1) Spindle Stop, is it OEM Code 182 ( Toggle Spindle Actual)
Spindle CW Toggle is OEM 110, if spindle is on this will switch off and vice versa.
2) Flood/Mist I want to have a coolant off button but I see no OEM code for that, Only way I can think of it is to use 'G-Code Function' and call a macro that does OEM Codes 225 & 227. OR use the VB Script button but im not sure how to tie a script to that button.
There is OEM 113 which is Flood Toggle and OEM 114 which is Mist toggle, as above it will switch On if Off and Off if On.
3) I want a Retract Z in my job control for easy checking of things such as surface finish or clearing out chips/islands do I need to write a macro for this as well or is their a code already?
I have a G Code button on my screen that will move the axis to Z10 (mm) which I use all the time. You could do that and set a HotKey to it and it will work fine. Personally I dislike HotKeys and have external buttons but thats just my preference.
4) The big daddy question, I want to have jog control setup as my picture says but I dont know how to select what axis the mpg effects.
Cycle axis controlled by MPG 1 175 cycles with one button while
Select encoder jog on axis X 259 should allow me a button for each axis
but neither of these buttons are doing anything....
OEM 174 will toggle between Keyboard Jog and MPG
OEM 303 is MPG Velocity mode
OEM 304 is MPG Step mode
OEM 305 is MPG Multistep mode
OEM 185 will swap to X axis for MPG
OEM 186 will swap to Y axis for MPG
OEM 187 will swap to Z axis for MPG
OEM 188 will swap to A axis for MPG
OEM 189 will swap to B axis for MPG
OEM 190 will swap to C axis for MPG
5) what other shortcut buttons do you guys find very handy when running jobs? I think I have everything I usually use but usually don't remember things until i'm in the middle of working.
As said above I dislike keyboard shortcuts and prefer real buttons, to me keyboards are for entering Data and real buttons are for switching. That however is just my opinion and I can see why others like keyboard shortcuts, especially when they are on machines that are not in an industrial environment.
6) I want to write a VB script that takes a sequence of keyboard strikes in and translates it to mpg pulse and mpg direction (Im going to wire a digikey encoder to two unused keys and replace the scroll wheel with a mini mpg) I have experience with c for microcontrollers but have no idea how to get keyboard input from mach's vb scripts. Anyone know a good post with some examples?
Sorry cant help on that other than to suggest you use two inputs on a Parallel Port and input the encoder directly.
Hood