Messages

31

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Recommended CAM Software

« on: November 22, 2018, 10:16:49 PM »

 ???I know this question may have been asked before on here and I have researched the internet some but I was hoping some of you with experience with CAM and 4 axis machines might be able to give me a little direction. I have tested or trialed a few cam programs and i am looking for the least inexpensive one that handles 4 axis machining. As I type this I am running a project that I used DeskProto 7 on and found that the Y axis is basically disabled. Although it did cut my piece ok it would have been much more desirable if it could have just done some of the cutting on the x,y axis instead of the x,a axis. Other than that I would probably pick DeskProto if I had to make a snap decision and get one. i also tried out fusion 360 but with all the annual licensing that it appears you have to subscribe and pay for annually along with it being not very intuitive compared to a couple others I read about and like DeskProto I don't see that one as a very feasible option either. If the y axis in deskproto wasn't disabled during rotational functions I would be completely satisfied with it. I am strictly a hobby guy so that is why I am looking for something that is practical in functionality and price as well for my use.
Any comments, suggestions on any that have used a specific brand of cam software with maybe a short pros and cons would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks....    

32

General Mach Discussion / Forum search error

« on: November 22, 2018, 05:16:48 PM »

 
Is anyone else receiving the same error seen below when attempting to do a search on the forums page? I have had this same issue on two different computers, locations and operating systems.

2: pspell_new(): PSPELL couldn't open the dictionary. reason: No word lists can be found for the language "en".
File: /var/www/vhosts/machsupport.com/forum.machsupport.com/forum/Sources/Search.php
Line: 700

33

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Issues with special characters (like German ä,ö,ü) while opening files

« on: September 18, 2018, 12:43:08 PM »

UPDATE:--Its been a while since I have been on here as I mainly work with my mill in the winter time but fired it up for a project last night. I was needing to make a tool or jig to center some bolt holes I need to drill for a bearing housing for a shaft. I got the idea to mill out a tool to that would center where the old bearing carrier went, I am retrofitting a machine that had cast bearing carriers for the shaft to an actual flange type ball bearing. I needed to cut about a 2" circle relief to center the bolt holes from and when I generated the g-code for it, I made a light .5 mill cut on my first pass and realized I was about a 1/4" to small on my circle. This was the exact type of scenario for wanting the DRO for sizing or scaling. I did a little math and used my custom DRO to scale up the X, Y and cut the circle the size I needed without having to generate new g-code from the original drawing. As I stated before the version of mach 3 I started with had this feature and mach 4 does not. Anyway just wanted to leave a little feed back on this topic from an actual instance of needing it and how it worked out since creating the scaling feature in my mach 4 HMI.

34

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mapping F5 Key in mach 4

« on: April 09, 2018, 12:18:42 AM »

I appreciate you help and suggestions. When I get more time to work on it I am going to just start over from scratch on that one and make sure I am not missing something. I did several others and had no issues at all with them. I was kind of hoping NS tech support would have at least replied back with confirmation one way or the other if the F5 key can be mapped or if it reaerved. Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

35

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mapping F5 Key in mach 4

« on: April 08, 2018, 11:21:37 PM »

yes i did, that is where or how I originally learned how to map the keys but I didn't catch anything in the video where he states that there are any keys reserved specifically for mach functions or otherwise are not allowed to be mapped for user defined functions. Did I miss something in there about that?
Thanks

36

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on 4 Axis Toolpath?

« on: April 08, 2018, 11:15:31 PM »

Ok got it to generate the picture of the tool path correctly. I set all machine coordinates and work coordinates all to zero and the picture of the pawn shows up correctly in the tool path.
Thank you D+F for sharing that information and I hope my added comments will help anyone else who is wanting to the same and comes across the same little issues I did.
Thanks again D+F

37

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on 4 Axis Toolpath?

« on: April 08, 2018, 09:33:13 PM »

I attached an example of a chess pawn. the 2d is the view I had prior to adding the dro and button. the other is the view when turned on and diameter is entered. The 2d view is a very closely represents what the half shape looks like and the 3d somewhat tapers the end where in the 2d it is kind of rounded and is actually how the object cuts and looks. Is that normal or is there something I need to work on do to get it to be closer to what the part actually looks like after cutting it?

UPDATE: After I posted I see it now. The 3d picture is actually like a mirror or inverted view. After i posted I actually saw the out line of the pawn in the top and bottom of the view, kind of like you are seeing two pawns side by side and tool path is the space between them, if that makes sense.

38

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on 4 Axis Toolpath?

« on: April 08, 2018, 09:24:38 PM »

I made those edits and it does actually give a 3d view of the object in the tool path window.  I have not actually cut anything now so i don't know if that DRO value is intended to scale anything or what the purpose is exactly. Does the diameter you enter in to the DRO actually have any effect on anything?
Thanks again for the help on that....

39

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on 4 Axis Toolpath?

« on: April 08, 2018, 02:28:52 PM »

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try that a little later when I get some time at the machine again. I think what you have will resolve my problem as it appears that mach 4 right out of the box does not really recognize a 4th axis toolpath and this will add that ability to the toolpath window. A few days ago I generated some gcode in which I forgot to set my machine preference up as a 4 axis machine and left it on a 3 axis preference. I generated the code and when I loaded it in to mach 4 the tool path came up and looked exactly like the toolpath I generated in my cam/cad program that generates the gcode. The image in the toolpath window was 3d and represented the cylindrical shaped object I was working on  and I thought wow that's the first time I  have ever saw it actually recreate the object accurately. I then noticed in my gcode window that there was no A axis present only xyz. Once I regenerated the code set to a 4 axis machine and included the a axis movements the picture in the toolpath window looked like it always has in the past with what appears to be an object that looks nothing like what I am cutting but once finished the object does come out as designed.
I will post again after I have added the script to the screen file and let you know if worked for me.
Thanks for taking the time to reply and post that.....  

40

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Another Mach 4 issu not tool path display

« on: April 08, 2018, 02:18:19 PM »

  i finally figured it out. As I stated before I have not gone in to any of the configuration tabs in Mach 4 basically since I initially set it up a few weeks ago. After this problem arose i did take a very quick look at the various settings and didn't really catch anything, note the phrase there "very quick look". I then loaded a different screen set, one of the OEM sets for 4 axis mill, and the toolpath window came up as expected. So I decided to very carefully review the settings in the mach configuration tabs again and make the effort to insure that all settings were correct. It wasn't as tedious as I thought it would be as the problem was on the "General" tab which is the first one that comes up. What I noticed right off was that the control mode was set to one of the two lathe options not mill. I have never made any adjustments to that on purpose and have no explanation on what caused it to be changed but once I set it back to mill the TP screen displayed as normal for the mill view.
Thanks again for reading and I appreciate your response and suggestions.