Re: Mach 4 motion controller boards
I am old too and do not like to learn new stuff unless there is
likely to be a big payoff. my particulars might be different from
most. i make about 150 small parts in a session. the program is
starting and stopping as many times.
i think i have learned just about everything i could screw up but
then i find another way. no more short cuts for me.
that said, i think i know the difference between my fucking up or
the machine fucking up and the control program fucking up. i
devised all sorts of means of correcting what i now believe were
minor hiccups in mach3. i know that windows makes it very
difficult to write this sort of program. mach3 was written for XP
and although it still runs on win 10 i believe there may be some
instances where mach3 is just not fast enough smart enough or
whatever enough to work with all the crap win 10 is trying to do.
i have my machine pared down to the almost minimum that will still
allow windows to run. no internet no programs at all running in
the background and all unnecessary services disabled.
i will know better when i have made 1000 parts but so far after
75 i have had absolutely no position drift or random moves that
can break tools and damage the machine. running the same program
on the same machine with mach3 i was constantly on the estop ready
to catch some stray move or stall and had to constantly make minor
corrections for lost steps. at this point my axis are very smooth
and i use fairly slow acceleration and do not insist on trying to
run as fast as possible. making the 75 parts i had absolutely no
corrections to make no stray moves, never had to estop once except
when i did something really stoopid. with mach3 i would have
estopped and restarted mach3 several times in 75 parts and would
have been constantly making corrections to the x axis. no idea the
x axis, when this is the easiest on a three axis router. at this
point i really don't care to figure out whey mach3 behaves so
badly compared to mach4, just glad i switched, i have 3800 parts
to make.
i almost have the confidence to leave the machine to do other
things in the shop. i am going to wire my spindle controller to
stop the gecko drives when it faults. that would have fixed the
stupid thing i did yesterday. i live in fire country and had to
evacuate twice last summer. it was a total bitch not being a young
strong guy. so now everything of values is on wheeled carts. the
router is mounted to a steel cart and i had not decided where to
mount the spindle controller so it was just sitting there. then i
realized that there was a place to improve the wiring to the
controller and the improvement allowed the controller to be pulled
by a wire and knocked off the stand. that killed the spindle but
the axis were still moving and i was not fast enough with the
estop. now the controller is solidly bolted down and tomorrow will
be the fault estopping.
i also bought a single relay remote control that i can hang as a
pendant around my neck for when i wander away from the running
machine. i know exactly what the noise should be for a part that
is being cut properly. hopefully i can act fast enough if i hear
something wrong but my guess is that there will be very few times
when this is necessary.
i have run repeated axis moves checking with the dial gauge and
jogging or using MDI or running simple programs with repeated
moves and return to home always end up in the same place. it is
only when i am running a sub over and over and over that i get
strange behavior from mach3. the random moves (which corrected
themselves) are a total mystery but happened fairly regularly with
mach3. my guess is a problem with the mach3 driver for ESS? did
not experience this with mach4 yet. My guess is that the drift in
mach3 is due to some rounding error or ??? when the sub repeats
over and over. I am also using offsets and again a guess is that
all this interaction together with some obscure bug in mach3 and
probably some not great gcode programming results in
unreliability. i have not had to make a single correction on the x
axis running mach4.
if that were not enough there are so many improvements in mach4
that i am just starting to discover them. i can easily do things
like MDI without screwing up as i repeatedly did with mach3. the
program is just more friendly. i have lost patience with work
arounds and faking things. i just want to get the work done.
On 4/2/2021 9:04 PM, Paul Tegler via
groups.io wrote:
Ditto!
I just spent the day downloading and reading all the Mach4
manual.
The first thoughts that come to mind is all through the late
80's and 90's, how many people use to update their computers
every 6-9 months and the learning curves with new motherboard
and CPU features and re-configuring the various new features of
new versions of Windows. More people spent more time 'playing
with the machine' vs actually using the machine to do stuff.
Mach4 to me is this avenue.
I've been running Mach3 on my converted Smithy with my custom
CNC conversion and home designed controller,
?
and my (ridiculously over built) CNC router table,
(excuse the stupid math/speeds....was 2 a.m. not thinking
straight) both with PMX and ethernet. I've never had any issues
that were not the fault of the idiot at the keyboard.
....planning to stay with 3!? I guess that's a sign I'm getting
older (and lazy?)
ptegler
i don't know about a list but i can't think of anything
better than ESS together with a parallel port breakout board
like the PMDX
On 4/2/2021 7:11 PM, Joe Macmurchie
wrote:
?
Can someone
point me to a listing of current motion controllers that
work with Mach 4, please.
