Messages

111

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Build 5036 - where did the Probe Calibration Tab go & MACH4 crashes

« on: April 02, 2023, 06:42:58 AM »

Hi,
so what is it about 5036 is that at you want or need?. I'm not aware of any features that were added....so why did you update?

Craig

112

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 driving GRBL boards and machines

« on: April 02, 2023, 12:33:06 AM »

Hi,
Mach3 works with Mach3 ready motion controllers that have a Mach3 compliant plugin or .dll file.

GRBL does not have a Mach3 plugin and cannot therefore be driven by Mach3, or as a matter of interest, Mach4 either.

Craig

113

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newby converting to Mach4 from Mach3 and scared but doing it

« on: April 02, 2023, 12:29:53 AM »

Hi,

Since A is a slave to Y is it even possible to have all 4 motors home independently?

That is Mach3 thinking....you do not slave that way in Mach4. You have a Y axis master and upto to four slaves to that master. The A axis has got
nothing to do with it.

Yes it is possible to home motors independently....however if you have one motor on one end of the gantry and another motor on the other end they
need to move together or you will wreck the gantry. It is possible to jiggle one motor back and forth a wee bit to square the gantry....if that's what your thinking.

Whats more the ESS does this automatically if thats how you set it up.

Note the attached pic has 4 axes, X,Y,Z and A and a slave motor (motor4) on the Y axis.

Craig

114

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Update Mach4 with least pain

« on: April 01, 2023, 07:09:34 PM »

Hi,
I use Bills strategy also. I have only manual tool change and must perforce touch off in Z every toolchange.

I use Fusion and its really quite convenient for this procedure.

I do the CAD per normal then go to the CAM section. I do all the tool operations say with the 1.5mm four flute endmill
on one material setup. It's very useful to think about and decide early on a work zero that will remain consistent throughout
multiple operations.

Now when I want to swap tools to 1/8th or 1/4 say, I make a new setup, but Fusion offers the convenience of re-using the existing material setup,
and if you have chosen the work zero appropriately then you can retain the same work zero, at least X and Y, but touch off the Z alone and zero at the tool change.

Fusion applies a post processor to each setup, thus with the two setups which are essentially replicas, I end up with two toolpath files, and I name them OP1, OP2 etc. Its quite
convenient. Most importantly NO-COCKUPS!

Craig

115

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Build 5036 - where did the Probe Calibration Tab go & MACH4 crashes

« on: April 01, 2023, 06:29:52 PM »

Hi,
my understanding is that from build 5000 certain sections of the Mach4 code run very much faster than they used to which in turn leads to
a race condition in some, maybe all, the Mach4 ready motion controllers. I may be mistaken but probing is an area where a race condition occurs
and results in faulty behaviour.

NFS has notified all the motion controller manufacturers and they are altering their respective plugins to accommodate the latest Mach builds. Where your
motion control board is at in terms of the updates required is best answered by the manufacturer.

Unless there is a specific need to have the latest build may I suggest to wind back to an earlier and fault free build. Give the motion control manufacturers a chance
to catch up to Mach4.

Craig

116

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 software crash at same point in gcode

« on: March 29, 2023, 04:49:28 PM »

Hi,
Mach4 adheres very strictly to the Gcode definition of Fanuc21i, being as close to an industry standard as there is.

A lot of the sloppy Gcode tricks that Mach3 used to accommodate will just not wash with Mach4. Look for any Mach3 shortcut G82 cycles,
they will stop Mach4.

For example this PCB drilling code would work with Mach3:

Code: [Select]

N00340 G82 X-33.4000 Y25.4000 Z-2.2000 F300   R2.0000  P0.100000
N00350 G82 X-35.7750 Y24.1250
N00360 G82 X-38.9500 Y32.9000
N00370 G82 X-40.4750 Y9.5250 
N00380 G82 X-42.1000 Y13.3000
N00390 G82 X-48.3000 Y2.6500 
N00400 G82 X-49.4500 Y18.5000
N00410 G82 X-51.8000 Y33.2500
N00420 G82 X-5.7500 Y10.5000
N00430 G82 X-57.7500 Y34.5500
N00440 G82 X-5.8250 Y17.2750
N00450 G82 X-59.5000 Y13.5000
N00460 G82 X-13.1500 Y33.5000
N00470 G82 X-17.2750 Y27.0250
N00480 G82 X-1.9750 Y32.9750
N00490 G82 X-19.7500 Y26.9500
Whereas this code works with Mach4 and is near identical and was derived from the Mach3 code, but adheres to the stricter definition of G82

Code: [Select]

