Topics

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Active line in the is not is not in sync with the machine

« on: May 22, 2023, 10:38:34 PM »

Single stepping through a program, the display highlights the line that will be executed next.
That worked perfectly in Mach3.
In Mach4  and with Warp9 ESS  it is not reliable, sometimes that highlit line is three-four steps ahead of the machine movements.
I am using Mach4 software  .4809 and the ESS is 285.
Bertho

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Single block cannot be enabled at tool change

« on: May 22, 2023, 10:25:06 PM »

At first enabling single block works fine.
At a tool change, I like to be able to enable it to carefully step though a few lines after the tool change to see if I made an error with tools numbers or offset.
Since the machine is not moving, I ought to be able activate it.
I do not remember that problem with Mach3.
Bertho

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Keyboard jogging safety

« on: February 23, 2023, 10:57:24 PM »

I had a nasty surprise today:
I was running a program and switched to editing the file and as expected, a new normal looking editing window opened up with the Gcode to be edited. All was fine until I used the cursor keys to move the cursor. The laser moved! The cursor keys were not released when the focus window was switched.

From a machine safety point, if something is non-standard or unexpected event happens, it can be a safety issue or a broken tool or part.
Mach4 ought to disable the modified keys when switching to the editor window.
Bertho

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Keyboard short cuts & editing current Gcode

« on: February 19, 2023, 11:31:50 AM »

In Mach3 it was very convenient: Click "Edit" make the changes, save. and run again.
Mach4 is a pain: close the file, switch to an editor, find the file, edit, save, switch to Mach4, click on file open, find the file, and finally run again.

I realize that custom buttons can be added but I am surprised that one is missing.
I have searched high and low for keyboard shortcuts but no luck.
There are so many great features in Mach4 that I might be overlooking the obvious.
Bertho

5

General Mach Discussion / Swapping computer, same model

« on: January 02, 2023, 11:37:21 PM »

I am  getting rusty: many, many years ago I installed Mach3 on an XP computer.  Today the computer died:-(  I copied the whole Mach3 folder to an identical model computer.
Everything looks normal but the laser does not move. The display shows the desired movement.
After a while, I realized that I should install Mach3, not just copy the folder.  I installed it but still the same problem.
The LPT1 is enabled.  Presumably I am missing something obvious.
Bertho

6

Feature Requests / G-code pre-test

« on: August 26, 2017, 03:09:35 PM »

When Mach-3 loads a program it automatically reads the program looking for errors like illegal commands, missing parentheses, or other typos.
I really miss that feature in Mach-4!
It is really frustrating after machining for a long time and then it stops because of a typo.
Bertho

7

General Mach Discussion / 3D Printer: Extruder

« on: January 26, 2010, 06:22:31 AM »

I am very interested in building an extruder type 3D printer using my existing CNC mill. There are basically only two items missing:
1: A heater with temperature control.  The heater is typically controlled to hold the temperature around 240C.  Either one of the available extruder head controller boards can be used or an off the shelf PID heater controller (about $30 on eBay).  It might also be directly controlled by the pulse width function similarly to how laser cutters are controlled.  It would be very simple to have a temperature feedback using a voltage to frequency converter that produces “index” pulses to show temperature: 240RPM= 240C temperature.

2: A motor to feed the filament into the heater.  I think the head can be greatly simplified by using a simple machined bracket and a very small stepper motor.  In our case the stepper could be directly driven by existing electronics and the A axis function in Mach3.

Here are examples of the extruder heads.  They are all open source with full documentation.  Typically the mechanics are unnecessarily big or too many pieces since they are usually designed to be easily duplicated by hobbyists with limited tooling.

http://objects.reprap.org/wiki/Mendel_extruder

http://store.makerbot.com/toolheads/plastruder-kit-mk3.html

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1332

http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:v3-extruder-info&catid=22:version-3-rapman-build-info
It is a big PDF file.

It should be very easy for us in this group to do it. Typically we have the CNC experience and we have good equipment to make any custom required parts.
The typical 3D printer hobbyist does not have the mechanical equipment or CNC experience. Most of them are starting from scratch.

Here is some info on conversions done with EMC instead of Mach3:
http://objects.reprap.org/wiki/EMCRepStrap

Is there any information on a conversion like that using Mach3? I do not want to start from scratch if not needed.
Bertho

8

LazyCam (Beta) / LazyCAM Turn: Arcs are "backwards"

« on: November 15, 2009, 09:44:26 AM »

I created a profile with several arcs joining lines like a rounded corner.
The program generated the lines OK but all the arcs are the opposite of what they are supposed to be.
For example, the arc joining the two 90 degree angled lines is supposed to be a short outside convex segment of 90 degrees but it became a 270 degree inside concave segment.
Presumably I am missing something very obvious.
What am I doing wrong?

I am getting tired of hand calculating all the arcs and I am waiting for LazyTurn with the finish path option.
Thanks in advance,
Bertho

9

LazyTurn / Tool Path Up-Down

« on: November 14, 2009, 07:22:21 PM »

In Mach3 Lathe the tool path (profile) is shown as looking down on a regular lathe with the tool bit in a normal position and it makes sense to me from a practical viewpoint and it is easy to visualize.

LazyCAM Turn flips the profile so it is the backside that is displayed.

LazyTurn manual does it both ways.  

Is there any good reason for all the confusion?

Hopefully LazyTurn will standardize to match Mach3 Lathe.
Happy Machining and have a great weekend!
Bertho

10

General Mach Discussion / MachTurn problems and questions

« on: September 22, 2009, 03:16:44 AM »

After using Mach3 Mill and switching to MachTurn, I am still very much in a learner stage; I have a few comments and questions. I realize the program is work in progress.

1: Is there a problem list so I do not have to carefully document known problems?

2: I miss the tabs or screen selection style of Mach Mill; I can instantly jump to the screen I want. Here I often have to take a detour to the front screen.

3: Why no jogging option in Diagnostic? It is useful if testing limit switches.

4: There is an Edit, Cycle start and Rewind button in the diagnostic page.
Why run a program from there?

5: The Single step button works but there is no LED indicator so I do not know what mode it is in.

6: On "Auto page", the "cycle start" is not a cycle start button, it goes to another screen. I was "scared" to push it since the G-code program was not shown in the "Auto page" screen.

7: There is no indication in the upper left Axis display if it is machine, program, or part coordinates

8: "Set Home" moves at selected homing speed so that is good. "Home" returns to the home positions extremely slowly, maybe just 1% of max. How can I change it?  This also magically started to work.  See #10 below.

9: I get an error message "Simulating feeds, no spindle feedback" I have a spindle sensor and it correctly displays the RPM

10: Ref/Home LEDs never change, even though I have switches and homing works.  Actually this started to work.  The following day after restarting the program it looks OK.  Maybe it wakes up and works after the program has been restarted if the home functions have been changed

11: What is the "Feedback" LED on the "Auto" - "Run" screen?

12: I select metric mode but the "Run" screen still displays feed in Inches/minute

13: I select Diameter mode, it displays “Diameter” but the DROs are in radius mode

Bertho