?
Sent from my Atari
2600
Regards,
-Joemac
?
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
--
Paul Tegler
ptegler@...
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
Re: Mach 4 motion controller boards
Ditto!
I just spent the day downloading and reading all the Mach4
manual.
The first thoughts that come to mind is all through the late 80's
and 90's, how many people use to update their computers every 6-9
months and the learning curves with new motherboard and CPU
features and re-configuring the various new features of new
versions of Windows. More people spent more time 'playing with the
machine' vs actually using the machine to do stuff. Mach4 to me is
this avenue.
I've been running Mach3 on my converted Smithy with my custom CNC
conversion and home designed controller,
?
and my (ridiculously over built) CNC router table,
(excuse the stupid math/speeds....was 2 a.m. not thinking
straight) both with PMX and ethernet. I've never had any issues
that were not the fault of the idiot at the keyboard.
....planning to stay with 3!? I guess that's a sign I'm getting
older (and lazy?)
ptegler
i don't know about a list but i can't think of anything better
than ESS together with a parallel port breakout board like the
PMDX
On 4/2/2021 7:11 PM, Joe Macmurchie
wrote:
?
Can someone
point me to a listing of current motion controllers that
work with Mach 4, please.
?
Sent from my Atari 2600
Regards,
-Joemac
?
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
--
Paul Tegler
ptegler@...
|
I? bought a small BoB from China that looks something like this.?
It came with a mini CD and a copy of MACH3. ? I have my own licensed copy so don't care.? Wouldn't use it since it's not ethical but lots of people do have the attitude that if it's a hobby and they don't earn money from it why should they pay? ? I had that choice with the mill. Pay $340 for a MACH4 and ESS combo or $435 Cdn plus $40 shipping maybe?? Or pay $80 for the MESA 7i92, plug into PMDX-126 and run free LinuxCNC.? ? From what I've seen MACH4 is a great bargain if you want to stay with Windows.? I am fighting WIN-10 constantly for software that used to run on WIN-7 and with each WIN-10 upgrade stops and requires 'fixing'.? Or I can pay thousands to update some of the software that is only a year old so it may run? better on WIN-10. ? To me WIN-10 is like WIN-VISTA.? Crap. ? John ? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Barker
Sent: April-02-21 4:52 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MachCNC] mach4? Mach3 is free? That’s news to me.? I get that it is some money but at the end of the day I have way more in cutting tools than I have in the software. This is not a cheap hobby. But you can make some cool stuff!? ? I would love to upgrade to Mach4 but the combined cost of a new controller (to replace the printer port one for a USB or network one) and the software license, makes it a huge jump, especially for hobbyists. Mach3 ? Is given away free and the printer port controllers are sub ?30. Any suggestions?
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when i was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i could see from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see at night. now i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different pair of expensive glasses and still can't see. how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan stops screaming. On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian Barker wrote: At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching up to you guys fast!? ? I like the contrast. ? Sent from for Windows 10 ? ? High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable options? ? ? Hi Guys, I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on in the software. ? <779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png> I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is ______________________________ ? Brian Barker Engineering / Devlopment ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions Livermore Falls, Maine (USA) Phone: 207(618)1449 Webpage: On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote: This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing! ? I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
-- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... (425) 791-0309
|
Re: Mach 4 motion controller boards
i don't know about a list but i can't think of anything better
than ESS together with a parallel port breakout board like the
PMDX
On 4/2/2021 7:11 PM, Joe Macmurchie
wrote:
?
Can someone
point me to a listing of current motion controllers that
work with Mach 4, please.
?
Sent
from my Atari 2600
Regards,
-Joemac
?
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
Mach 4 motion controller boards
? Can someone point me to a listing of current motion controllers that work with Mach 4, please. ? Sent from my Atari 2600 Regards, -Joemac ?
|
Those are pretty cool.
John
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ron Ginger
Sent: April-02-21 5:50 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MachCNC] mach4
On 4/2/2021 7:28 PM, John Dammeyer wrote:
.....
I don't know if MACH4 has the wizards like MACH3.LinuxCNC doesn't have
them.You run separate programs that generate the G Code.In many ways
it's still very command line oriented.
There is a set of wizards for Mach4. They are a standalone package but
can directly transfer the Gcode to Mach4. They do all the things the
Mach3 wizards do, and are a more integrated package. They include a job
file so you can generate slightly different versions of the same job.
You could use the mill wizards with linuxcnc, running them on a windows
PC and carrying the gcode to linux on a usb stick.
ron ginger
....
