Mach3 Program
Shanae Maerz
Mach4 is completely new software with less than 1% of the programming code in common with Mach3. It was written from the ground up to be expandable, flexible, and extremely responsive for use with very large files.
I just reloaded all the Mach3 software and still no movement! The screen shows movement but nothing happens with the cutting table. The break in program ran for a while and ended somewhere other than X0Y0.
@paulaiken When you re-installed Mach3 did you make sure to uninstall the software using Windows Add/Remove program functionality? If you just deleted the folder and files that will not be sufficient to remove any of the previous settings. We recommend doing a complete factory uninstall of the software and re-installing with the CrossFire V1.1 plugin and profile according to our tutorial videos.
I looked inside elec cabinet and there are NO lights on the X or Y controllers. Just a USB light. To reiterate, the setup program was running, feed stopped somewhere in XY away from zero and not I cannot make any moves. FRUSTRATED
I responded to you on FB messenger, but wanted to circle back on here. Since there are no lights on the drivers or the power supply, and you dont get any buzzing noise out of the stepper motors, then it means that your power supply is no longer functioning. We will get a new one sent out to you this morning.
Finally got the power supply on Saturday. Got it installed and ran the setup program all the way through this time. Thank you. Will be moving on to the next phases of setup. Do you want the old power supply back?
Paul
The first issue, sometimes during a cut, the torch will just shut the arc off. Air will continue to blow and mach will continue to run the motors but the arc will not be lit. When this happens I have to stop the program, rewind to the point it stopped and start it again to hopefully resolve it.
The second issue, Mach 3 sometimes just decides to skip steps that are clearly shown in the preview/jog follow window. If I type 3 words for example, it may skip the first word on one run and cut it the next. Or if using a stencil font, it may cut out one leg of a letter.
Extinguishing arc issues are usually caused by either moisture in the air supply, or excessive torch height. What amperage do you have it set to? Insufficient amperage can also cause the torch to extinguish if the torch height is too large.
I thought maybe it was grounding issue, but does not seem to be. I normally attach the ground clamp to the brass portion of the nut on the underside of the table. I tried securing it to the slat bed as well no change.
Do you have a digital multi-meter? Consider disconnecting the torch fire cable and probing the female plug on the electronics enclosure, checking for continuity each time the torch is commanded to fire. That will rule out any issue with the CrossFire electronics.
In scrolling through the G-Code, which was generated automatically by using an extruded image in CAM, I do see M5 and M3 every so often. Its around 11000 lines so I couldnt tell you without running another piece if it was at that spot or not.
Then you have a billion different options as far as controller set up. Best choice is a Gecko G540. Around $275
Then you need wire, a box to install it all in and a bunch of other nick knacks to get the hardware together.
A geckodrive is also a dream match if you want to work with mach3. Costs about the same as the xcontroller. Just remember you need a parallel port on your pc, or else you will need additional hardware.
I have been running Mach3 OEM as my machine for previous 3-axis work. I just have a inexpensive China Zone 6040Z 4-Axis machine that up to know I have just been doing 3-Axis work. This is a hobby for me. An expensive one! Just upgraded to 4-Axis Pro and going through the training videos. I understand that I need to select a machine with 4-axis capability. I do not see a 4-axis MACH3 option. Any idea what I should use?
Hi MS, that sounds like an interesting challenge. I just did similar with an anilam control. since you just bought 4pro, they owe you a post processor. find your 4th axis commands, learn how to program four axis moves in the gcode that mach understands, then you can tell the BC postprocessor team how a rewritten mach OS needs to behave. I dont know what mach can do, but the BC postprocessor team is really good at making their postprocessor create whatever gcode you need, even if your control wants conversational psuedo-gcode. good luck
Mach3 and Mach4 both happily accept ISO G code, eg, Fanuc.
Mach3 and Mach4 are both 6 Axis Simultaenous capable so IMHO you should either just go with the Mach3 PP that you are currentlt using or you can try the BC_4x_Mill Post Processor, it is already setup up for 4th axis use with the A axis rotating around your CNC Machine X axis.
