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Author Topic: Swap A and B axes - how?  (Read 1245 times)

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Offline rcaffin

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Swap A and B axes - how?
« on: January 14, 2023, 03:32:12 AM »
I have Mach3 on 2 PCs: one on my desk for design and one on my CNC for operations. I have added a rotary axis to the CNC, and this works very well.

However, because of physical machine constraints (ie space), the rotary axis is aligned with the Y-axis, not the X axis. Somehow I was able to get Mach3 to treat it as being the A axis, which fits in nicely with the standard screen set. This was done some time ago - pre-COVID.

I am SURE that I was able to get my desk machine to behave in the same way. However, just recently it seems to have forgotten this and the A axis on my desk is now aligned with the X axis. This is extremely inconvenient for design work!

I am sure that there is some way to swap the X and Y axes, but I cannot find it. I imagine that I used the same commands to swap the A and B axes - I think? But my brain seems to have gone fuzzy - Long COVID maybe.

Help? How does one do this?

Cheers
Roger

Offline kf2qd

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Re: Swap A and B axes - how?
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2023, 05:50:10 PM »
Change the settings in your configuration files. Every axis has a listing for a step and direction port, those need to be set up for your machine.

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Swap A and B axes - how?
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2023, 06:43:03 PM »
I think a misunderstanding here. I have no problem with driving any of the axes: that all works fine.

It's the DISPLAY which I am trying to manipulate, and on my desktop PC (no hardware). I want the code, which uses the A axis, to display the rotations on the B axis or Y axis, because the rotary unit is actually sitting on the Y axis instead of on the A axis. Yeah, confusing, but there is no room in the machine to put the rotary unit on the X axis.

I suppose I could rewrite all the programs changing the A parameter to B, but that would be a pain, and anyhow the actual machine is fine, displaying the rotations on the Y axis as I want. Now, how did I set that up???? I have done it once, but cannot remember how!

Cheers
Roger

Offline Graham Waterworth

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Re: Swap A and B axes - how?
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2023, 07:23:35 PM »
Go to toolpath in config and select the axis of rotation.
Without engineers the world stops

Offline rcaffin

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Re: Swap A and B axes - how?
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2023, 07:49:54 PM »
Hi Graham
Yep, that is what I had to do. Art had maybe foreseen it.
But the doco is not what one might call 'real helpful' on the subject.

Cheers
Roger