Topics

1

Mach4 General Discussion / code conversion Mach 3 to Mach 4

« on: February 03, 2021, 08:20:02 AM »

So I have a piece of code  produced as an exercise in Mach3.
I try to load it into Mach 4 as a test routine .
An error comes up saying unrecognised code in line 1   which is   "G18 G64 G80 G90 G40 G49 "
Now not  being sure of all the codes I just deleted line 1 to see if it would work presuming there would be  defaults in there which would work anyway.
So now when I load  into Mach 4 it is happy to load and run  but with crop circles on the display and the machine happily follows these in run mode .
I have had these before in Mach 3  and I seem to remember it being to do with the absolute or incremental modes
Can anyone remind me how to change these in Mach 4

Which piece of code in line one is upsetting mach 4  and why?
It surprises me that code is not portable between on and the other

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 configuration manual

« on: January 26, 2021, 07:36:17 AM »

I am new to Mach 4 having got used to Mach 3 , and i understand that we are now in Mach 4  version 2 and has been so for a couple of years.
I am using it in lathe configuration and the manual available to me in the documentation section is Version 1  2014
I found no difficulty in setting up X and Z motions which were pretty intuitive . But setting up spindle control and pully gearing does not seem (to me ) to be well covered . I am also wondering if there is a more up to date version of the manual too, as the windows I am seeing do not seem to correspond with what the manual shows .

Can anyone guide me to a current version or even an independent (for dummies ) book.

Thanks

3

Mach4 Plugins / Mach 4 wont recognise UC100 controller

« on: January 20, 2021, 01:40:06 PM »

I have run my lathe happily  on Mach 3 with the CNCdrive controller http://cncdrive.com/UC100.html
There are some functionality problems with  spindle pulleys and threading , and I was advised that  Mach 4  would overcome these, which is what i am wanting to test .

I have installed Mach 4  , then downloaded the plugin for the UC100  from the above page . I tried both the auto install, and the manual install routes but Mach 4  is not seeing a plugin  for UC100 so I cannot select and configure it .
Can you guide me on how to achieve a working state with this combination.??

Alternatively  can you guide me to a reasonably priced motion controller which is known to work with Mach 4.

Thanks

John

4

General Mach Discussion / spindle pulleys in Mach 3 lathe .-- setting ratios

« on: January 15, 2021, 11:11:50 AM »

Background .
I converted a Boxford TCL lathe to Mach 3 but retained the DC Spindle motor, and Lenze controller with Iso Board.

Had a bit of trouble getting the spindle index function sorted but thanks to some help  I now have a very accurate "true spindle " readout which corresponds well with a mechanical tachometer .
And with spindle speed set to 2000 the analog signal generated by the pwm output is 9.6 v and reduces more or less in proportion to selected spindle speed so that looks fine .

Now I know that this is actually the motor speed , and the true spindle speed will vary according to the pulleys in use at any time , and that I need to select a number for the pulley setting along with the ratio of the selected pulley combination.
But if I change the ratio in spindle pulleys (and I have tried varying ratios from 1 to but this has no effect at all upon true spindle speed .
In addition whatever spindle pulley number I select the display continues to show S1

I have looked for other related settings but dont see any which are relevant. I have read the manual and although there is a section on pulleys and the need to specify the ratios I dont see any guidance on other settings
What might I be missing.
Suggestions anyone ?