John
|
On 4/2/2021 7:28 PM, John Dammeyer wrote: ..... I don't know if MACH4 has the wizards like MACH3.LinuxCNC doesn't have them.You run separate programs that generate the G Code.In many ways it's still very command line oriented.
There is a set of wizards for Mach4. They are a standalone package but can directly transfer the Gcode to Mach4. They do all the things the Mach3 wizards do, and are a more integrated package. They include a job file so you can generate slightly different versions of the same job. You could use the mill wizards with linuxcnc, running them on a windows PC and carrying the gcode to linux on a usb stick. ron ginger .... John
|
Mach3 is free? That’s news to me.?
I get that it is some money but at the end of the day I have way more in cutting tools than I have in the software. This is not a cheap hobby. But you can make some cool stuff!?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Apr 2, 2021, at 7:19 PM, Stephen Gould <stephen_gould@...> wrote:
?
I would love to upgrade to Mach4 but the combined cost of a new controller (to replace the printer port one for a USB or network one) and the software license, makes it a huge jump, especially for hobbyists. Mach3 ? Is given away free and the printer port controllers
are sub ?30. Any suggestions?
Get
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when i was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i could see from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see at night. now i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different pair of expensive
glasses and still can't see.
how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan stops screaming.
On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian Barker wrote:
At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching up to you guys fast!?
?
I like the contrast.
?
Sent from for Windows 10
?
?
High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable
options?
?
?
Hi Guys,
I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going
up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on
in the software.
?
<779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png>
I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is
______________________________
?
Brian Barker
Engineering / Devlopment
ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions
Livermore Falls, Maine (USA)
Phone: 207(618)1449
Webpage:
On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote:
This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing!
?
I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM,
spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
maybe you are young enough that wasted time does not matter as
much as it does to us "senior citizens"
if i had gotten mach4 years ago i would probably have saved
enough in broken cutters to pay for it. same true for ESS.
since i run a small business anything that saves time and money
is welcome.
i resisted mach4 for a while because i thought it would be a lot
to learn. it definitely was not trivial but a dedicated two days
should do it. the documentation is very good but there are a few
obscure things that might take a while to figure out.
On 4/2/2021 3:52 PM, Stephen Gould
wrote:
I would love to upgrade to Mach4 but the combined cost of a
new controller (to replace the printer port one for a USB or
network one) and the software license, makes it a huge jump,
especially for hobbyists. Mach3 ? Is given away free and the
printer port controllers are sub ?30. Any suggestions?
Get
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when
i was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i
could see from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see
at night. now i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different
pair of expensive glasses and still can't see.
how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to
restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan
stops screaming.
On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian
Barker wrote:
At the end of the day it is in the
screen designer so you can change the font and colors to
anything you like. I am just trying to make something that
works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching
up to you guys fast!?
?
I like the contrast.
?
Sent from for Windows 10
?
?
High contrast
colour schemes are garish but essential for some of
us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look
sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make
the colour scheme and font size user selectable
options?
?
?
Hi Guys,
I have been working with Spencer
in the background and he made a good point that the
colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people
to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for
a new section of the webpage that will be going up
soon. I would like to know what you guys think about
this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if
you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not
what this screen is for. You can also use the
logging window if your trying to see what is going
on in the software.
?
<779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png>
I know it could look more artistic
but it is what it is
______________________________
?
Brian Barker
Engineering / Devlopment
ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions
Livermore Falls, Maine (USA)
Phone: 207(618)1449
Webpage:
On 4/1/2021
1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote:
This might
be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a
hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop.
Making my time there more efficient would be
amazing!
?
I am being tempted also is
there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...>
wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted
out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine
and am happy with it, but you are tempting me
to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM,
spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past
about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was
OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so
much better, it is well worth the learning
even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the
settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two
partial days now and have not had a single
hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more
common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool
features most of which I will never use but
for accuracy stability and reliability I think
mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to
change years ago, i would have a lot more hair
not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
The other alternative is LinuxCNC which does still run with printer ports or with MESA boards that like the ESS use Ethernet to parallel port. The 7i92H is what I'm using and is cheaper than the ESS.? I did transfer over and also try my USB Smooth Stepper since my PC is set up as dual booth between WIN-XP and LinuxCNC.? All I do is move the parallel port cable onto the parallel port on the back of the PC.? Both systems work. ? The down side of LinuxCNC is there is tons of documentation but it's like learning a language by reading the dictionary.? The advantage of MACH3/4 is it's single source and the support is excellent!? ? I don't know if MACH4 has the wizards like MACH3.? LinuxCNC doesn't have them.? You run separate programs that generate the G Code.? In many ways it's still very command line oriented.?? ? For me it finally came down to price. ?PC was surplus at $75. ?LinuxCNC is free.? MACH4 costs.? MESA 7i92H about half the price of the ESS.? What's been even more fun is I copied the HAL and INI files from the PC version over to a LinuxCNC installed Pi4 and used the Ethernet 7i92H to run the mill. ? I'm not moving over to LinuxCNC on my CNC router.? Happy with MACH3 and the USB Smooth Stepper. ?Does everything I need there. ? So I play in both worlds. John ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stephen Gould
Sent: April-02-21 3:53 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MachCNC] mach4? I would love to upgrade to Mach4 but the combined cost of a new controller (to replace the printer port one for a USB or network one) and the software license, makes it a huge jump, especially for hobbyists. Mach3 ? Is given away free and the printer port controllers are sub ?30. Any suggestions?
