Messages

111

General Mach Discussion / Re: Question about 2nd parallel port/extra inputs/hardware buttons.

« on: August 18, 2015, 08:11:00 PM »

I LIKE the sound of VERY dependable!  Looking around, I bumped into the PoKeys device which looks good too.  The price is not too  far off the I-Pac2 and the sub forum here has very good support.

From what I've read about 2nd P/P setup  issues, the other options look like they may have less installation misery although I can mess up just about anything.  Gotta do more research!

112

General Mach Discussion / Re: Question about 2nd parallel port/extra inputs/hardware buttons.

« on: August 18, 2015, 01:42:25 PM »

Very interesting device Gerry; thanks!  Gotta do some studying up on that little gizmo.  If I'm understanding correctly, it will take hardware button inputs & send them to Mach via a USB port yet still leave the keyboard & mouse operable?

113

General Mach Discussion / Re: Question about 2nd parallel port/extra inputs/hardware buttons.

« on: August 18, 2015, 10:27:20 AM »

Thanks for the input Terry, you make it sound so simple.   "...create a simple macropump or brain..."  I have no idea what that means.  I'll be reading up on that stuff and will probably be asking a few questions later this year when I get time to tackle the project.

My goal is to have a setup that allows me to stick the keyboard & mouse somewhere out of the way while running parts.  The initial setup would most likely require using keyboard & mouse but I'd love to use buttons only when doing repetitious stuff.  Should have far fewer "Why the heck did it do THAT" moments.

114

General Mach Discussion / Question about 2nd parallel port/extra inputs/hardware buttons.

« on: August 17, 2015, 10:02:53 PM »

I'm thinking about adding manual push buttons to my lathe to activate Cycle Start, Stop, Spindle, Coolant, etc, etc.  The lathe is controlled via the P/P.  I have on hand one of the add-on P/P cards that supposedly play well with Mach.  Haven't installed it yet...that agony comes later.  I've been reading about the many problems with that process but I'll face it when the time comes.

The question I have is it feasible to do this?  I assume I'll need a 2nd B.O.B. to accept the inputs from the buttons to feed into Mach.  I'll then need to learn what to do inside of Mach to make things happen when the buttons are pushed.  Don't need all the gory details yet, just a general idea if it will work and a rough outline of what is required.

Thanks in advance for any input ya'll may have.

115

General Mach Discussion / Re: XYZ Can't Find switches Why!

« on: August 09, 2015, 02:18:40 PM »

It's been a while but I had homing problems on my lathe too.  Did you look at the Config>Homing/Limits screen?  There's several options for each axis there & if I recall correctly I had to just toggle the various options until it worked.  Not very scientific but hey, sometimes ya' just gotta do whatever works.

Add almost 13 years onto your 55 & see what that feels like.

116

General Mach Discussion / Re: Perfect Lathe threading

« on: August 06, 2015, 02:25:16 PM »

SWEET!

Now I know what to ask Santy Claus for this year.

117

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine goes wild with uncontrolled jog

« on: July 30, 2015, 10:05:57 AM »

WOW!   That's surprising.  Does it happen in Turn as well?  I use shift/arrow keys multiple times during every session on my lathe and have never had the problem.  Maybe I just naturally hold down the shift key and therefore don't see the problem.  Thanks for the heads up.  I'll need to do some testing now.

118

General Mach Discussion / Re: Missing program

« on: July 29, 2015, 03:05:32 PM »

Dunno if this applies to your problem but it may be of help to someone down the road that reads this thread.

On my machine, (refitted ORAC) the majority of weird & strange things that either start on their own, stop on their own or disappear on their own occur because I accidentally left the mouse pointer on an onscreen button.  Thereafter, machine vibration, flying chips or green elves cause an unwanted mouse click & weird stuff happens immediately.  I thought mine was possessed by the devil after a few unwanted Cycle Starts & Spindle starts (and stops) occurred.  I came very close to drawing blood a couple times.

I've now made it a habit to park the mouse pointer somewhere harmless after every use.  Probably all of our machines should have control panels with hard buttons but that's not going to happen!

119

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn OD sphere wizard

« on: July 15, 2015, 05:33:29 PM »

OK, have installed '062, worked out how to restore the right xml, and tested the wizards out.  Work exactly as expected, no crashes.

Thanks John, that's good to know.  I'm waiting for the sun, moon & planets to align themselves properly & when they do, 062 will be installed on the ORAC.  Now where did I put that Voodoo doll...

120

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn OD sphere wizard

« on: July 15, 2015, 08:27:30 AM »

I think 062 is the most commonly used version now for turn.  I've been using 057 for a long time on my lathe.  I keep saying I'll go to 062 but I'm nervous about changing.  Me, superstitious? Nah.