesn't matter what you've done prior to using Run From Here, you always get the Dialog box to do a preparation move, which includes the option to Start the Spindle.

3165

General Mach Discussion / Re: Unwanted Circles on New Compute/new Mach Install

« on: August 12, 2013, 08:54:01 PM »

Change your IJ mode in General Config.

3166

General Mach Discussion / Re: GREMLINS in the works

« on: August 11, 2013, 07:32:01 AM »

Disable watchdogs in General Config and see if you still get errors.

3167

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Circles instead of Arcs ?

« on: August 09, 2013, 11:58:13 AM »

Try changing your IJ mode in General Config.

3168

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Newbie to CNC needs CAD/CAM to G-code assist for XZA woodworking lathe

« on: August 08, 2013, 06:37:07 AM »

No, CNC Wrapper will not work like that.

3169

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Newbie to CNC needs CAD/CAM to G-code assist for XZA woodworking lathe

« on: August 07, 2013, 08:53:36 PM »

Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be as simple as you may think.

First, will your A axis be continuously spinning, like a lathe? If so, then you'd probably only draw half of the outline. The problem, is that you'd need CAM software to properly calculate the offset of the tool as it travels along the profile. You also need to calculate roughing passes, as you won't be cutting this in one pass.
Now, I'm not aware of any CAM software out there that's designed to do this.

If the A axis will be moving by gcode, then the method I mentioned the other day would be a much easier option. Create a 3D model, and use a 4 axis CAM program like DeskProto to create the g-code.

3170

General Mach Discussion / Re: Really basic spindle control question

« on: August 05, 2013, 08:34:56 AM »

The problem for me is that if gcode is executing where an M3 has started the spindle, and then I pause gcode execution, the spindle doesn't restart when I click CycleStart.

Your spindle shouldn't be stopping when pressing feedhold. What exactly are you doing to get it to stop? Feedhold by itself doesn't stop the spindle.
If you're using Stop after Feedhold, then you should be using Run From Here, which as I mentioned before, will give you the option to Start the spindle.

I agree with Hood, that having a macro start the spindle can be very dangerous, as you may see the spindle start when you don't expect it to.
I ran into this issue while working on my auto zero during tool change macros. I realized that the only truly safe method was for the g-code to start the spindle.