Messages

2261

General Mach Discussion / Re: XHC WHB04B "New Generation" DLL Files Needed

« on: July 16, 2019, 03:25:15 AM »

Hi,
complaints about XHC's lack of response to customer enquiries are legendary.

Do yourself a favor and buy European or US made, the companies back up there products. I use a VistaCNC pendant
and like it. Have had two occasions to require support from VistaCNC, both times perfect response.

Craig

2262

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Auto Touch Z Zero button gone!

« on: July 15, 2019, 02:46:42 PM »

Hi,
look at the screen set being used, displayed in the lower right of Machs current screen.

I suspect that somehow you have corrupted your original screenset so Mach has reverted to wxMach.set.
wxMach.set is a cut down screen set which is not editable in the regular manner. It was made in Machs early days
for testing purposes and only occasionally sees the light of day.

Craig

2263

General Mach Discussion / Re: plasma on off

« on: July 15, 2019, 02:37:39 PM »

Hi,
I would guess that it could be done, in Mach4 it would be called an Out-of-Band axis (OB). An OB can be jogged,
including velocity jogged, independently of all other axes.

The F word sets the feedrate for ALL coordinated axes. You cant have one F word for one axis and another F word
for another. As I say I'm sure Mach3 could have the equivalent of an OB axis but using the F word to control its
speed is not an option.

Craig

2264

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach 3 and surface pro 4 running windows 10

« on: July 14, 2019, 08:11:37 PM »

Hi,
yes you do have to install the controller manufacturers plugin.

Unfortunately getting information from Chinese manufacturers about their products is hard when its not
impossible, you'd swear China was in a galaxy far far away.

Craig

2265

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach 3 and surface pro 4 running windows 10

« on: July 14, 2019, 07:38:15 PM »

Hi,
can you post a picture of your controller? I think you are right about the lack of communication
between the PC and the controller.

Have you got the correct plugin for the controller installed in the plugins folder and have you
made it the active motion control plugin?

Craig

2266

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Converting Bridgeport Interact 1 Mk2 to Mach 4

« on: July 14, 2019, 06:51:04 PM »

Hi,
at the current time all of the Mach4 ready controllers are good and well supported, I suspect you would be happy with any of them.

Lets say you went with an ESS, and paired that with an MB3 breakout board, about $400 the pair . Mach4 Hobby $200
(Industrial is a worthy option $1400). So around $600.

The real cost of the conversion is the servos and the VFD. Delta A3 servos and drive will likely be over $600 each.

Craig

2267

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach 3 and surface pro 4 running windows 10

« on: July 14, 2019, 06:38:40 PM »

Hi,
you will need an external motion controller to use that PC. You CANNOT USE ANY 64BIT OS
to run Machs parallel port, you MUST use an external motion controller.
If yo really want to use Machs parallel port because its free then you need a PC with Windows7 or earlier,
32 bit only.

A UC100 (not a Chinese rip-off copy) or a 57CNCdb25 are both USB connected whereas the more
capable Ethernet SmoothStepper, 57CNC, and UC300 are all Ethernet connected.

Craig

2268

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lua Script for Hc

« on: July 14, 2019, 02:01:03 PM »

Hi,
this post needs to be on the Mach4 General Discussion board to be seen and get responses.

Craig

2269

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: touch probe function question

« on: July 14, 2019, 01:35:40 PM »

Hi,
I think your prep distance is too much. It only needs to be clear of the surface, say 0.25 inch.
I Think also your retract distance is wrong. If I'm not mistaken the retract height is relative to the nominal
surface, again 0.25 inch should be enough.

Craig

2270

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Converting Bridgeport Interact 1 Mk2 to Mach 4

« on: July 14, 2019, 01:21:43 PM »

Hi,
sounds eminently practical.

I would recommend DMM or Delta (A2 series) servos, quality at very reasonable prices.
If you are just turning on a coolant pump then a PLC is not required. Mach4 has a PLC script built in
and a ladder logic module called PMC. With a motion controller with enough spare inputs and outputs
a hardware PLC is not required.

Gallil is superb quality but you are paying for a lot of capability that you don't need. A three axis Gallil will
set you back $2000. Gallil's strength is its superb feedback control functionality....which you aren't going to use.
An Ethernet SmoothStepper ($190) or a 57CNC ($150) or a UC300 ($150), even if you bought a flash breakout
board for $200, would still be vastly cheaper than Gallil. I myself have had Ethernet SmoothStepper for six years
and can attest to its build quality and reliability.

Mach has a PWM output that when paired with a breakout board with a filter to produce an analogue voltage
means you do not require a PLC to control a spindle.

I would save money on the Gallil and the PLC to give you budget for your servos and inverter. Who knows you
may save enough to be able to afford Delta A3 series servos?

Craig