Messages

4791

General Mach Discussion / Re: I know XP works but I am seeing that W7 does not work so well with Mach

« on: September 15, 2010, 06:25:00 PM »

If your just buying a copy of Windows 7, an OEM copy from Newegg will be at least $100 cheaper than any version at Best Buy.

4792

General Mach Discussion / Re: New PC or Used PC?

« on: September 14, 2010, 08:06:11 PM »

I use an old Dell GX150 PIII 1 Ghz. Motherboards with processors are about $25 on Ebay. Be aware that you'll need a Dell power supply. Another $10-$15.

4793

General Mach Discussion / Re: feed rate

« on: September 14, 2010, 11:55:34 AM »

How are you doing the movement? G0? G1? or manual jogging with the keyboard?

Sounds like it's using both G0 and G1? If your using "code G0 ...." or "code G1 ....", then add a feedrate in the move.
You might also need to use SetOEMDRO command to set the current feedrate.

Really need to see the code to know for sure.

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LazyCam (Beta) / Re: LazyCam and Autocad 2011

« on: September 12, 2010, 09:41:10 PM »

Does 2011 save as v12 .dxf? That's the one you should use.
However, the file looked OK to me in 2009. I don't use LC, so can't help there.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: lazy cam to mach 3 - loss of drawing integrity

« on: September 12, 2010, 08:15:59 PM »

Mach3 does exactly what the g-code tells it to.

And your CAD drawing should be exactly what you want it to be.

Which points to LazyCAM, or the LazyCAM operator.

You might want to look at a different CAM program. Vectric's Cut2D is probably the easiest to use by a large margin, and s also quite powerful.

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Tangent Corner / Re: cnczone

« on: September 12, 2010, 07:50:44 PM »

Sorry, been out of town for the last week.

Honestly, I really don't have any an answer, as all I do there is moderate posts. The general response for these issues is to remove all cookies and clear the cache. Not sure if it'll help or not, though.

99% of the time I have no problems as all. When I do see what you guys are experiencing, refreshing the browser will load the page immediately.

I haven't been there for the last week, though, so I'll see if there are any recent issues.

4797

Tangent Corner / Re: Interesting discussion on Fine Woodworking.

« on: September 12, 2010, 07:40:55 PM »

What I've found is that people who argue that a CNC is "cheating", have no idea what's involved. They always think it's as simple as push a button and make a part. In reality, an entirely new skill set is required to get the most out of it.

CNC is just another tool. Sure, you can buy 3D models and 2D clipart and make tons of stuff with little skill. But just like building fine furniture, if you want to create high quality work that's not cookie cutter type stuff, you need to develop multiple skills to get the most from CNC.

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CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Feedrate with SS and MSM problem

« on: September 04, 2010, 06:39:08 AM »

To add to the previous post, I believe that Brian said the actual feedrates are correct, they're just displayed wrong. Test with a stopwatch and see if that's the case.

4799

General Mach Discussion / Re: BobCad w/ Mach ?

« on: September 04, 2010, 06:36:51 AM »

After years of reading BobCad horror stories at CNC Zone, I'd never even mention it to anyone looking for a CAD program.

I've seen numerous people that buy it, and then buy something else that works better. Or just plain works.

Someone above mentioned he has to hand edit his g-code. You shouldn't have to hand edit your code from a $25 CAM program, let alone a $2000 one. Or is it a $300 program?

By far the easiest to use CAM programs are the ones from Vectric. And they work. And they are quite powerful. Do yourself a favor and try their demos.

4800

General Mach Discussion / Re: Cutter compensation - Found a bug and have questions

« on: September 02, 2010, 08:59:23 PM »

By using a negative diameter, it's effectively doing the same as the opposite offset, so that's probably why your seeing the opposite offset displayed. G41 with a negative offset is the same as a G42 with a positive offset. Why don't you just have Mach3 do the full radius offset, then it'll work like you expect it to. That's how I use it.

Sorry, but I can't check as I'm getting ready for a trip and don't have much time.

As for what I said about reduced performance, ai was really referring to what you said about setting lookahead to 2 or 3.

Unfortunately, I really don't have any more information for you.