I have fiddled with arcs without offsets and now realize that i need to do the whole thing over but am working under somewhat reduced capacity and cannot learn a bunch of new programs. I decided to try the two main holes starting over with cambam with the correct spacing. This will replace the mess I made before. I can deal with the few other holes later and use mach4 to determine the relative hole centers on the various 4th axis positions. I think there is a learning mode but it might take me longer to figure that out. I think I have convinced myself that it is generally not good to use the quick and dirty easy method as it will bite you in the long run. -- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com http://www.poodlex.com (425) 791-0309

I have some gcode that I wrote a long time ago, using cambam, I think. It made the circles for me so I did not need to understand G code arcs. Over the years I have move the circular pockets relative to each other by using offsets. I want to get rid of the offsets for various reasons. I still am not clear on arcs but is moving the location of an arc less complicated than I think it may be? Here is an example. I use G52 to set the X and Y offsets. To move the circle without using offsets do I just need to add the offsets to all X and Y coordinates and add the X offset to the I and the Y offset to the J. I hope it is that easy :) G52 X 0.01 Y .6125 (thru hole) (1ST PASS) G1 F146 X0.0095 Y0.0 G1 F52 Z-0.34 X0.2095 G2 F40.0 X-0.1048 Y-0.1814 I-0.2095 J0.0 G2 F40 Y0.1814 I0.1048 J0.1814 G2 X0.2095 Y0.0 I0.1048 J-0.1814 -- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com http://www.poodlex.com (425) 791-0309

I have been having occasional strange behavior making small parts on my cnc router and think I finally figured out what is causing it. I thought it was miss-feeds or just about anything else but have almost certainly determined that there are (fortunately occasional) blocks of wood that are unbelievably hard, almost impossible to cut. I discovered this today and am using a SouthEast tool 1/4" down spiral bit that is almost virgin so it is not the tool. The spindle boggs down and then all hell breaks loose while moving with no cutting action. Or at least I think this is what is happening. quick estopping resetting the machine and starting over confirms that the wood is in fact very difficult to mill. I am using an xbox controller that has plenty of spare buttons so I configured the big 4 way toggle button to be feed hold. I did not want to use feed hold because I thought there was a warning about resuming from feed hold. But I tested it and it seems to work correctly When I get the first indication that a piece of wood is like a stone, I hit the feed hold button on the xbox, set the feed to 40% and hit run again. Then before running the next part I set it back to 100% Wouldn't you know that right after implementing this I ran into a wooden rock and the method worked. It has been years since I set up the VFD spindle controller and I sort of think that I have it halt on overload. Maybe I should turn that feature off and hope it powers through at a slower speed? Seems like a pretty awful idea to me? Any opinions of screwing around with the spindle fault settings?

hi dudes. i saw on ebay some versions of mach3 with complete german menu. i mean for example the menu general or ports/pins. is it possible to do this self?? thanks

I wasted a lot of time trying to get wifi working on my shop computer. I had told myself I never wanted wifi on it so I disabled a bunch of windows services and then tried enabling them again. Anyway short story. I completely fucked up the computer the last step was windows restore making a total mess of it. Fortunately I have a drive image made with Macrium Reflect and was able to save the mach4 config files and restore the computer to April 2021 which was fortunately after installing mach4 and getting most stuff like the Smoothstepper to work So I am back to working again but am wondering what it take to switch computers. I have an almost identical one that has wifi built in so it has a better chance. I got the license from Brian Barker and his email seems to be no longer valid. The license was generated from my computers PCID so it needs to be generated again for a different computer. I have tried to register but am meeting with an unbelievable array of problems. My satellite connection takes hours of fiddling to get it to connect to a secure site. So what should take a minute (just logging on to a secure site) can take hours of waiting and trying again, then making some progress and then not being able to get to the site. I find it difficult to believe that Viasat actually charges for this and no support can do nothing about it other than agree that Viasat is fucked in so many ways and is never going to change. So how do I switch mach4 to my backup computer? -- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com http://www.poodlex.com (425) 791-0309

