Recent Posts

1

PoKeys / Re: Need help for new lathe controller

« Last post by Azalin on July 26, 2026, 04:54:42 AM »

Check the cnc4pc M16D. İt uses Pokeys 57E. I have a similar lathe you described. AC apindle servo (encoder input), limit switches (but I find them almost useless in a lathe). I use a shuttle pro for jogging and assigned function buttons. Makes everything much easier. The outer wheel for fast jogging and the inner wheel for fine moves. But I believe you can add two wheels as you want.

2

PoKeys / Need help for new lathe controller

« Last post by Holzwurm56 on July 26, 2026, 04:28:57 AM »

Hello,
I would like to retrofit my CNC lathe. Since there are no mechanical handwheels installed,
I need two electronic handwheels, outputs for two axes (step and direction for each),
limit switches, spindle index, program start/stop, E-stop, etc. Would this be possible with the PoKeys57E
and Mach3?
I noticed that it has four encoder inputs and step/direction signal outputs
for three axes. I am currently operating the lathe using Mach3 and two parallel port outputs.
Many thanks in advance,
Hans

3

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 Zero Tool

« Last post by NotAPort on July 26, 2026, 12:13:38 AM »

Hello,

I am posting on behalf of my grandfather who recently replaced his old CNC for hobbying with a China CNCZone 6090. We are trying to configure the Zero Tool, as that is the last major piece he needs before he can continue hobby workshopping, but we are having some issues with the probe.

We are using the probe that came with the machine, but are not seeing the Digitize or Probe lights show up in the Diagnostics screen when we touch them together. We have tried a multitude of pins and ports, toggling active low, run a continuity test on the probe, and even reinstalling Mach3, but none appear to be working. We have also tried multiple different variations of Zero code from sources that have shown it working.

I should note, we are using the RnRMotionControllerECO-V2.0 Drivers to connect a laptop running WindowsXP to the controller box with USB instead of Parallel.

Anyone have any ideas for how to proceed? The continuity test makes me believe it is not a physical or hardware issue, and that maybe we have something configured incorrectly within Mach3.

The China CNCZone website shows a different machine listed as the 6090 now, so their manual has been updated for the new machine over the old one.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know and I would be happy to give them a shot.

Thank you.

4

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Write Wizard - Having some trouble

« Last post by BrianW on July 24, 2026, 08:43:59 PM »

I too was having trouble.  Worked last night, then not this morning.  With help from this site, I identified that the program had lost the prior settings... hence no direction chosen and no font chosen.  Once those deficiencies were fixed it ran fine again.

5

Building or Buying a Wood routing table.. Beginnners guide.. / Are New production HuanYang VFDs Modbus compliant?

« Last post by paulcc on July 24, 2026, 05:59:30 PM »

I have a new (2026) production HuanYang 2.2kW VFD that I would like to control via RS-485. I understand that in previous years at least, that they used a non compliant Modbus implementation. However, the description of it on Amazon specifically says that it is Modbus compliant. Does anyone have any information on this topic?

Thanks

6

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 showing 0.0V for active THC voltage. Razordance THC

« Last post by RustCohle on July 24, 2026, 11:26:03 AM »

Good day everyone. I am new to CNC and recently brought a used CNC plasma table. It has a cnc4you HG08 controller and a Razordance v1.3 DTHC. I have managed to get everything working except the THC. I am using Mach 3.

When the torch is on, Mach 3 shows 0.0v (same as when the torch is off). I have connected a 1.5v battery to the voltage divider in my plasma cutter and measured the output volts at the end of the wire which goes into the Razordance board, it shows 75 volts which I think is correct as the voltage divider should be set at 50:1. I have verified that the Razordance outputs are in the correct inputs on the controller and that Mach 3 ports and pins inputs are set correctly. It’s puzzling.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

7

General Mach Discussion / Z axis position error at higher feedrates after switching Mach3/XHC → Mach4/ESS

« Last post by Fermate on July 24, 2026, 02:20:36 AM »

Z axis position error at higher feedrates after switching Mach3/XHC → Mach4/ESS (same machine, same hardware otherwise)

Hi all,

Looking for some insight from anyone who has made a similar Mach3+XHC → Mach4+ESS migration.

Setup:

CNC router/mill, servo-driven axes (Leadshine L6P-750 drives, closed-loop motor↔drive, step/dir command from the controller — no position feedback wired back to the controller side)
Previously: Mach3 + XHC USB motion controller — worked correctly at all feedrates, including up to 4500 units/min on Z
Now: Mach4 (build 4.2.0.4809) + ESS (Ethernet SmoothStepper), plugin config v285
All mechanical hardware, drives, motors, wiring, and the G-code file itself are unchanged between the two setups

Symptom: Running the exact same G-code file (a dense 3D spiral finishing toolpath with many short G1 segments, X/Y/Z all interpolating together) that ran correctly under Mach3/XHC:

Runs fine up to ~1800 units/min
Z axis develops a position error starting around 3000 units/min, worse at 4500 — consistently "too far down" on plunges / "not far enough up" on retracts
Error grows with feedrate; not present at low speed
No alarm or fault shown on the servo drive display when this happens
Confirmed no lost steps in the classic sense — closed-loop servo, drive-side loop intact

