@ tweakie

Apparently I just make stuff up... did you try it ??  Feel free to go ahead and change your machine settings to metric and use the plugin. Friendly bet that it does not change to metric units!! (so why did the UI programmer put "units" when it is specifically imperial all the time and create confusion).

There are several different user interface screens in mach4 that have the exact same issue "where (UNIT's) is specified" and it only works in imperial not metric settings.

Here is how I went about things: Instead of trying to crash / break my dial gauges; I bolted down a drill vice and clamped one jaw of my digital verniers and extended out 100mm (3") in the direction of the right hand rule.

From there I used the plug in and when it came to the "move distance UNIT/S" I put in 1. Press incremental move and wouldn't you know it... with one press of a button to change measurement from metric to imperial on my verniers and behold the measurement was closer to an inch then a cm. My machine is configured to metric. (rolling eyes loudly).

So... am I wasting my time here or should this actually be taken as a serious issue for the developers to remedy? Did I post in the wrong place? where should I have posted or should I have followed a procedure that I have missed?!

And your right tweakie... I will do my best from now on to keep my frustration away from those with good intention but no idea.

I will do my best from now on to keep my frustration away from those with good intention but no idea.

 

So you entered a move distance of 1

How much did it actually move (in millimetres) ?
Did you enter that distance in Actual Move Distance ?
Did you Recalculate ?
Did you run it again using the Calculated Steps per Unit saved for the axis being tested ?

Tweakie.


EDIT;   Additional information…

I do appreciate that there is no comprehensive instruction document for using the Steps per Unit Calculator and a lot still needs to be added to the Mach4 manual but using the calculator correctly is surely not that difficult. If we can use it then I am sure that you can.

Perhaps watch Art’s video to see how it is used – OK, he is using imperial (Inch) measurements but please remember that the calculator operates in UNITS so all your inputs and measurements should be entered in MILLIMETRES (if they are the units you have set for your machine). Do not mix units - if you are working in mm then use mm not cm.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-xCWDR0Uvg

I am sure it is not necessary but just in case you do need it here is a very basic guide…

Existing X axis steps per unit (Counts per unit) = 10000
Move distance = 1
Actual move distance (measured) = 25.4
Recalculate
Calculated steps per unit = 393.70078740157

In Configure / Control / Motors…
Change the X axis steps per unit (Counts per unit) from 10000 to 393.70078740157
Apply the change.

Run the calculator again
Existing X axis steps per unit (Counts per unit) = 393.70078740157
Move distance = 100
Actual move distance (measured) = 100
Recalculate
Calculated steps per unit = 393.70078740157

Now repeat for each axis.

Tweakie.

@tweakie

I followed the entire procedure provided on the mach4 video. Only I switched my vernier from millimeters to inches to use the plugin correctly because it only works in IMPERIAL NOT ("UNITS" pfff what ever that means).

My machine "is" and setup in metric. The step calculations are correct and measure out correctly in metric. BUT the plugin only works in IMPERIAL. (so I had to switch to imperial measuring on my verniers as per my last post).

I had to backward calculate off the imperial measurements I had to provide to the plugin so that I may get the correct steps per distance plus.

So... as per my original post. Steps per unit calculator NEEDS FIXING!! I don't care if they change the words "units" to the Inches {because that is what it actually measures} or to actually program the damn plugin to have a toggle for Imperial/metric BUT IT ACTUALLY HAS TO SPECIFY THE UNIT OF MEASURE.

I am not thinking of me here. I have already lost a day trying to figure out why I am getting all sorts of random measurements when trying to setup my mill.

I want to bring positive change to this program and to save some one else the same headache.

I notice that in the picture you posted you have not completed the Wizard by making the 'Incremental Move' and entering the ‘Actual Move Distance’ then used ‘Recalculate’ to show the ‘Calculated Steps/Unit’. I wonder why ?

As proof of concept I changed my X axis Steps / Counts per Unit to 336
I ran the Steps per Unit Calculator Wizard making an incremental move of 100mm
I measured the actual distance moved at 105mm
Using Recalculate it tells me that the correct Steps / Counts per Unit should be 320.0
Perfect.

Trust me Slanteng, if you are truly struggling to understand the simple operation of this Wizard then Mach4 is not for you.

Tweakie.



Caveat;
Because Mach4 is an actively developing product it is possible that certain functions may work correctly in one development build but not in another development build therefore it is recommended and assumed that the user is always using the current, stable, version (currently 2.0.4300).

Here is an open source version. It does the same thing as the one that comes with the screen but if you want to go in and make changes to this one you can.

The calculator is now detailed in this thread; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=43830.0