OK im still confused i set up native as mm and re tuned motors but DRO still shows inches is their way to see dro screen in MM not inches my math conversion is way to slow in head to do every step every time.   

also i do not have hard switches for my limits, i have set my home state for all axis and i need to know how to make machine go back to that mach home when i turn on my unit the next day all axis show red and cant find how to hemw to mach cord not what i set for zero of work i did last time.
thks

G20/G21

(;-) TP

If you do not have home switches then the only way to home is jog to a known position and press ref all. That will set the machine coords to zero at that position.
Regards native units, if you have them set to metric then that is what the DROs will show, the only time it will not is if your code is in inch (G21)
Hood

does anyone have screen shot of Metric dro versus Inch   

Hood: so I should at end of day using send all axis back to my home MACH COORD'S before i shut it off so next time i can REF all from that known good position due to no hard limits.

is their way to see if it is in MM vs inch    i did set up as MM in beginning but this morning when i redid motors it shows steps per inch and is dead on when auto setup and  calibrated via block plate.

There is three things you can do:
1- No use of limits - you just go to any spot and "ref all" and that is your home position
2- Soft limits - you don't have any switches and define to Mach the machines travel extents. There is a write up in Members Docs on how to use / set up soft limits
                   with no switches , you can turn them on and off ( I found it to be more of a PITA )
3- Hard limits - you have switches which will stop the axis movement and then provide a repeatable home location

All depends on how you work and level of automation you want. If you use no switches or soft limits just be aware that when you turn the machine on the motors will recieve a pulse
and you are not "exactly" at the spot you left the machine. Should you use soft limits and happen to bump or move the axis manualy when the machine is off then the point you defined as home is not the spot you were at when you shut the machine off. If you have switches and they are accurate then you home the machine before use and you are at the true machine coordinate of 0,0,0.

Your choice, do as you wish......

RICH

Attach your xml and I will look to see if you have metric set correctly.
Hood

ok sorry for all this I greatly appreciate everyone's help.

My whole goal in this from the beginning was to take ideas that i have slowly been attempting to build in solidworks (badly still learning) and then use the mini mill to whip them out. I spoke to a guy today that has a Taig mill and uses Solidworks he made some comments and questions. The taig as he knows it has screws that are inch based not metric and that when he designs in solid works using Millimeters he sends to a Cam program that converts to g-code and then runs Mach2 which he believes converts to MM. ( i goggled and cant find any way to do that)

? regardless of program i attempt to design in mm will Mach3 take g-code and run regardless of mm or inch setup.

? I need help in set up I want to use MM not inches and I have installed mach3 with MM as setup, what will my DRO look like when in MM.
if it is necessary for me to start over please let me know.

Hood where do i get the XML for you to see.

Open Mach and look lower right for the name of the profile you are using then go to the main Mach3 folder and look for a file of that name with a xml extension. Copy it to the desktop and rename to iosborn.xml and then use the additional options button on the reply page to attach it.
Hood

Normally IF you want to machine metric you issue a G21 to set metric mode IF you want imperial you issue a G20. That tells MACH3 what MODE to run in.

Keep it simple, (;-) TP