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when i was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i could see from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see at night. now i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different pair of expensive glasses and still can't see. how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan stops screaming. On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian Barker wrote: At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching up to you guys fast!? ? I like the contrast. ? Sent from for Windows 10 ? ? High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable options? ? ? Hi Guys, I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on in the software. ? <779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png> I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is ______________________________ ? Brian Barker Engineering / Devlopment ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions Livermore Falls, Maine (USA) Phone: 207(618)1449 Webpage: On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote: This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing! ? I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
-- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550 Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... (425) 791-0309
|
I would love to upgrade to Mach4 but the combined cost of a new controller (to replace the printer port one for a USB or network one) and the software license, makes it a huge jump, especially for hobbyists. Mach3 ? Is given away free and the printer port controllers
are sub ?30. Any suggestions?
Get
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when i was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i could see from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see at night. now i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different pair of expensive
glasses and still can't see.
how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan stops screaming.
On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian Barker wrote:
At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching up to you guys fast!?
?
I like the contrast.
?
Sent from for Windows 10
?
?
High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable
options?
?
?
Hi Guys,
I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going
up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on
in the software.
?
<779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png>
I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is
______________________________
?
Brian Barker
Engineering / Devlopment
ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions
Livermore Falls, Maine (USA)
Phone: 207(618)1449
Webpage:
On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote:
This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing!
?
I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM,
spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
i like to think of myself as a special needs individual. when i
was young i probably gave no thought to seeing stuff. i could see
from literally 2 inches to infinity. and i could see at night. now
i have lights and magnifiers and 5 different pair of expensive
glasses and still can't see.
how old are you? might never hear from me again i am going to
restore my computer to the last century to see if the fan stops
screaming.
On 4/2/2021 11:07 AM, Brian Barker
wrote:
At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can
change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying
to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel
like I am catching up to you guys fast!?
?
I like the contrast.
?
Sent from for Windows 10
?
?
High contrast colour
schemes are garish but essential for some of us old
folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated
but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme
and font size user selectable options?
?
?
Hi Guys,
I have been working with Spencer in
the background and he made a good point that the colors
in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We
have been working on a simpler screen for a new section
of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like
to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a
setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics
and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can
also use the logging window if your trying to see what
is going on in the software.
?
<779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png>
I know it could look more artistic but
it is what it is
______________________________
?
Brian Barker
Engineering / Devlopment
ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions
Livermore Falls, Maine (USA)
Phone: 207(618)1449
Webpage:
On 4/1/2021 1:27
PM, Joe Andolina wrote:
This might be
the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a
hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making
my time there more efficient would be amazing!
?
I am being tempted also is there a
special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...>
wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted
out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and
am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look
into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@...
wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about
upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why
learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much
better, it is well worth the learning even for an
old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings
migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial
days now and have not had a single hiccup or
misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features
most of which I will never use but for accuracy
stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come
close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change
years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled
out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
At the end of the day it is in the screen designer so you can change the font and colors to anything you like. I am just trying to make something that works better for the older guys. BTW I feel like I am catching up to you guys fast!?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Apr 2, 2021, at 12:20 PM, Dave Reichert <reichert.dave@...> wrote:
? I like the contrast. ? Sent from for Windows 10 ? ? High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable options? ? ? Hi Guys, I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on in the software. ?
<779F1CC9AD5E4F4AB874EF6C99314B71.png> I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is ______________________________ ? Brian Barker Engineering / Devlopment ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions Livermore Falls, Maine (USA) Phone: 207(618)1449 Webpage: On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote: This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing! ? I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
|
I like the contrast. ? Sent from for Windows 10 ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: Ken StraussSent: Friday, April 2, 2021 10:43 AM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [MachCNC] mach4 ? High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable options? ? ? Hi Guys, I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on in the software. ? 
