Hi'
My name is John Mumley, Live in upstate NewYork on a fifty acre hobby farm with lots of wood. Last year I bought a bandsaw mill and started cutting wood ...then what to do with it.
this time last year I started my cnc build took me three months to compleat it. as i have cows and goats and chickens, i had to put it away for the summer and and go back to farming .
Winter has now set back in, in upstate new york, and I'm back at it and have a sh-t load of questions. you will be hearing from me often.
johnyank

Hi  I'm  Ron from south central Mich.   As a retired Sheriff detective and a 42 year career in aircraft mechanics I think I finally met my match trying to learn how to make my newly acquired Cnc  to just move an inch.     I bought a Bob Cad 5050 three axis 6x6 table.   The prev owner was making yard signs using Dos.    Well I loaded windows XP on his old machine and now the 37 pin cable that plugs into the bobcat controller  and ya ya board in the computer won't talk anymore!    I talked with Aneheim Automation that made the box in 1992 and they don't seem to have any of the pin outs that they can help me with on a 10 year old controller .  I didn't think that  wording diagrams were like tax paperwork and now they want me to buy a new unit so they can only help you with it for 10 years, what the heck.   I guess a software called Quick Step has a wording diagram to go from a 37 pin on the controller end and wire it into a 25 pin plug on the computer end.     I promise to become a frequent talker if someone could make my Cnc talk and play with me and many I would even let it make a yard sign for me.   I would buy more updated controllers and computers but I have 2 new controllers and extra servo motors that must have some use.     I have over a thousand dollars worth of version 24 Bob cad cam and Mach 3 software and I set here with my emergency stop switch in hand to no avail.     H.              E.        L.          P.                The old dog is feeling old !          Coop

Hi, I'm Jason from Manchester in the UK.

I work as an electro-mechanical engineer in a semi-conductor plant making micro-chips.

I am new to CNC and like many on here will be scratching my head with more questions than answers.

I have a Proxxon MF70 CNC micro mill which i will be using to help make and engrave jewellry.

Most of my work will be miniature carvings and engravings using 0.3mm endmills and the like.

I must say from what i have read the site appears to be a great place for help and advice and its a credit to all those involved in setting this up.

My name is Matt,
 I am an electrical designer for a metal fabrication facility that manufactures anti terrorist barriers. I design electrical control and hydraulic systems for our product. But I frequently get pulled into the shop for machine repair. I recently have been updating our CNC plasma table powered by Burny Phantom software and DC servos. It is a large table at 17 X 40' with a Autocut 200 on it and an SC11 standoff controller. So while researching info on the burny I came across Mach 3 and started thinking I could build a CNC plasma table at home. So here I am and am already designing and purchasing material to build a 4X4.
Also I have a small index milling machine that I would also like ot automate. I have been doing a lot of research and reading and design.
I have some G code experience but I have alot of industrial automation experience as I have 15 years experience in process control and automation.
I have a small shop at home and have lathe, mill, welders, and all sort s of hand tools so a plasm table will fot right in. I make a lot of parts now at work on our table for home but I do not like interupting production for home projects.
Next when asked why I would build a CNC table for home I answer because I can.
Home town Reading Pennsylvania USA.
-Matt

Newby here...

Just retired from NASA and trying to set up a hobby machine shop in my new garage (with attached 3BR rambler) .  I am a EE by degree and have built most everything from chips to OS's to major systems designs.  Also can confuse myself in about 12 seconds trying to admin my home/ shop network.

BobCAD suggested Mach3.  I just got BobCAD v24 Mill Pro and am looking for interface down to machine(s). However, I see where a couple of add-on vendors were apparently surprised by changes in the Mach3 code and/or config tables. Is Mach3 changing support or authorship staff? 

I have limited $ and time.  If I must create my own 'Postprocessor', I will.  However, I would sure way rather rely on a well tended project.  I have more than enuff places to make mistakes as it is - LOL.

Does Mach3 allow:
4-axis support? (x,y, z,a) with proper command threading?
Dual Z support?  i.e. - z1=quill, z2=knee
Spindle speed control?
Coolant pump control?
All at once??

Thanks - lovin' the excitement!

Jeff Thompson

Welcome aboard Jeff T.,
Just what we need ... A Rocket Scientist !  No, really ! Happy to have ya !
Not changing staff, maybe adding though.
To answer your "allow" questions :
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
Enjoy your stay,
Russ

Hi Russ,

Homer sez it best ...  "WOO-HOO!!" 

Help me out if you can, please.  What is the interface between Mach3 and the basic machine.  I would like to provide simple step/ direction inputs for all axes.  That puts all the load on Mach3.  Is this reasonable?  I'm assuming I can get 3 or 3.5 D motion in real time. 

Who governs things like acceleration ramp/ de-ramp conformity?  Mach or the host machine controller?

Imagine machining a spiral ramp in Z.  Lotta mechanical machine constants to manage there.

Are there documents that will smarten me up, including the Mach3 developer API and/ or internal 'register' set?  NDA issues?  You know the drill!! 

Thanks in advance, order on the way.

Jeff Thompson

Hey Jeff,
  Download the docs from the Support tab at the top of this page.
Also, the DEMO version that is good up to 500 lines ... with a few restrictions.
Mach is step/dir, pulse stream can be improved and the work load of Mach by using an external controller like the Smooth Stepper (or others) that use USB.
If you have a CAM that can put out up to 6 axis's, Mach can likely handle it.
For best assistance and support, please direct you future queries to the appropriate discussion board.
Welcome again Jeff !
Russ

Hi, My name is Ayman, I live in Jordan and I know nothing much about CNC, but I liked the idea of building one and control it from a PC, I graduated as Electrical Engineer but working since then as Microsoft consultant, I want to build the stepper motor driver, communicate through serial port, I want to use PICAXE on the driver but want to build something that is compatible with Mach 3, so I joined here to see if someone can help me do that.

Hi name is Chirp. I do injection molding. I need a working CNC mill badly. I have an old  3 axis Tree milling machine in very good condition that needs a new controller. I have Mach3. What board do I need to put into a PC to run my servo drivers? Will that board need to be matched to the servo drivers?  Help from anybody please. nshannahan@gmail.com I am in Easton, Maryland.