Hopefully you can help me with this Brian.. I got the wxlua dialog to display with buttons in the PLC when running a gcode file but it, just displays the dialog box and button's, but doesn't wait for a button press to return to the gcode it just keeps running the gcode with the dialog box still on the screen.. Any way to go about this and not have the gcode keep running?.. till i hit one of the buttons.. Checking to see if a dialog box or messagebox is called from a gcode macro.. yes will allow the dialog to be displayed on the screen, and all buttons, but when the dialog is displayed control is sent right back to the gcode .and doesn't wait for any buttons to be pressed The dialog remains on the screen while the gcode is running now, and i can close it with a button press. Is it possible to stop the gcode from running while in the dialog box? Or just not possible? Thanks Gary

Sending again with subject changed to reflect actual subject matter. From: MachCNC@groups.io [mailto:MachCNC@groups.io] On Behalf Of Steve Stallings Sent: Friday, December 10, 2021 4:20 PM To: MachCNC@groups.io Subject: Re: [MachCNC] Question about Macros and dialog box's, and or messagebox Version 2.0.4612 is the current "release" version. It does not contain the fix. The fix Brian refers to has been implemented in the development versions on the FTP site here: https://www.machsupport.com/ftp/Mach4/DevlopmentVersions/ Do not be tempted to correct the spelling in the link, the typo is real. The versions here have not been fully blessed, and may have other quirks. That said, many people are running them with good results. Regards, Steve Stallings From: MachCNC@groups.io [mailto:MachCNC@groups.io] On Behalf Of spencer@... Sent: Friday, December 10, 2021 3:50 PM To: MachCNC@groups.io Subject: Re: [MachCNC] Question about Macros and dialog box's, and or messagebox how do i get the revised version? i downloaded the one on the site but it has the same revision number. so i didn't bother ti install it. can you provide a link if it is different from the one on the site? On 12/10/2021 11:47 AM, Brian Barker wrote: Spencer, I checked the log and I fixed that issue on the following day Revision: 4725 Author: brianb Date: Friday, May 14, 2021 10:25:03 AM Message: Mach4GUI: Update to make sure Inc Jogging is matching what is in the jogging array ---- We are testing to get a release out now but please know when you told me about your issue the first time I fixed it :) Thanks Brian ______________________________ Brian Barker Webpage: https://www.MachSupport.com/ On 12/10/2021 1:37 PM, spencer@... wrote: the problem with jogging one inch when it says .01" at startup is also a problem any news on this? i have thelatest version and verified the problem. On 12/10/2021 10:35 AM, Gary wrote: Ok thanks, but this problem with the toolpath being off center, has become a real problem for me.. I just ram a job this morning.. I started by probing to find the center of part, when centered I zeroed the X and Y Then loaded the tool and probed the tool Hight so that was set, then loaded the g code file. Checked the X and Y they were at zero the z was at the correct height. Started to run the job the X and Y went no where near the correct position and the z dove into the part… wrecked part now So I flipped over and did the same thing exactly and it cut prefect . . I have had this happen before when I run the part the first time if I re zero center everything and try again it runs fine.. I have tried this on 3 different computers also Any suggestions, Gary Sent from Mail for Windows From: Brian Barker Sent: Thursday, December 9, 2021 3:46 PM To: MachCNC@groups.io Subject: Re: [MachCNC] Question about Macros and dialog box's, and or messagebox All new to me.. Lets get what we can for data and see what we can find. I think that is the best thing to do. Thanks Brian ______________________________ Brian Barker Webpage: https://www.MachSupport.com/ On 12/9/2021 2:55 PM, Gary wrote: Ok Thanks Brian I have run into another problem, not sure what the cause.. when i load the gcode file it never shows the machining to start in the parts center in the tool path display... form a couple of my profiles, if i start a run and then stop re zero the dro's and regen the tool path its now starting in the middle.. in the tool path display.. but i do have a couple profiles that don't have that problem i don't see any setting's that are different. Do the profiles go bad? or get some sort of glitch, don't see any difference other than the way the tool path starts when the gcode is first loaded and its way off center position Gary -- Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville , CA 95542 USPS mail only Laytonville, CA 9545 UPS/Fedex only-- Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville , CA 95542 USPS mail only Laytonville, CA 9545 UPS/Fedex only