I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is ______________________________ ? Brian Barker Engineering / Devlopment ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions Livermore Falls, Maine (USA) Phone: 207(618)1449 Webpage: On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote: This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing! ? I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
|
High contrast colour schemes are garish but essential for some of us old folks. Low contrast—shades of gray – look sophisticated but are mostly illegible. Why not make the colour scheme and font size user selectable options? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Brian Barker
Sent: April 2, 2021 9:26 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MachCNC] mach4? Hi Guys, I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window if your trying to see what is going on in the software. ? 
I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is ______________________________ ? Brian Barker Engineering / Devlopment ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions Livermore Falls, Maine (USA) Phone: 207(618)1449 Webpage: On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina wrote: This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing! ? I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
|
Hi Guys,
I have been working with Spencer in the background and he made a
good point that the colors in the gray screens are a bit hard for
people to see. We have been working on a simpler screen for a new
section of the webpage that will be going up soon. I would like to
know what you guys think about this screen. It has a setup page
and a run page. if you need to do diagnostics and setup that is
not what this screen is for. You can also use the logging window
if your trying to see what is going on in the software.
I know it could look more artistic but it is what it is
______________________________
Brian Barker
Engineering / Devlopment
ArtSoft | Newfangled Solutions
Livermore Falls, Maine (USA)
Phone: 207(618)1449
Webpage:
On 4/1/2021 1:27 PM, Joe Andolina
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
This might be the nudge I need to move over to
Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making
my time there more efficient would be amazing!
Thank you!
I
am being tempted also is there a special price discount to
upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...>
wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still
running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you
are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to
mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it
is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to
mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and
have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming
more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which
I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I
think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i
would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with
mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
|
This might be the nudge I need to move over to Mach4. As a hobbyist?I only get so much time in the shop. Making my time there more efficient would be amazing!
Thank you!
I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
> On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
>
> ?Spencer,
>
> It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
>
> Thayer
>
>> On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
>> There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
>>
>> Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
>>
>> It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
>>
>> I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
>>
>> There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
>>
>> I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
|
I am being tempted also is there a special price discount to upgrade?
Jim
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 1 Apr 2021, at 08:56, Thayer Syme <thayer@...> wrote:
?Spencer,
It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
Thayer
On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote:
There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
|
Spencer,
It is great to hear you got it all sorted out. I'm still running M3 on an old XP machine and am happy with it, but you are tempting me to look into the upgrade.
Thayer
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 4/1/21 12:14 AM, spencer@... wrote: There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
|
There were suggestions in the past about upgrading to mach4. I thought mach3 was OK and why learn all new stuff?
Well the reason is that mach4 is so much better, it is well worth the learning even for an old fart like me.
It took me a day to get all the settings migrated to mach4 using ESS.
I have been using mach4 for two partial days now and have not had a single hiccup or misfeed which were becoming more common in mach3.
There are so many really cool features most of which I will never use but for accuracy stability and reliability I think mach3 can't come close to mach4.
I wish someone had forced me to change years ago, i would have a lot more hair not pulled out in frustration with mach3.
It is the intermittent undiagnosable behavior of mach 3 that was driving me nuts.
And a big surprise for those who like printed documentation (have satellite internet which makes youtubes pretty much unusable) if you click the help button you can open the help folder with PDFs (and well written ones at that) on every topic you can imagine. I hadn't looked for help files because they are so rare anymore. Brian told me about the help folder.
I was able to eliminate several of my customizations because mach4 does things so well that they are not needed.
As one example, the MDI is a window that you can open instead of the gcode window and run your MDI stuff and then switch to the program run mode. No need to remember to hit escape to get out of the MDI and even crash the program if you hit the wrong keys while in MDI.
Also you can set mach4 to pretty much ignore the keyboard. I am somewhat convinced that at least some of my problems with mach3 were caused by keyboard. The jogging is smooth and entirely predictable, no more broken cutters in setup.
I was having x axis creep and could never find the reason why. Nothing sticking no wiring issues grounds right ESS not USB motion control. It just dithered around enough to be a problem. I don't know if it is that mach4 is smoother and has better acceleration control that my servo motors like better. Who cares, it just works and I am not smiling as Brian was hoping, I have an ear to ear grin.
I think there is no risk in trying mach4. If it doesn't make you happy I bet they would give you a refund and I think the chance of not liking mach4 is about as low as it can be. I never say 0 but pretty darn (did I say darn?) close.
--
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550 Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
(425) 791-0309
|
Joe Macmurchie
Ron Ginger