N00340 G82 X-33.4000 Y25.4000 Z-2.2000 F300   R2.0000  P0.100000
 X-35.7750 Y24.1250
 X-38.9500 Y32.9000
 X-40.4750 Y9.5250 
 X-42.1000 Y13.3000
 X-48.3000 Y2.6500 
 X-49.4500 Y18.5000
 X-51.8000 Y33.2500
 X-5.7500 Y10.5000
 X-57.7500 Y34.5500
 X-5.8250 Y17.2750
 X-59.5000 Y13.5000
 X-13.1500 Y33.5000
 X-17.2750 Y27.0250
 X-1.9750 Y32.9750
 X-19.7500 Y26.9500
While it might appear that the line numbers are the difference, that is a red herring, note how the Mach3 code will accept an abbreviated G82 block like

 G82 X-51.8000 Y33.2500  the Mach4 compliant block is like this:

 X-51.8000 Y33.2500

So in Mach4 the G82 is modal and thus an X,Y coordinate carries on in the same mode and works, where the Mach3 code attempts to use a shortened G82 which is
contrary to the ANSI definition of G82 and such a shortened block is unacceptable in Mach4.

Craig

117

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Update Mach4 with least pain

« on: March 29, 2023, 03:23:13 PM »

Hi,
to answer the question about updating.

If you download a new build of Mach4 then you'll also get a new copy of wx4.set, wx6.set etc and all the standard screen sets. If you have an existing
copy of lets say wx4.set and you have been adding and editing bits of it then it will get overwritten and all your edits will be lost.

What you need to do is your current screen set, whatever it is called, you need rename it to give it a unique mane. Then when you update to a later build it will be left
alone, and you can carry on using the same scree set but in a later build.

Craig

118

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newby converting to Mach4 from Mach3 and scared but doing it

« on: March 29, 2023, 02:39:46 PM »

Hi,

You are somewhat correct but I changed to"G00 G53 Z-.5\nG00 X0 Y0 A0\nG00 Z0") in the G53 and it still stopped.

Yes, that will work, but that also means that the machine Z zero is at the very top of the axis and that is where the Limit switch is.
If you have any code that calls for a G28 or G30 for instance you're going to run into the same problem.

I would suggest that you experiment with Home Offset. It does a very similar thing but makes the Z zero just inside the Limit switch.
Then you can go to Z zero without triggering a Limit. That is what Home Offset is for, and indeed it worked in identical fashion in Mach3
so has been around for twenty years.

You are correct, when you use wx4.set you get A axis moves, being the fourth axis. If you have a three axis machine you need to strip them out.

Craig

119

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 software crash at same point in gcode

« on: March 29, 2023, 02:28:47 PM »

Hi,

It really frustrates me that Mach4 just cant be stable for a long time...... i use the machine sporadically, so it could be switched off for 2 months and the amount of times it has changed itself is just weird.. i have never had any other software that does this.

I've been using Mach4 for eight years and my experience is exactly opposite to yours. At one stage  (about a year ago) I had a build 38nn (can't remember now which exact one)
and that had been in place and on my machine for three-four years. I then updated to 4612 about a year ago...an its still trucking along.
I don't turn my machine off unless I'm doing something that requires I isolate the incoming AC supply. It will literally be on for months at a time,
I actually have to turn it off every once in a while or the memory fragments too much.

Craig

120

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS 2.83 With C 53 encoder input board Mach 4

« on: March 29, 2023, 12:09:45 AM »

Hi,
I use Delta B2 servos, ie the entry level version WITHOUT the secondary feedback loop. Given that I have ground THK C5 ballscrews I believe my accuracy demands, say 0.0mm or better
are reached without recourse to linear scales. As it turns out  the cheap Chinese linear scales are just not that good, and if you want the real deal like Hiedenhan then you pay huge
dollars.

I use an Ethernet SmoothStepper as motion control and an own design breakout board.

The main benefit to the centroid I could see was that we could use the original DC servos and for his machine it was more of a plug and play and he could have support other than me.

To be honest retaining the original DC servos is NOT a bonus. Yes; they can be made to perform well but requires considerable tuning, cost and complexity with respect to the motion controller.
Quite frankly my 750W Delta B2 servos ($438USD/each) make old school DC servos look like absolute muppets. The extra dollars you spend on a feedback capable controller like a Galil or a Centroid
will probably tip the balance in dollar terms alone by replacing the old DC servos and getting some decent AC servos. You never know you might find some twat to buy the old DC stuff....
you'd have money left-over to get really pissed! Do it before the twat realises what a mistake he's made.

Craig