Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Config menu "apply" button greyed out. Can't change T on M6 line

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:04:01 AM »

I can confirm what SWIFTYJ said to repair this. Replace parameters.ini file in your current profile with your backup. To confirm it is this file simply open it, if it's blank then it was corrupted. First remove your blank file or give it a different name temporarily then paste your backup and...RESTART Mach 4.

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Config menu "apply" button greyed out. Can't change T on M6 line

« on: February 28, 2020, 12:33:36 AM »

Suddently config menu won't allow me to save (apply button greyed out) and it changed the T on M6 selection to use T for next tool upon start up. Need to change it back to T is current tool on M6 line, but the config won't save. Any suggestions are welcomed. Screen set is normal and all functions are working otherwise. Looked in the machine.ini file to manually change this but can't locate it.

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Probe 2 diagnal holes to find center & angle of rotation

« on: January 21, 2020, 12:50:16 AM »

Need to probe to small interpolated bores on diagonal corners of each part blank to find part center (G54,5,6,7..), and angle of rotation when flipped to side 2. Angle of rotation to be corrected via G68 on op2. Front op1, Back op2 to align within microns when flipped. Any ideas welcomed. Normal practice in my field but probing two bores does not seem to be an option in mach 4 probing page. Watch parts. Any help appreciated.

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Anybody have a working M6 ATC Macro for Mach 4 ?

« on: July 01, 2018, 02:25:42 PM »

Looking for anything that actually works. Please post your Macro below with a brief description of execution. .

Thanks!

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Daz' M6 w Pneumatic collet add.. needs ATC, by Watchmaker

« on: June 27, 2018, 09:55:55 PM »

Would like to first give a big Thank You to Daz for taking the time to make his wonderful videos and knowledge sharing.

I've tweaked Daz' manual tool change - probe macro to work with my NSK pneumatic collet spindle and now building a 10 tool or so ATC. I would like to inject the added (and needed) macro pieces within this working macro as it would also make for a good base for many to have a start of their own for Mach 4. If anyone could help it would be so greatly appreciated.

My machine is custom built by myself strictly for making complicated timepiece parts that require < 1 micron of error. My ATC needs are on the small 3mm shank size max. and stay raw at the shank. ATC will be a half circle on its own mount due to my custom X fixture by MiteeBite being the entire 12" length of my table, and needing to flip, again within < 1 micron of repeatability. Motor for ATChanger is on "A" and the only movement needed is on it's 180 degree arc. Tool is released and grabbed via M7 open / M9 close (my misting is tied to spindle on/off).

Also, I know a lot of you have asked Daz if he could post his macro for tool touch off and manual tool change. I searched forever to no avail and ended up doing a manual rewrite from his vid. I'll post mine here for all to have, but it does have about 5 days of tweaks to get it working for my system and needs. Please re-reference his original here:
https://youtu.be/w1xzYPT27NY

My tweaks to Daz' Macro:
Spindle off/on
Air collet release
(please note collet grab is not part of the macro. It's on a button on my touch screen to be used after tool change message stops the macro for)
Also.. biggest problem on his code was that there was no G31 ! Now placed where it should be.

This macro now kicks.

System:
NSK 50,0000 rpm pneumatic collet release spindle
Pokeys 57cnc
X/Y/Z
A = NEMA 17 ATC half circle for 3mm shank direct inject to collet


Needs:
ATC macro placed after M7 call here:
wx.wxMessageBox ("Please change to tool number "..selectedtool.." "..changetoo.."and press ok to continue")

Greatly appreciative of all the help.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////


 WORKING WITH SPINDLE SHUT OFF AND COLLET OPENING FOR MACH 4
 Probe_Spindle Off/On_Pneumatic Collet opening_Feed Rate per Macro

