Messages

681

General Mach Discussion / Re: How to?

« on: October 23, 2008, 11:13:20 AM »

Do you mean G code Programming for parts, or do you mean the unique ability of Mach to let you extend the program by writing Plug-ins or Wizards?

The Gcode is pretty well detailed in the Mach user documnets. There ar ealso documnets on writing wizards and plug-in in the Customizing docs and wicki on this site.

682

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach Workshop at Cabin Fever Expo

« on: October 23, 2008, 11:08:52 AM »

The York PA area has many hotels and lots of restaurants. We have made a group deal with the
 
Holiday Inn Holidome and Conference Center
2000 Loucks Road
York, PA 17404
Phone: 800-992-0613
             717-846-9500

There is a group rate of $89 per night. Be sure to tell them you are part of the Mach CNC Workshop at Cabin Fever Expo to get this rate.

We will be having our group reception on Friday Night at this Holiday Inn.

There are many other Hotels around the Rt 30 Beltway around York PA, all within 5 miles or so of the York fairgrounds The Cabin Fever Expo web site at http://www.cabinfeverexpo.com/Hotels.html has other hotel listings.

Make your reservation soon.
 

683

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach Workshop at Cabin Fever Expo

« on: October 16, 2008, 09:46:00 PM »

We are planning this session to help guys get started with Mach, so I hope we dont go over anyones head. We do plan to cover everything from basic mechanics to writing plug-ins, so some of the more advanced sessions may not be as useful to the new guys. We will start at the beginning on Friday morning, and get deeper each session.

684

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up Steps per inch - Need Clarification

« on: October 12, 2008, 06:25:50 PM »

Remember, when a screw has a spec of .004" per foot it means the real accuracy is LESS than that amount. If it was more it would be out of spec and presumably the manufacturer would not ship it.

I am curious what instrument you have in a shop that can measure to an accuracy of .004 per foot? maybe a 10" micrometer? How would you set it up to make a table movement measurement?

My point is guys get all hung up over screw accuracy, when lots of other factors have as big, or bigger influence.

The 'calculate steps per in' button was added because so many people seem unable to understand the math involved in the calculation.

685

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: rectangular hole pattern

« on: October 11, 2008, 06:27:52 PM »

When I run it the grid will stay on or off as expected. The drill styles also cycle as expected.

Note that the drill cycles are modal, once in effect they stay on until ended. So its normal to see code like this:

G81 X-2.5 Y-1.5 Z-0.50 R0.1 F15.1
 X-1.25 Y-1.5
 X0 Y-1.5
 X1.25 Y-1.5
 X2.5 Y-1.5
 X2.5 Y-0.5
 X2.5 Y0.5
G80

the first line sets up the drill cycle, with the peck depth, final depth, etc. Each following line causes a repeat drill cycle at the new X and Y coordinates. The final G80 turns the mode off.

686

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Power Feed, new purchase

« on: October 06, 2008, 09:46:23 PM »

Thanks for the note, I am happy to hear you find the Power Feed a useful wizard.

I think the screen is already to crowded, so I would hate add anymore DROs.

The problem with making it a Mach screen is that there are just to many screens that some guys find useful- where would we stop?

687

VB and the development of wizards / Re: SaveWizard, Saving DROs, DRO/LED number allocation, global functions

« on: October 02, 2008, 08:44:43 PM »

Save Wizard saves all the DRO and LED values in the user space, whether they have been defined on a screen or not. They are saved into a file with the same name as your wizard but with .def for type. Every time your wizard is started up it will read the .def file to take all initial values.

The system DROs are not saved in the wizard set.

Its not a problem for duplication of numbers between wizards, since we can only run one wizard at a time. But duplication between macros and macropumps can be an issue We have had a couple strange bugs reported by guys that have a macropump running and then startup the Newfangled Wizards.  It would have been nice if someone had set a standard back in the early days, like wizards start at 1000 and go up and macropumps start at 1255 and go down, but it has not happened, and its always a risk.

Global functions and buttons are not possible. I just had dinner with Brian tonight and bugged him again to do this, but its a big change in the way VB is integrated into Mach and its not likely to happen. He agrees it would have been a better way, but its to late to go back. One of the main features of Flash in my view is a more integrated programming environment.

688

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Getting wizard to append to existing code

« on: September 28, 2008, 01:28:35 PM »

The wizard builds one big program per session. Each run is a new session and starts with a blank file. Every operation you do adds to that file, which is loaded into Mach when you end the wizard run.

But it does not save code from one run to the next. It does however remember the settings you used the last time it ran so when you open each operation the values shown are the ones from the last time you ran that operation.

689

General Mach Discussion / Mach Workshop at Cabin Fever Expo

« on: September 27, 2008, 11:29:19 AM »

ArtSoft USA is sponsoring a 3 day Mach workshop at the Cabin Fever Expo. This is a chance to get in depth technical information about Mach, meet Brian, Scott and other Mach users, and enjoy one of the best model engineering shows in the US.

The event is January 16, 17, 18, 2009 at York PA.  Everyone registered for the seminar is also registered for the expo. You can visit the several hundred exhibitors, or the nearly 200 vendors of tools, machinery, books, kits, plans, etc.

On Friday a major auction will be running with hundreds of items, including machines, tools, all kinds of shop equipment and  models. The seminar schedule has several breaks included so you can take advantage of both the expo and the seminar.

For details about Cabin Fever and the auction see http://cabinfeverexpo.com/

Seminars will start Friday at 9:00AM. the tentative agenda is as follows:

Friday
1) Mechanical Considerations. Stepper, servos, ballscrews, belts, pullies, etc
2) Electronics, BOBs, SS, Geckos, Power supplies, general wiring hints
3) Installing Mach and basic config, ports and pins, motor tuning, basic test and debug
4) General config, choosing the right answers.

Saturday
5) Basic Mach operation, loading programs, running, operator control, CV
6) Wizard Operation
7) Operator interfaces- Shuttle Pro, Xkeys, Ipac, PoKeys, MPGs, pendants, etc.
Customizing screens and macros.

Sunday
9) Other I/O options, modbus, PLCs, Brains, tool changers.
10) Plug-ins, using and writing.
11) Wrap up, feedback, next steps.

On Friday night there will be a social event at a nearby hotel, details to be arranged, but we are calling it 'pizza and beer time'

There will be a demo area for CNC machines, we will have at least a mini-mill with a tool changer, a lathe with a tool changer and a router. Other demos are welcome if any users want to bring along machines.

The Mach Workshop will require pre-registration and will be limited to 75 people. It will cost $50, including both the seminar and the Expo.  You can find the registration form at http://www.machsupport.com/cabinfever.php (Note: Please enter the City/State where you are from in the Comments field during checkout (for badges).  If paying for multiple people, please list the individual names and their City/State in the Comments field also).

Mark your calendar now and watch this topic for more details as they are developed.

690

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Cut circle wizard acting strange - need help

« on: September 27, 2008, 10:59:49 AM »

Which version are you running? It should be 2.79

There was a bug in the tool comp code that shwed this effect- it was different between the POST and the PREVIEW buttons.

V2.79 is in another topic on this forum