well, here's what I figured out and what I did: My machine came with the Mach3 freeware version and LazyCam version 1. I bought the licence to Mach3 and downloaded the latest LC, so that's where I'm at. I can import DXF into LC, post G Code to Mach3, run the code, and the machine moves. So, the software is communicating with the machine. That's good.
I've read the manual for LC and Mach3 until I fell asleep. I searched terms like "start point", "tool", "parameters", "V tool", "V bit"... nothing but frustration.
Here's what I have, and what I want to do:
Small, 12" X 18" table, 3-axis CNC, 1/4" dia 45 deg "V" bit. All I want to do is V-carved lettering on small wood panels. I can find the dialog boxes for "tool", but I can't see any pictures of the tools and the parameters that need to be set for them... and I only need the parameters for one. As I read through the manual, I can see that the machine should be capable of doing what I want, but, when I think I've got it, it doesn't work.
I open a DXF that's roughly 3" X 8" in LC. I can see it and it's correct. I click the "Scale" button and I can see that it's the right size. I set the parameters for a tool (using those set for the example in the manual, diameter, speed, and whatever else...just to see if I can get some kind of result), and post the code to Mach3.
I switch to Mach3. I see the code. I click the "Run" button...
For these tests, which I've done a number of times, I don't have any stock loaded on the table, there's no bit in the chuck, and the spindle is not running. I just want to see if the machine moves the way I think it should.
So, when I hit the "Run" button, the machine moves: X, Y, and Z movements. I see the codes running top to bottom on the screen... but, when the code completes, my 3" X 8" graphic only moved the machine about 1/2" square.
I can't see anywhere in the manual how to set a "base point" or how to re-position the spindle motor in relation to the cross-hairs on the table screen.
In LC, I tried opening a "New" file to set a boundry rectangle, then open a DXF to plop in the middle of it, but the DXF button cancels out the other one.
All I want to do is carve little signs. Help?