////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 function m6()

   local inst = mc.mcGetInstance();
   local selectedtool = mc.mcToolGetSelected(inst)
   local currenttool = mc.mcToolGetCurrent(inst)
   local xstart = mc.mcAxisGetPos(inst, 0)
   local ystart = mc.mcAxisGetPos(inst, 1)
   
   if selectedtool == currenttool then
   return
   mc.mcCntlSetLastError(inst, "Toolchange Activated But Not Required")
   else
    mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait(inst,"G90 G53 M5 G01 G94 z-20 F500\n x3.4 y27")
    RunProbe (currenttool)
   local toolz = mc.mcAxisGetPos (inst, 2)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 z-20.0")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"M7")
   local changetoo = mc.mcToolGetDesc (inst, selectedtool)
   wx.wxMessageBox ("Please change to tool number "..selectedtool.." "..changetoo.."and press ok to continue")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 x3.4 y27")
   RunProbe (selectedtool)
   mc.mcAxisSetPos (inst, 2, toolz)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 z-20.0")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 M3 G0 x"..xstart.." y"..ystart)
   mc.mcToolSetCurrent (inst, selectedtool)
   wx.wxMessageBox ("Toolchange finished")
   end
end
function RunProbe (tool)
   local inst = mc.mcGetInstance ()
   toollen = mc.mcToolGetData (inst, mc.MTOOL_MILL_HEIGHT, tool)
   if toollen == 0 then toollen = 20 end
   mc.mcCntlSetLastError (inst, "Changing to fallback length")
   local probestart = -59 + toollen
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst, "G90 G53 G0 z"..probestart)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G01 G91 G31 z-29.0 F100")
end

if (mc.mcInEditor() == 1) then
 m6()
end



////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Daz' M6 w Pneumatic collet add.. needs ATC, by Watchmaker

« on: June 27, 2018, 04:58:58 PM »

Would like to first give a big Thank You to Daz for taking the time to make his wonderful videos and knowledge sharing.

I've tweaked Daz' manual tool change - probe macro to work with my NSK pneumatic collet spindle and now building a 10 tool or so ATC. I would like to inject the added (and needed) macro pieces within this working macro as it would also make for a good base for many to have a start of their own for Mach 4. If anyone could help it would be so greatly appreciated.

My machine is custom built by myself strictly for making complicated timepiece parts that require < 1 micron of error. My ATC needs are on the small 3mm shank size max. and stay raw at the shank. ATC will be a half circle on its own mount due to my custom X fixture by MiteeBite being the entire 12" length of my table, and needing to flip, again within < 1 micron of repeatability. Motor for ATChanger is on "A" and the only movement needed is on it's 180 degree arc. Tool is released and grabbed via M7 open / M9 close (my misting is tied to spindle on/off).

Also, I know a lot of you have asked Daz if he could post his macro for tool touch off and manual tool change. I searched forever to no avail and ended up doing a manual rewrite from his vid. I'll post mine here for all to have, but it does have about 5 days of tweaks to get it working for my system and needs. Please re-reference his original here:
https://youtu.be/w1xzYPT27NY

My tweaks to Daz' Macro:
Spindle off/on
Air collet release
(please note collet grab is not part of the macro. It's on a button on my touch screen to be used after tool change message stops the macro for)
Also.. biggest problem on his code was that there was no G31 ! Now placed where it should be.

This macro now kicks.

System:
NSK 50,0000 rpm pneumatic collet release spindle
Pokeys 57cnc
X/Y/Z
A = NEMA 17 ATC half circle for 3mm shank direct inject to collet


Needs:
ATC macro placed after M7 call here:
wx.wxMessageBox ("Please change to tool number "..selectedtool.." "..changetoo.."and press ok to continue")

Greatly appreciative of all the help.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////


 WORKING WITH SPINDLE SHUT OFF AND COLLET OPENING FOR MACH 4
 Probe_Spindle Off/On_Pneumatic Collet opening_Feed Rate per Macro

