I am a gcode programmer for a long time. I am working on doing side work to play with my other hobbies. I got a call from a guy that is looking for a programmer to help him out. He bought a router from China that is using mach3 to control the machine and it has lazycam to program it. He has an older machine that he has no issues with. I know from searching the web that the software uses a "DXF" file to basically copy the picture? He is telling me that when he programs a part it is spitting out strange code and his program is not working? I will go to his shop after work to strat figuring out his issue. He said the he thinks the machine is supposed to be turn key? I don't trut or like anything from China due to issues we have here with their quality. Can someone give me some pointers on this configuration and what to look for other that code output? Is there post psocessor?

I was under the idea that poeple here were guru's on routers and this software? I went to the guys shop last night and check it out. He has an old router that he runs with gerber and artpath. He has no issues with that. He bought the new machine from China "boo". The machine has mach3 as the controling software and "lazycam" as its processor. His worker had the machine moving around but it was small movements? I looked at the position screen and it appears that it is set for metric. The program he was running was in inches. I have been in contact with artsoft and he gave me som hints on this problem. I will probably have to re-configure it in "imperial". He also sugested getting a better cam program from vectric. I think that I will see if he can change his posted program to matric and test it again?

Hello CNCWHIZ,
i think that you must deeper looking at this forum. I have a small engraver working with Mach3, my son has NO problem with the machine. We converting DXF to G-code via Lazycam. I works verry well.
Pierke

Did you configure the machine yourself?

Yes, we do configure the machine. I think there is a video how to configure you machine/program. At this moment we use the little machine for engraving. I must learn Mach3 more. If you are intresting, i have screenshots on my laptop, i'll wil send you the pictures tommarow (i mene about 10 heures, it now late night)
By, Pierke

Sorry, sommething forgotten:
"I think there is a video how to configure you machine/program." this video is on the site from Art soft.
Pierke

I am interested in playing with this. I have worked on every part of CNC mills. I have fixed our mahines more times than I can count. I started programming CNC with a text editor. I have used a Friedon flexwritter... This is another format for me to mess with.

I was under the idea that people here were guru's on routers and this software?

There are very few posts here about LazyCAM, and I don't think there are a lot of users here. The forum at www.machsupport.com might have more answers for your LazyCAM questions. Imo I think you'd find that Vectric's products are far easier to learn and use than LazyCAM. The original versions of LazyCAM were so un-intuitive that I was left with no desire to even attempt to learn it. Not sure how much better the current version is.

Hello CNCWICH,
this is the link for video about config. http://www.machsupport.com/videos/

Pierke

ger21
I was told by artsoft that makes mach3 and lazycam that lazycam sucks. He told me to use vetric as well. For the most part he will be using 2d but the machine is 3d so he can upgrade to that. My main issue is that I would think that most of you hobby guys building routers would know a lot of mach3? This project should be fun. I want to make sure that the program is very user friendly for him to use. I program with pro engineer so user friendly is first in my mind.

You didn't really ask any specific mach3 questions. There's plenty of mach3 knowledge here. Ask away.

One problem encountered by new Mach users, aside from the complexity of setting up the machine REQUIRING much use of the manual, is the post processor. Gotta use the roght one or the machine goes nuts.

Vetric programs are great with Mach. A more economical 2 1/2 D pgm is Sheetcam.

Mach is top of the hill, IMHO, and will be loads of fun AFTER a short learning curve!
Good luck and don't be shy about asking specific questions.

Topic line? Its hard to as a specific question when you are learning a system?

It's also hard to answer a question that isn't asked. :)

So, the only difference between the "hobby" world vs what I do everyday is a stepper motor without feedback and a system like fanuc that has feedback. The mach3 is the only level that I have not played with yet. It sounds simple enough to me. The software "mach3" uses the step of the motor and the pitch of the ball screw to calculate machine movement. You also assign "M & G" codes to other machine functions. So now I need to make sure that mach3 is configured to the way I want to program it. I will be programming it for imperial so I need to re-configure it for that and this is where the video come in? After that, I need a "simple" to use program to program my setup. I need to have a post processor that fits the machine. New question, when I get the software, which company will give the best tech support and supply the necessary post?

CNCWhiz,


For difficult to answer tech support questions, Brian is one of the developers of Mach.
He among others will answer your questions very promptly.

Someone here or on the Mach3 forum most likely has a post processor for your machine.

http://www.machsupport.com/

Why not purchase from a vendor that has other automation parts that you plan on purchasing for your project.

That way you build some sort of relationship, $159.00 wont buy much today in the way of tech support.

There is a lot of knowledge here, most of the members really enjoy helping others.



Jeff Alessi

As I said at the begining of this thread, the machine was bought and is not being built. The guy is not getting any tech support and has issues. He is a sign maker not a machine builder or programmer. I am looking for the help of people like the ones in this form as well as links and tips from the web. I will be doing all the tweeking of the mach3 setup as well as programming development.

For a sign maker, Vectric's V Carve Pro will easily give the most bang for the buck. You won't find better support, and there are a lot of users both here and on there own support forum.

As for Mach3, I'd recommend a completely new setup rather than converting the current metric setup to imperial. Mach can have multiple configurations, so you can keep the metric setup in case you might need it and just add an inch setup. Just copy all the settings for your ports and pins and any other things you might need to setup first.

Which will be harder? I have the book in pdf at home that the guy gave me to look at. He was thinking that it would on be about a half a day to get it set teach him a new program and be up and running?:confused:

What do you mean which is harder? Setting up the machine and learning V-Carve?

Setting up the machine is pretty easy, if you know the pin assignments and the steps per inch. The only thing that will take some time is setting up you accel and maax velocities, because it's usually a trial and error process.

Learning software, on the other hand, can be either relatively painless or very painful, depending on the users skill level, program ease of use, and teachers abilities. :)
Although with V-Carve, you should be able to start cutting in as little as 30 minutes or less, but full comprehension of all the features can take days, weeks, or even months. Features you don't use may never be learned.

Did some reading on the machine. I don't think that they were using a "G20" son the machine is running in the "default" mm. I have the guy looking at getting the software. The program does not look to hard to run but when you run pro engineer everything else seems easy? I think I should be able to get everything setup and online without doing much re-configuring. I will change the config to a "G20" and get the program figured out. The people with the program said the have a post for mach3 so it should be a piece of cake. I like the way the mach3 works as well. It has things that took me hours in other shops to build into the controller. The pre-configured stuff looks cool.