Messages

4331

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3 Parallel Port cards??

« on: April 11, 2011, 08:27:31 AM »

You can probably use a jumper to enable your drives, and not have to use the paralel port, which free up 3 pins. Are you using a breakout board that allows pins 2-9 as inputs on the second port? That may help.

4332

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cambam / gMax

« on: April 10, 2011, 09:49:49 AM »

If you have Paint Shop Pro, I believe it's more of a photo editing app, like Photoshop, which works with bitmap type images. You need to use a vector based program.

4333

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cambam / gMax

« on: April 10, 2011, 08:48:52 AM »

Perhaps I’m wrong but I don’t think any of this software can produce dxf files which are needed by LazyCam. I know for fact that my Paint Shop can produce more than a dozen of different graphic files but dxf is not among them and the export function includes another half a dozen file formats but dxf is not there.

My experience is limited in this area but as far as I know I need graphics software which will produce dxf files since LazyCam can only accept dxf. Perhaps LazyCam is my limitation? If I had another CAM software I would have a wider choice of files than just dxf?

Actually, they all can save .dxf files. With a couple of exceptions.
1) Don't use any gradients or fills, because sometimes they'll be saved as thousands of line segments that you'll need to remove. Use vector tools only.
2) The major one, is that a lot of them have very poor .dxf export. This is mainly due to the fact that these programs draw with splines, or bezier curves, which don't translate well to .dxf. But there are workarounds. If using Corel, there is a .dxf exporter specifically for CNC use. It's $60
http://www.coreldrawtools.com/standard/index.html
If using Inkscape, there are several .dxf exporters for CNC use that work much better than the built in one. I haen't used them, but this one is supposed to work good.
http://www.bigbluesaw.com/saw/big-blue-saw-blog/general-updates/big-blue-saws-dxf-export-for-inkscape.html
You can always export from Illustrator or Corel into Inkscape in a neutral format (.eps or .ai?) and use the free Inkscape export.

Personally, I do what Rich does, and use AutoCAD. Import an image, and scale it to the size I want it. Then use a combination of polylines, arcs, and splines to trace the image. For complex curves, I just trace a quick spline, and then drag the nodes around to get it where I want it. When done, delete the image, and save as .v12 dxf.

When using splines in AutoCAD, I prefer to use an AutoLISP program to convert the splines into polylines. This gives more control over the # of segments you'll end up with, allowing for smoother "curves" then what you can get when saving as .v12 dxf (which converts splines to  polylines during export).

4334

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cambam / gMax

« on: April 10, 2011, 12:44:56 AM »

Most people would have trouble drawing artistic things in any program. And a really good artist can probably use Excel to draw artistic things.

But realistically, you'd probably be better off using Corel Draw, Illustrator, or Inkscape for stuff like that. And if you do a lot of "drawing", you might want to consider a pen and tablet, which is about 100 times better than drawing with a mouse.

Fwiw, the 2D drawing tools in Acad 14 are pretty much the same as the ones in 2010, and even newer. Most of the changes from R14 to 2006 were productivity related, and from 2006-2010, a lot of 3D functionality was added. I haven't looked at 2011 or 2012 yet.

4335

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z-axis Auto zero wiring

« on: April 08, 2011, 08:51:30 PM »

Cool, Thank you so much.  I tried this and it worked ............

Good thing it worked, 'cause I was throwing in the towel.

4336

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z-axis Auto zero wiring

« on: April 08, 2011, 07:19:59 PM »

How can I test for noise?
I am using an alligator clip on the cutter and an insulated plate.

I'm assuming that you have to answer the questions before it starts moving. The fact that it moves up 1", tell me that the macro is running correctly, as it's supposed to move up 1" after hitting the plate. So as I said yesterday, I think noise is triggering it.


Disconnect the wire with the clip from the breakout board, and replace it with a short wire, about 2" long.
Touching the wire to ground, should light the digitize LED. If it does, run the macro.

Touch the wire to ground to stop it. If this works, you have noise.

4337

Screen designer tips and tutorials / Re: Problem with A and B axis DRO

« on: April 08, 2011, 01:01:21 PM »

If your g-code is:

G1 X10

then both X and A move together, but if you jog X, the A doesn't move?

You have A slaved to X in Config > Slaving? Did you restart mach3 after slaving.

Are the motor tuning settings for A exactly the same as for X?

As soon as you slave them, they should jog together when using the X jog button.

4338

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: April 08, 2011, 12:57:32 PM »

Sorry, making accusations wasn't my intent.

You just made it sound like the parallel port is nearly impossible to get to work. I don't think it's any different than with any external motion device.

I think the bottom line is that a huge number of people that are new to CNC, don't have the expertise that is sometimes needed to get Mach3 to work.

4339

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: April 08, 2011, 11:40:18 AM »

And the cost of CNC will go up, as you'll be forced to use an external motion controller.

Why assume it will 'go up'? I can use a cheap PC/motherboard and a $150 motion control card and have a very nice system. No fussing with the parallel port at all. It is a lot simpler, easier and less expensive than spending days trying to find a mother board whose parallel port will work for a CNC controller or to find PCI card parallel port that will work. If my cheap PC fails I can move everything to a new PC with no fuss. In my mind the total installed and operating costs drop with an external motion control board.

I think it's safe to assume that the majority of Mach3 users use the parallel port. And these people don't have to spend days to get it working. You've been accused of "pushing" the Smoothstepper in the past, probably due to statements like this.

Right now I can buy a $50 PC on Ebay and the parallel port will work with no problem.

If the parallel port is no longer an option, then it'll cost me 4 times as much to get a PC.

In my mind, an external motion device is an unnecessary added expense.

The PC running my router was $25 on Ebay, a PIII with a 1Ghz processor. I purchased a spare motherboard an processor for another $20.

4340

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: April 08, 2011, 07:07:12 AM »

Allegedly, Windows 8 will be 64 bit only, and if it isn't it will definitely be the last 32 bit desktop OS. That's going to force the issue sooner or later.

It'll force the parallel port to disappear, rather than be supported. And the cost of CNC will go up, as you'll be forced to use an external motion controller.