////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 function m6()

   local inst = mc.mcGetInstance();
   local selectedtool = mc.mcToolGetSelected(inst)
   local currenttool = mc.mcToolGetCurrent(inst)
   local xstart = mc.mcAxisGetPos(inst, 0)
   local ystart = mc.mcAxisGetPos(inst, 1)
   
   if selectedtool == currenttool then
   return
   mc.mcCntlSetLastError(inst, "Toolchange Activated But Not Required")
   else
    mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait(inst,"G90 G53 M5 G01 G94 z-20 F500\n x3.4 y27")
    RunProbe (currenttool)
   local toolz = mc.mcAxisGetPos (inst, 2)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 z-20.0")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"M7")
   local changetoo = mc.mcToolGetDesc (inst, selectedtool)
   wx.wxMessageBox ("Please change to tool number "..selectedtool.." "..changetoo.."and press ok to continue")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 x3.4 y27")
   RunProbe (selectedtool)
   mc.mcAxisSetPos (inst, 2, toolz)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 G53 G0 z-20.0")
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G90 M3 G0 x"..xstart.." y"..ystart)
   mc.mcToolSetCurrent (inst, selectedtool)
   wx.wxMessageBox ("Toolchange finished")
   end
end
function RunProbe (tool)
   local inst = mc.mcGetInstance ()
   toollen = mc.mcToolGetData (inst, mc.MTOOL_MILL_HEIGHT, tool)
   if toollen == 0 then toollen = 20 end
   mc.mcCntlSetLastError (inst, "Changing to fallback length")
   local probestart = -59 + toollen
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst, "G90 G53 G0 z"..probestart)
   mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait (inst,"G01 G91 G31 z-29.0 F100")
end

if (mc.mcInEditor() == 1) then
 m6()
end



////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 Config Menu's Won't Save

« on: May 12, 2018, 12:35:58 PM »

Hi,
if you are new to Mach4 there is a couple of issues that you should be aware of. May not make much sense to you now but when you
update to the latest build and you realize all your screen edit tweaks and all your individualized macros are gone, overwritten with Machs standard
issue screen sets and profiles you will!

You must have an uniquely named profile AND screen set.

The reasoning goes that over a period of months you will add all sorts of little tweaks to both your profile AND screen set. When you update, wx4.set, for
instance, will be overwritten with a fresh copy with any new stuff from NFS. If you had specialist DROs, buttons and similar they will be overwritten, often
you can't get them back and you'll have to redo the lot. I know because that is exactly what I did and others have fallen in the same trap.

Most new users have a uniquely named profile, like WatchmakerMill or MyMill say, which are copies of one of the standard Mach4 supplied profiles.
What is less common is to have a new user generate his own screen set. I suggest you experiment from among the standard Mach screen sets to find
the one most suitable for your needs.

Once you have identified it go to the Mach4Hobby\Screens folder and create a uniquely named copy of the desired screenset, Watchmakerwx4.set for example.
Then create a new profile that uses this screen set or open Machine.ini of your existing profile and edit the screen set entry to your new individualized screen set.

As I say it may not make any sense to do this now, and if you choose not to do so Mach will carry on and work fine. Only when you update to the latest build
of Mach will it become apparent.

Craig

Thanks again big time Craig! .. That should be a sticky. I was already dumpster diving in the .ini file previously so after reading this I loaded up my custom screen within the .ini file. Thanks for the heads up and extensive documentation. I hope it helps others as well.

8

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 Config Menu's Won't Save

« on: May 11, 2018, 06:36:58 PM »

Thank you Craig. Exactly the problem. Set up monitor was cutting off the bottom "Apply" button.

9

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 Config Menu's Won't Save

« on: May 11, 2018, 02:28:01 PM »

Very grateful for any insight. New build that's up and running but it seems M4 won't save any menu config. changes. Can't tune motors, set soft limits on/off or specs., etc. Tried re-installing M4 and also looking for the .xml file someone noted was in M3 giving them trouble in the past. No go. System pref's seem to be set to write across the board so I'm a bit crazed on this one.

System:
M4 (build 4.2.0.3481)
Windows 10 fresh install on M4/Pokeys only brand new board
Pokeys 57cnc
Gecko 214's