I am trying to evaluate a free instance of Mach3 on a Vista computer, and although it seems to be working OK in general (without mill attached), I find that in the following code, the + symbol is not accepted by Mach3, "Bad character usedLine19".

N015 G18 G40 G80 G90 M5 M9
N016 X0 Y0 E1 S2000 M3
N017 Z0.1 D1 H1 M7
N018 T1
N019 X0.9375 Y1.2500
N020 G81 G99 R0+.1 Z-0.02500 F10.
N021 G0 G17 G40 G80 G90 M5 M9

When I remove the symbol, the error goes away, but that doesn't solve the problem. The above code runs fine on NCPLot, so I think it is valid.

BTW, line 20 in this code when loaded is seen by Mach as line 19...

Any idea what might be the problem?

Thanks for any help offered.

Roger

N020 G81 G99 R0+.1 Z-0.02500 F10. this line is not legal


N020 G81 G99 R+0.1 Z-0.02500 F10. this line is

Graham.

N020 G81 G99 R0+.1 Z-0.02500 F10. this line is not legal


N020 G81 G99 R+0.1 Z-0.02500 F10. this line is

Graham.

OK, I got tangled up in FADAL's fixed subroutines where in this case NCPlot accepts "R0+...R1+...R2+... R3+... words. I am really new to this stuff, (it likely shows!) and this brings me to a next question: Is it possible  through macro/vbscripting in Mach3 to emulate FADAL's built in L9101 - L9901 fixed subroutines and if so are there any known examples?

Give us a clue as to what they do on a Fadal and we will tell you if there is an equivalent in Mach3

Graham.

Graham,

Fadal's Fixed Subroutines are dedicated cycles, standard in the memory of the control. They are called by the use of an L word (L9101 - L9901) and will use parameters (R0-R4, Z, & F). Fixed subroutines can be used during programs run from memory or DNC operations. Subroutine calls are not allowed in MDI.

The following are published in the Fadal User manual:
L9201 ENGRAVING FUNCTIONS
L93NN BOLT CIRCLE
L94NN MILL BORING CYCLE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
L95NN MILL BORING CYCLE CLOCKWISE
L9601 RECTANGULAR POCKET CLEANOUT COUNTERCLOCKWISE
L9701 RECTANGULAR POCKET CLEANOUT CLOCKWISE
L9801 CIRCULAR POCKET CLEAN-OUT COUNTERCLOCKWISE
L9901 CIRCULAR POCKET CLEANOUT CLOCKWISE

The below example usage of L9701 illustrates how short and easy to code a pocket without creating a huge program file, where the Mach3 Wizard generates ~2700 lines of code just for this code sequence, which gets stored in the file... Unless I'm missing something. (Which wouldn't suprise me!)

   M6 T1
   G0 G90 S2000 M3 X1.0 Y1.0 (Pocket Center Position)
   H1 D1 M7 Z .1
   G1 F10. Z-1.              (Set up for Fixed Cycle)
   (R0=Feedrate    R1=Stepover Radius    R2=Overall X    R3=Overall Y)
   L9701 R0+10. R1+.01 R2+3.25 R3+1.75 (Call Subroutine)
   M5 M9
   G0 G49 G90 Z0

Regards,

Roger