Messages

51

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: now do I configure mach4 for second motor on Y axis

« on: February 24, 2017, 06:25:20 PM »

Ok, i guess I miss-spoke.  I said motor A and I should have said Axis A.  I went to the Mach Configuration Axis Mapping tab thinking that is where I would set it up.  I want Motor1 and motor3 to be assigned to the Y axis.    Does that make more sense? 

On that screen it only seems to allow a single motor to be assigned to a specific axis.  I thought that maybe motor3 would be a slave of motor 1, but that won't work ether because I don't seem to be able change anything in the Slave column.

Am I even in the right area to be setting this up?

52

Mach4 General Discussion / now do I configure mach4 for second motor on Y axis

« on: February 24, 2017, 05:44:17 PM »

Ox CNC
gecko g540
PMDX 411  motion controller
Mach4 3233
Windows 7

sorry for such a basic question, but I have not been able to find an answer in the documentation or the videos.

I am on an ox CNC which has two Y axis motors.  I can"t find where to tell mach that the motor plugged into motor A is the second Y axis

Also when I jog, it is very slow and haven't found how to regulate that speed

Chaslie

53

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Getting started with Mach 4

« on: February 24, 2017, 12:09:03 PM »

if so, can you point me in the right direction for a good (but not break the bank) VFD and if I have replace this 12000 spindle, that as well?  BTW, I am a great fan of your videos.
(suck up that I am)

54

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Getting started with Mach 4

« on: February 24, 2017, 12:05:14 PM »

So that's a "no go", right?

55

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Getting started with Mach 4

« on: February 23, 2017, 07:20:30 PM »

Reinstalled mach4, wired and installed the g540 and the PMDX 411.  Everything seems to be working and now I just need to do all the configuring of both mach4 and PMDX.  

Another question though.  My cnc is an ox I got from SWM3D and it had a spindle and VFD as part of the package.  I am wondering if the VFD will work with the g540  / PMDX / mach4 setup. Here is the VFD...

https://www.smw3d.com/spindle-speed-control/

This device only has two wires to th motion controller:  signal and ground.  The g540 diagram shows a three wire interface: ground, signal, and positive.  I was thinking I might get by with only the signal and ground but not sure if that will work or if there may be some other reason not to do that. I'm sure there is another spindle and VFD in my future but would like to let the dust settle befor jumping on that.

56

Mach4 General Discussion / Can I safely reinstall mach4hobby?

« on: February 20, 2017, 07:48:27 PM »

I may have screwed it up.  Do I have to worry about ly license files if I just reinstall over the top of my last install?

57

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Getting started with Mach 4

« on: February 18, 2017, 07:11:37 PM »

All very good advice and I have been reading a lot.  I got a bit lost on the steps per unit and thus my post.  I am use to pretty straight forward steps per revolution and steps per mm, but that section of the manual left me dizzy ( and not understanding how it got that complicated).

Having been a 3D printer for a number of years, I think I may have a head start on understanding some of the hardware, and I'm also an electronics geek, so that part is not completely foriegn to me. 

I have downloaded every manual I could find on line and am managing to piss my wife off by "yes dear'"ing her while I read and not hearing her.

The gcode, I will definatly admit has been my black box thing.  It seemed to work as the software created it so I didn't get into it.  I have already figured out I probobly can't get by with that on the cnc.

Joeaverage, the EStop is on its way from Amazon.  Nice big yellow box with a nice big red button.

I could not even imagine trying to learn this stuff before the Internet and without this kind of support.  Thank you all.

58

Mach4 General Discussion / Getting started with Mach 4

« on: February 17, 2017, 10:44:15 AM »

I just purchased and installed Mach 4, Gecko g540 and PMDX 411 motion controller.  I now find that I am having a hard time getting started with Mach 4.  I started looking at the video tutorials and the first couple I looked at were aimed at Mach 3, not 4 and the screens looked entirely different.  I've looked at some of the manuals and can't get a good context on what I am reading.  I have not actually plugged the motors into the Gecko thinking that I need to understand a bit better how this all works before I do that.

My questions is:  What is a good way to get started? I feel like I am going in circles because there is soooo much info out there and always feel like I am walking into the middle of an on-going conversation.  Can someone help me / direct me to a more orderly way of approaching this?

Side note, I am upgrading from Chilipeppr and tinyG, so I've had  a smidgen of success with CNC'ing.  I upgraded because I thought my growth path would be better with the "big boys toys"
   

59

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Parallel port not recommended???

« on: February 06, 2017, 09:58:38 AM »

joeaverage:  those are very good points, but I need to view them in the context of my reality.  I am 70 with limited income, not in great health, and find in increasingly more difficult to wrap this old brain around new complexity. I need to think about what you've said, but to be brutally honest with myself, I don't see this going to much further than I am going now.  This is s small open source OX CNC, and I don't have the space or plans to go much more elaborate.  Most of my projects are aimed at photography (multi exposure macro compression) and some simple robotic applications, none of which are of any real interest to anyone but myself, so it's not an entrepreneurial exercise.

Thank you for your insight, though.  I do need to think about that.  It would be helpful if I could figure out what sort of things I might want to do in the future that might use more ports.  At present, I am drawing a blank.  You're right that $60 is not a large sum of money, but obviously, it occupies a certain percentage of a pretty small monthly income, so I have to be smarter about what I do than I did when I was making the "big bucks" . 

60

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Parallel port not recommended???

« on: February 05, 2017, 03:38:02 PM »

So the PMDX-411 would plug into a usb on the xp machine running mach4 and the pp of the g540.  I wouldn't need the legacy pp plug in and I would not give up any functionality that might be useful to a hobbiest like myself on the ESS?

That sounds pretty good.