FYI, I am using a in-expensive China Zone 6040Z table-top miller. Which, for what I do I am pretty happy with. It is a normal 3 Axis with a rotary accessory that mounts on the table to provide the 4th axis. I believe BC_4x_Mill and the Mach3 OEM is the correct choice for me.
Also note that if the Machine setup is not placed on center line, ie. on the diameter, you would need to apply that shift in the work offset section, so that the model is shifted to the center line for simulation and toolpath calculation.
Alex, Those work, Thank You! One more question, when I set my zero reference do I set the Z point equal to the point of the center of the rotation? Or should I change the reference point to start it at the outside of the stock?
Alex, So I finally finished my taxes and got back on this project. Your files work great. So I decided to compare your and mine to see what I was doing wrong. The CAM setups appear to be identical. Your instruction below was one of my issues.
Can you send me the part where your at so that I can see what is missing?
Your image shows that you have an X axis rotary machine selected.
In that case you would Setup with rotary around X
Define rotary feature around X
update and recompute toolpath
When posting a toolpath for Mach3 my programs are no longer turning off the spindle. The start of the file has M5 to turn on the spindle but I have to manually place an M5 command at the end to turn off the spindle. This started last year and is continuing still.
I intend to purchase a pretty basic CNC kit based on the OX. I know enough about the mechanical aspect of the kit and could customise so that it perfectly suits my needs, but have decided to start with something that just works OOTB then create its replacement separately after I have the workflow dialed.
Mach 3 converts g-code into machine commands to be interpreted by the stepper motor drivers. Mach 3 is not specifically required, in fact some hardware may not be supported by it, though it is a pretty general piece of software with wide applicability.
There are other programs which perform the same function as Mach3. When you know which CNC machine you will use, ask the supplier what driver they recommend. They may even supply one with the machine. The program which generates the g-code will probably have a library of templates for a variety of CNC machines and you will need to ensure that you have compatible capabilities all along the line.
I built an OX CNC two summers ago, and it was quite fun. I ended up going with a TinyG CNC controller. I did not want to pay for CAM software, so I ended up using Fusion 360. Transferring Rhino models to Fusion was not as smooth before, but now Fusion will import Rhino models. CAMing in Fusion is really easy to pick up (there are help dialogue windows for everything).
DWG usually works for the curves. I generally assume no curves will transfer through with 3DM, so I have to export an additional DWG file if curves are applicable. You may need to tinker around in the export options. You will just need to import the DWG file into the 3DM file once you have it open in Fusion.
I have been working on upgrading a CNC plasma cutter with a PC running Mach3, and an arduino as a torch height controller. Everything was going very well using the code below that I pieced together from bits around the web to suite my needs (am by no means the original brain behind most of this code). That is until I went to run it for the first time and found that RF interference was causing major issues with the relay board I was triggering with the parallel port from the PC to turn the arc on/off. I farted around for a while with earth grounding everything and shielding and so on before finally giving up. It would seem that particular pin on my parallel port just cannot compete with the RF from the plasma. That being said, the stepper motors work just fine.
So my solution is to move the relay board out of the CNC enclosure and out to the PC where the arduino lies and trigger it with said arduino. As you can see from my code, it is designed to connect to Mach3 via modbus and send command inputs to Mach3. I can easily send bits back to the arduino, however I actually do not understand the modbus language well enough to do anything with said bits. Please ignore any erroneous comments, they were meant for my future self mucking around with updates. Attached is also the modbus options menu that clearly allows for output values.
So in summary, what I want to add to this code (which works great for what it does) is read a bit from Mach3, and turn a pin on. Sounds simple, but I do not know how to read that bit from Mach3 (or exactly configure mach3 to send it, beyond tieing it to the output command.)
WARNING: Follow this guide to installing, setting up, and using Mach3 to cut parts ONLY if you are running a Legacy CrossFire Machine with Mach3 Electronics. Otherwise, your machine is used with FireControl and you must follow the Cut with FireControl Guide.
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