Messages

11

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Need your help please

« on: February 06, 2021, 09:31:17 PM »

Lol , what part seems to be an issue?  Many things can make something like that happen that are not software related. Vectric was originally done by another Brian.. he invented ArtCam for Delcam . Next time I see him I will be sure to tell him the software industry (artistic CNC software) he invented is no good... actually last time I talked to him he was getting ready to retire.. way smarter than me.

Sorry I am just having a little fun. This stuff can be a bit of a pain. Zoom in on the toolpath and see if you can see the height change. I have had that happen.  Coming out and throwing stones will not get you help.

I have a few software engineers that work with me.  I'm going to propose that we write a well engineered software suite and release it open source.  That will make up for this junk.

12

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Need your help please

« on: February 06, 2021, 09:27:28 PM »

Lol , what part seems to be an issue?  Many things can make something like that happen that are not software related. Vectric was originally done by another Brian.. he invented ArtCam for Delcam . Next time I see him I will be sure to tell him the software industry (artistic CNC software) he invented is no good... actually last time I talked to him he was getting ready to retire.. way smarter than me.

Sorry I am just having a little fun. This stuff can be a bit of a pain. Zoom in on the toolpath and see if you can see the height change. I have had that happen.  Coming out and throwing stones will not get you help.

Al Capone retired wealthy, kind of like these folks.  This software is amateurish.  I'm used to using extremely well written software, this isn't that well written, I cannot help he's ripped off everyone previously.

13

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Need your help please

« on: February 06, 2021, 08:28:37 PM »

It is not Mach, it is something in your machine, backlash perhaps.
BTW change your finishing strategy from Offset to Raster and at an angle of 45 degrees.

I'm not overly impressed with Mach 4.  I use a lot of highly detailed GIS and other software for work, and both Mach 4 and Vectric are amateur type software.  Maybe because it is such a limited user base, but it is not well written.

14

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Need your help please

« on: February 05, 2021, 01:22:16 PM »

I will go out and recut today using those parameters and we will see how it works.

15

Mach4 General Discussion / Need your help please

« on: February 05, 2021, 12:44:50 PM »

I have something strange going on and want to reach out to see if any of you have any ideas.

I'm using Mach 4 on an Avid Pro 4848 and generating G-Code with Vectric Aspire.  On a 3-D model, something is outputting a phantom box as if it were added to the model on all of the 3-D carvings.  I went back and looked at the Aspire software preview and there is nothing on there showing any additional z-height at all, so the box that is being carved into the model is non-existent (as far as I can tell) from the CAD/CAM software.

Could there be a setting or something that I am doing with Mach 4 that could be causing this?  It is not just on one model, but on everything I carve in 3D. 

My Mach 4 is standard but with the settings provided by the machine manufacturer.

If you have any ideas, I would certainly appreciate them.

Mike

16

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Operational Question on Mach 4

« on: January 31, 2021, 09:24:47 AM »

Thanks, I will follow up and investigate that.

17

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Operational Question on Mach 4

« on: January 30, 2021, 12:29:08 PM »

Okay, okay!  Let's read the instructions!  It says that if I hit the stop button, it is the same as the emergency stop and I have to re-home the machine and reset the project!  My bad!  Sorry to bother everyone!

18

Mach4 General Discussion / Operational Question on Mach 4

« on: January 30, 2021, 09:35:44 AM »

I'm running Mach 4 on an Avid pro series. When using a roughing toolpath, I set the origin with the touchplate and all is well. When it finishes the roughing, I simply change out the bit to the finishing bit, touch the Z axis (because the X and Y should be the same) and go on. It has worked fine, but I had to stop Mach 4 by hitting the stop button on the screen in Mach 4 (not the emergency kill switch). I made the correction (forgot to put the dust shoe on, and restarted the toolpath.

It started 1/2 to 3/4 off on the x axis ruining the piece. Should I recenter the x and y each and every time I change bits? It's hard to recenter the x and y using the touch plate with a tapered ball nose.

19

Mach4 Videos / New to Mach 4 and have question

« on: January 19, 2021, 11:02:04 AM »

I know this is probably covered somewhere but I cannot seem to find the answer.  Once I set the software with the touch off for x, y and z, can I change bits and just zero the z-axis and not have to re-zero the x and y axis even though the bit size is different?  I am assuming that the axis are set for bit center rather than outside so I'm thinking that the actual bit size (assuming that the tools are similar to each other versus an endmill and v-bit). 

I'm re-zeroing the work every time I change a bit.  Can I eliminate the x and y and just zero the z-axis?

20

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Hello all

« on: September 09, 2020, 07:24:27 PM »

It seems that it would reduce clutter.