Messages

21

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: touch probe function question

« on: July 06, 2019, 05:04:42 PM »

Well, I'll give it a day or two and see if anyone else chimes in.  I can do it manually, as you described above, but it would be handy if I can find s script or some other method to do this is a more automated fashion.  I don't really want to learn Lua cold.  I do better if I have a starting point that I can tweak and modify.

22

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: touch probe function question

« on: July 06, 2019, 04:08:21 PM »

... Assuming that the plate is on top of the workpiece and you want the top of the work to be zero, then you need (assuming that M4 behaves like M3) to clock in the Z DRO, type in 4.76 mm, and press return.  The Z DRO should display 4.76 because that's how far above the material you are.

I spend most of my time in the 3D printing world and there, I can configure the software to always back off a set amount and set z to the same offset amount each time I probe.  If I understand you correctly, there is no mechanism to do the same in Mach 4 without modifying the code.  Is that correct?

23

Mach4 General Discussion / touch probe function question

« on: July 06, 2019, 02:17:02 PM »

I have been using the old paper method to set the Z height and decided to try and use the touch probe function in Mach 4.  It works up to a point.  I set the retract height to 5 (mm)  and the touch plate height to 4.76mm (I use a piece of 3/16"aluminum as the plate).  When i attach the alligator clips to the bit and the plate and click Z height button it does exactly what I would expect until it touches the plate.  At that point it just stops without retracting or setting the Z. 

Am I misunderstanding what I should do or what should happen?

Charlie

24

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: cutting MDF on the CNC

« on: July 06, 2019, 02:05:03 PM »

Thank you Craig,
I think I will thank my friend and tell him that I would prefer to use MDF even though it may dull my bits in the long run.  I only use carbide tips (from toolstoday.com)

thanks for the reply
Charlie

25

Mach4 General Discussion / cutting MDF on the CNC

« on: July 05, 2019, 05:54:01 PM »

I was recenly told that I should not cut MDF on the CNC as it dulls the bits faster than wood. I often do my test cuts on MDF thinking that it would be easier on the bit and cheaper than wood (I have tons of MDF scrap available to me)

This seems counter-intuitive to me.  Is it true that I need to make my test cuts in wood rather than MDF?

26

Mach4 General Discussion / Calibration issue (I think)

« on: July 08, 2018, 05:33:59 PM »

Strange problem.  I am using Mach 4 on a win 7;computer running gcode produced in Fusion 360.
I noticed that I was  a mm or two out of calibration, so I decided to recalculate all three axis. X went great, but I had to change units from 33.something to 60.something on the y axis.    Seemed weird sinse it was only out by 1.5mm or so, but I made the change and when I measured the y movement, it was spot on.  I did a test run (75mm circle inside a 100mm square).and x was ok, but y was almost twice what it should be.  I checked the calibration again and it still moved exactly 200 mm for the y 200 command.  The tool path appears normal in the preview window.

Is there some setting somewhere that would cause the units to be off by that much during a job even though calibration seems fine?

27

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Touch Probe documentation

« on: May 03, 2018, 07:03:27 PM »

I guess as soon as the word got out I had posted the question, all my hardware started behaving.  I did find the docs, but I am going to need to read the one on probing many times to see if I can make sense of it.  It also does not address my questions about the fields on that screen.

I’ll see if I do better on the screen help tomorrow,

28

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Touch Probe documentation

« on: May 03, 2018, 10:39:38 AM »

Yes, I am using the Touch button so I guess that's the "TouchOff"

29

Mach4 General Discussion / Touch Probe documentation

« on: May 03, 2018, 07:45:59 AM »

I set up a z probe on Mach 4 and ESS and basically it works but I want to refine the behavior of Mach 4 after the touch. According to the Artsoft video tutorial, there is more detailed information about setting up the touch probe in the documentation, but I am not finding it.  The manuals that I’ve found seem to skip that info.  Can someone guide me to these docs.  For instance I want the probe to back off a set amount after the touch, but messing with the parameters on the touch screen dose not seem to work as I would expect.

Charlie

30

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: computer requirements for mach 4

« on: November 19, 2017, 09:11:53 AM »

Next question:  I bought M4 as a package deal with a PDMX motion controller.  I am assuming that this was the "hobby" version.

Never mind this question. Figuired it out.