Please can I ask for guidance with a newly aquired CNC mill, which is running on Mach2 and has done for many years. I am unable to generate G code using Fusion360 CAM, that Mach2 will work with, it gets so far then stops not to move again. However I have successfuly engraved a plate using a free program, F-engrave, with very satisfactory results. This machine dates back to 2008 and I believe the controller is a few years before that, probably around 2000. The computer I am using came with the mill and is running Windows XP. Any advice would be very welcome, I have no objection to upgrading to a newer version of Mach but am frustrated it cannot be nade to work. Many thanks Brian Sent from Sky Yahoo Mail on Android

was there ever a fix to the bug that causes the displayed jog increment to not necessarily be what it actually is when starting mach4? i am using very expensive router bits now and would be really pissed if i snapped one off because the jog increment showed .01" and it moved an inch instead. i try to remember to reset it each time i start mach4 but i am good at forgetting things and this could cost me $60 or more in one bad move. i jog to edges to set my home position for a piece. there is a big difference between .01" and 1 " that would be about .99" certainly enough to break a new compression router bit. -- Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville , CA 95542 USPS mail only Laytonville, CA 9545 UPS/Fedex only

i wrote before with no reply. Mach four maintains a recent fiels list but there is no wa to get rid of old files. this make a logn useless list of current files mixed with a bunch of old deleted stuff. makes it a pain to choose the right file. easier to have a working folder and do the management yourself, where is this list found and can it be edited? or better yet why cant mach4 automatically delete files that are nor found ?

For some probably dumb reason in my HiddenScriptm1s file i can't get it to raise the Z axis after contact with the tool setter probe. I have the correct G code and the correct setting of Z .5 to it should raise buy instead lowers . Anybody have a good working copy of hiddenscript? Dan Mauch

I'm cutting unions for flags. I noticed that my Z axis was not coming all the way up from neg. Z. Is there a setting in Mach3 that would tell the machine to do this? I've checked my steps on the machine and they are right on. I dont have a clue why it started doing this. This is what I have a windows 10 machine, I use mach 3. I have a custom built 5ftx5ft machine. Any help would much appreciated. Thanks

Mach 4 maintains a recently opened files list. Even if a file has been deleted from the disc and i have accidentally tried to open it and get a message that it no longer exists it stays in the list. This is really annoying since i have similarly named files and can forget which is the correct one. As with most other programs this list should have non existing files purged. It makes no sense to keep them around forever. Also is there an update with some bug fixes?

I am pretty sure it used to work before. If I hit a limit switch I could jog off it. Suddenly (after some strange behavior not moving the a axis and almost breaking an expensive bit) I could no longer do this. At one point I got an error something like can't jog onto limit switch? I am virtually certain I could do it before and I have not changed any settings nor can I find any to change. I have to disable the motor and manually turn the motor to get it off the switch and then it is fine but I really want to be able to jog off switches the normal way. Is there a setting that might have changed itself that I can restore? -- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com http://www.poodlex.com (425) 791-0309

the new screen editor for mach4 is much better than mach3, it actually works. but i hate repeated boring tasks. i did manage to get the text so i can read it but i just picked my favorite colors and might want to change them some day. is there a file for the screens maybe an xml that i can edit and do global subs instead of changing the color for each button? i might decide at some point that i do not like purple :) -- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com http://www.poodlex.com (425) 791-0309