Messages

661

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING

« on: June 20, 2022, 06:53:14 PM »

Hi,

Code: [Select]

mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait(inst, string.format("G53 G0 \nG53 G1 F3000 A%4.4f", ( tpos + .1 )))
To my way of thinking the G53 G0 does nothing other than put the mode in G0 or rapid mode. Note G53 is not modal, it has to be specifically mentioned whenever
you want a machine coord move.

The second line 'G53 G1 F3000 A%4.4f", ( tpos + .1 )' will cause the machine to drive the A axis to machine location 'tpos+0.1' at feedrate 0f 3000, the '%4.4f' just represents a formatted placeholder for the number.

Craig

662

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 API/SDK

« on: June 20, 2022, 06:12:08 PM »

Hi,
Mach4 is a CNC software control application....in particular to control a machine to make parts. This it does with regular three and four axis machines
without demur or any coding required.

Mach4 does offer scripting to allow you to customise your machine, and if you really want it you can get into Mach's core with an NDA. Both of these place Mach4 far ahead of the competition
in its ability to be tailored to any given machine. May I suggest trying to get permission to get inside Fanuc or Sinumeric code....and you'll be laughed at.

Only three or four weeks ago you had a thread where you were struggling to get your servos to run....did you succeed?

Mach4 is a CNC control program for making chips....not some software development environment.

Craig

663

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING

« on: June 20, 2022, 06:03:24 PM »

Hi,
the block of code does not look complete.

Code: [Select]

G53 G0\nG53 G1 F3000 A% 4.4F
G53 G0, the first line, say in machince coords (G53) execute a G0 (rapid traverse move) to..... there is no destination, ie the block is incomplete. In the event it will do nothing
\n   is a new line, so all code that comes after is a new line or block of code.
G53 G1 F3000 A% 4.4F  G53, says in machine coordinates, G1 is a cutting move at feedrate F=3000 to location A (A axis) with the number of format 4.4f, thats is four significant digits before the decimal point and
four digits after the decimal point. The issue here is that no source for the number has been nominated, who xcares about its format if there is no number?

Craig

664

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Just got my CNC it came with Mach3. Should I upgrade to Mach4?

« on: June 20, 2022, 04:24:17 PM »

Hi,

Is there an upgrade price from Mach3 to Mach4?

No, you either buy Mach3 ($175) or Mach4 ($200), there is no upgrade.

If your machine is supplied with Mach3 then it is almost certainly a pirate copy, the Chinese are shockers for doing that.

If you want to use Mach4 then you'll need an external motion controller like and ESS and a breakout board. A C10 will get you going,
but a more sophisticated breakout board will include a relay for the spindle and a PWM to analogue circuit to control speed.

If you open the controller Box and find a BSMCEO44U-PP controller card inside, you are somewhat committed to MACH3. It is Mach3 only compatible.

As has been posted this is most likely correct. I personally regard those controller boards as junk but others have been able to get them to work, but as noted, Mach3 ONLY.
Good luck.

Craig

665

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: When changing from mm to inch unit

« on: June 20, 2022, 07:49:29 AM »

Hi,
do not change the default units. Leave them alone. Now close Mach, I mean shut it right down so that all the data
gets flushed to the .ini file. Now restart.  You need to power cycle the ESS so that it reads the new firmware.

Run the code with a G20 and then with a G21. Make sure that there are no other G21/G20 commands anywhere in the Gcode file.
You should not at anytime have to revisit the motor tuning pages nor the default units page, they should stay the same.

Craig

666

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: When changing from mm to inch unit

« on: June 20, 2022, 04:08:33 AM »

Hi,

So I thought I just had to change the unit and restart it in the mach4-configure-control-machine setup modes.

No need, leave the machine setup units alone, do not adjust the steps/unit value....just apply a G20 or G21 and run the code.

I really only used cubits to demonstrate that Machs underlying units do not matter, Mach converts whatever Gcode, inch or millimeters,
you feed it to those underlying units. They could be cubits, or parsecs, or Astronomic Units, or mile-o-meters or the length of you know what!
All that is required is that you establish the correct steps/unit value, and you need never go back there again.

Mach, being US made, has always tended to be in inches. Over the years there have been a number of bugs where say the machine behaves
normally in millimeters but when jogging in moves in inches....and faults of that nature. I have not seen that bug occur in Mach4 for at least
five years.

Craig

667

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: When changing from mm to inch unit

« on: June 20, 2022, 01:03:08 AM »

Hi,

Don't you have to change the value of the motor adjustment according to the unit?

No, you do not change the motor settings with a change in units of a job.

Choose your machines native units. These units will be what Mach uses internally. You adjust the steps  per unit value to suit your chosen unit....and then leave it alone
for the life of the machine. You should never need touch them again.

The ancient Greeks used a unit called a cubit, approximatelty the length of your arm from elbow to wrist. Not very scientific but it might help to illustrate how Mach works.

Lets say that Mach had the opportunity to use cubits as native units. Further lets say that the machine takes 3427 steps to travel one cubit. Thats what you would enter in
the motor tuning page.

Lets also assume that mach knows there are 300mm in a cubit or 11.811 inches in a cubit.

When someone gives you a job say in millimeters then put a G21 at the top of the code. Mach now knows to machine a straight line of 78.4mm say, but it also knows there
are 300mm in a cubit, its native unit, so 78.4mm/300=.261333 cubits and so the trajectory planner knows to issue 0.2613333 x 3427 =895.589 steps. As the trajectory planner output is integer
it will be rounded to 896 steps.

Now let guess the same job was given to you but in inches, so 78.4mm becomes 3.0866 inches. Mach calculates 3.0866/11.811=0.261333 cubits or 0.26133 x 3427= 895.589 steps just as before.

Mach converted whatever number its was given to its native units, and then calculates the number of steps required. It does this internally.....so really it does not matter what native units you use.
My machine has metric ballscrews, 5mm pitch, so it makes sense to use metric native units. My servos are set up to require 5000 steps to rotate precisely on turn, and the axis would move precisely 5mm.
My steps per unit is 5000/5 =1000 steps per unit. So easy. If you had inch ballscrews, say 0.200/rev or 0.25/rev then using inch units would make sense. Does not matter to Mach, it does not get
confused like you or I.

Craig

668

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: CNC4PC ESS C82 mach4 setup

« on: June 19, 2022, 09:41:11 PM »

Hi,
I used 750W Delta B2 series servos in my recent mill build, they are great. They work best, or no so much best, but fastest, with
differential Step/Dir inputs. Does the C82 have differential Step/Dir outputs?

Craig

669

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 disconnecting from PMDX USB

« on: June 19, 2022, 06:09:40 PM »

Hi,
is the PMDX board USB connected?

USB is inclined to drop out with electrical noise. Try running the program but without the spindle running. The spindle is usually the electrically
noisy item in any setup. If the program runs without the spindle running the the spindle noise is the issue.

Most people start by trying to protect signal lines from noise with shielding and the likes, rather than try to reduce the noise source. A line reactor and/or
a good EMI filter on the spindle input AC line may help, as would good EMI filters on the AC input to the PC and any power supplies to the PMDX and/or breakout boards.

Finally try protecting the USB cable from noise.  A few things may help:
1) Use the shortest USB cable you can
2) Use the best quality cable you can
3) Install two, or better three split core ferrite rings approx equally spaced along the cable length.

Craig

670

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: CNC4PC ESS C82 mach4 setup

« on: June 19, 2022, 05:19:43 PM »

Hi,
your description suggests that if you have a Estop switch its reversed.

In the Ports&Pins tab of the ESS plugin reverse the Active Low/Active High setting.

Craig