What's been ruled out so far:

Drive pulse input mode (confirmed Pr0.07 = Pulse+Sign / Step+Dir, correct)
Counts-per-unit / scaling (axes move correct distances at all speeds)
Mechanical backlash on Z ballscrew (none)
Backlash compensation settings (disabled/zero in both Mach4 tuning and ESS plugin — not a factor)
Drive following-error / position-deviation alarm (none triggers, drive shows no fault)
ESS Kernel speed / pulse frequency ceiling (well within the drive's 500kHz differential pulse input rating; pulse counts at the problem feedrates are only ~100-150kHz)
Cable/signal type (differential pulse/dir wiring, unchanged from the working XHC setup)

Some things I'm wondering about (open to being wrong):

Could this be related to CV (Constant Velocity) motion planning / look-ahead differences between Mach3 and Mach4? (Mach3 was set to 20 lines look-ahead, Mach4 defaults to 200 — haven't tested changing this yet.)
Could this be a pulse timing/generation issue somewhere in the ESS or Mach4 chain — i.e. the axis genuinely not ending up where commanded, rather than a planning/path issue?
Something else entirely that I haven't considered?

Questions for the group:

Has anyone else hit this specific issue migrating from Mach3/XHC to Mach4/ESS on a servo-driven Z axis?
For those running dense, short-segment 3D toolpaths successfully in Mach4/ESS — did you have to change any settings (look-ahead, acceleration, CV/path tolerance, kernel/pulse settings) from your Mach3-era values to get equivalent behavior?
Any Mach4/ESS-specific settings you'd check first, given this symptom?

Haven't been able to test lowering Look Ahead back to 20 yet (machine isn't accessible right now), but wanted to get this written up in case anyone recognizes the pattern in the meantime. Appreciate any pointers.

Gaute Espeland
Norway

8

Modbus / modbus initialisation of comms

« Last post by servomac on July 22, 2026, 08:35:30 AM »

Hi I have a few questions relating to some problems

Q1, is there such a beast as AutoExec.m1s, AI seems to think so but not seen it mentioned anywhere

Q2, what does DoOEMButton(220) do, does it open the Modbus comms port

My problem is my modbus works on PC’s that keep power on USB ports when in hibernation or sleep. If I power down the PC’s I loose power to the USB port. When I turn back on and start Mach3 Modbus does not communicate I have to go to setup serial / test modbus / and open the port. Then Modbus bursts into life. So I deduct from that its not my Arduino code but Mach3 not initialising properly.

Is there a way to simulate open port from a screen button or a VB script

Hope to hear back
Regards
servomac

9

Brains Development / brains and SetUserDRO

« Last post by servomac on July 21, 2026, 01:14:15 PM »

Hi there
I have a bit of a brain ache and I can’t seem to get rid of it.
Over the last few years I have been developing some Modbus control stations.
Modbus is working well, hardware is ok, just have a few quirks to sort out
Can anyone out there help me. Its all to do with SetUserDRO( x,y) operation

First I have a button on the screen using function 113 toggle coolant, this works fine
M08 and M09 work fine
My Modbus input and output work fine and switches coolant on and off

My brain works as follows
I create a counter (DRO1014) and count the presses 1= coolant on 2= coolant off

Line 1- create a pulse from my Modbus input
Line 2 - reset my counter if it gets above 2
Line 3 - count each press of the button
Line 4 - turn on my coolant LED when coolant active
Line 5 - if counter is 1 turn coolant on
Line 6 – if counter is 2 turn coolant off

My problem is if I turn the coolant on manually and use M09 to stop it the lines of code in my M9.m1s does not work. In here I change the value of my counter DRO1014 to 2 so that the next button press will turn the coolant on. What happens is the counter does not update and I need two presses of the button to turn the coolant on. So my method of synchronising the M-codes with the buttons does not work.
Why does writing SetUserDRO (1014,2.0) not work, why does it not update or why can brains not see it. I have attached files showing code.

Many thanks in advance.

servomac

10

Promote and discuss your product / Re: E_CNC WHB04B v1.1.1 – Professional WHB04B Solution for Mach4 and MachPro

« Last post by Srato on July 21, 2026, 10:28:19 AM »

E-CNC WHB04B for Mach4 – Version 1.1.2 Released

Hello everyone,

A new update for the E-CNC WHB04B Wireless Pendant for Mach4 is now available.

What's new in v1.1.2
Added configurable Continuous Jog rates (2%, 5%, 10%, 30%, 60%, 100% and Lead) through ConfigUI.
Continuous Jog rates are now stored in the configuration file and automatically applied by the Bridge.
Minor internal improvements and bug fixes.

This update gives users more flexibility to fine-tune continuous jogging according to their machine and personal preferences, while maintaining full compatibility with existing installations.

As always, thank you to everyone using and supporting the E-CNC WHB04B project. Your feedback continues to help improve the software.

More information:
https://e-cnc.pt