Fix the screen editor so if you go into the screen editor in something other than a maximized window all of the controls shift right and save that way.

MTCW

RT

Default screen set for lathe should include the diagnostics page.

MTCW

RT

Add checkbox control to screen editor.

MTCW

RT

Fix the canned cycle custom G code so that when you save and reload or quit Mach4 and restart any empty/blank lines don't get read back in with this result:

...
g0 x1
g0 z1

m3

g0x5
m5

....

comes back as

g0 x1
g0 z1
(------------------------------------)
((((((((((ERROR READING LINE))))))))))
(------------------------------------)
m3
(------------------------------------)
((((((((((ERROR READING LINE))))))))))
(------------------------------------)
g0x5
m5
(------------------------------------)
((((((((((ERROR READING LINE))))))))))
(------------------------------------)
(------------------------------------)
((((((((((ERROR READING LINE))))))))))
(------------------------------------)

Default wxLathe.set, shouldn't the open Docs be enabled at all times.  Mine is now.

I would like to see an existing motion behavior removed or at least be disabled optionally in settings. Whenever an M or S code is encountered in the GCode or MDI the machine decelerates to 0, executes the command, and resumes. There is not necessarily any need for it to stop in the following example.

g00 x0 s1000       motion starts and spindle at 1000
g01 x10 s5500     motion stops, spindle changes to 5500, motion continues
g01 x20 s5500     motion stops, spindle still at 5500, motion continues (no change was made but the fact there was an S code in the line means the motion stops to address it)

If the spindle speed commands weren't in there, the machine would travel from x0 to x20 without interruption but with the extra commands in there (I tested and saw the same behavior with turning coolant on and off during motion) travel slows to 0 and without any delay executes the command and accelerates back to it's previous rate.

I have my Spindle Accel/Decel time at 0 and 'Wait on spindle to stabilize' disabled

The reason I want the travel rate uninterrupted is because I'm using spindle control PWM signals to control the power output of a laser to do raster engraving.

Assume each 'pixel' i want to engrave is 1mm and I'm drawing a 5mm striped pattern I'd code as:

g00 x0y0      starting point
x50           lead in for acceleration
x55 s255   laser power max 5mm
x60 s0      laser off 5mm
x65 s128   laser half power 5mm
x70 s0      laser off
x120        lead out for deceleration
y1           next line

The laser PWM control and positional results of this code work perfectly but that forced motion stop before executing S kills the end result of the piece.
Fixing this would make raster laser engraving incredibly easy in Mach4 with the use Inkscape plugin 'Raster 2 Laser GCode' which produces great results with simpler GCode senders. It would achieve the equivalent of Art's Impact / Laser plugin for Mach3.

There is a parameter option that changes the behavior of the look ahead. Normally, you WANT to wait on the motion to complete before the M, S, or T codes are processed by the look ahead. 

Set #3003 = 2.  That will disable MST waits.  But you must consider the look ahead!  If it is set to say 100, then up to 100 lines are read (and processed!) at one time.  In effect, the S command would be the last S command.  The only thing you can do to combat that is set the look ahead to 2 lines.  That way CV will be maintained across the G code moves and not come to a complete stop.  Setting the look ahead to 1 line would be the equivalent of running in exact stop mode, BTW. 

You would be wise to set #3003 back to 0 before any stop M code is issued (M01 M02, M30, etc...)

I really don't recommend the above at all.  Instead, Have a look at M62 and M63 (The motion controller must support these).  They control outputs synchronized to the movement of the G code.  M62 and M63 are special M codes that do not break the CV chain.  So you can leave the look ahead alone.  You could easily implement 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and %100 with a few outputs. 

We are still working on a dedicated laser interpreter.  It will have options specifically for lasers that should accommodate this type of thing. 

Steve

An enhancement to the Z probing options that allow the four corners of a work piece to be probed and would generate an algorithm that that would continuously correct the Z axis height as the router moves along the Y and X axis.

This would compensate for work pieces that are not of a consistent thickness. I realize using just the four corners isn't ideal as the surface of the work piece isn't a perfectly flat plane that is just not parallel to the bottom surface. Currently I add shims between the work piece and spoil board and can get acceptable results. It is very time consuming to probe the four corners, shim the low corner(s) and recheck.

I have seen acrylic sheet thickness vary 0.010" from one end to the other across 15". When engraving at a 0.005" depth this leaves some areas uncut.

Maybe have an option to probe up to 8 or 10 points anywhere on the surface of the work piece. Known high and low spots could be intentionally selected along with the four corners.  

Best regards,
Dave

Please make decent Unicode available.

When I try to open a file including Korean alphabet in the path or in the file name itself, Mach4 just says... It can't open...

Even DeskCNC which was developed almost 15 years ago had no problem like this....

An enhancement to the Z probing options that allow the four corners of a work piece to be probed and would generate an algorithm that that would continuously correct the Z axis height as the router moves along the Y and X axis.

This would compensate for work pieces that are not of a consistent thickness. I realize using just the four corners isn't ideal as the surface of the work piece isn't a perfectly flat plane that is just not parallel to the bottom surface. Currently I add shims between the work piece and spoil board and can get acceptable results. It is very time consuming to probe the four corners, shim the low corner(s) and recheck.

I have seen acrylic sheet thickness vary 0.010" from one end to the other across 15". When engraving at a 0.005" depth this leaves some areas uncut.

Maybe have an option to probe up to 8 or 10 points anywhere on the surface of the work piece. Known high and low spots could be intentionally selected along with the four corners.   

Best regards,
Dave

Search for a program called autolevellor(sp). Used for PCBs but might do what you want.

Mike

Need scale DRO input boxes like found in mach 3 as well as be able to see the new program extents once you hit regen toolpath after scaling.
Need to add all screen input options like +/- feed rate, +/- Jog rate, +/- spindle speed, Spindle on/off and all other screen functions in the keyboard shortcut configuration so you at least have the option to map all those functions to the keyboard.