Is there an alternative to mach 2? free, I hope. But I'm open to shareware.

Nick

Nothing that is better IMO, but you can use Turbocnc, but that is dos based or Ya also dos based but is not free.

Mach2 IS free, for up to 1000 lines of g-code.

TurboCNC is NOT free, it's $60

Nick,
Not only is it free for 1000 lines, it is the most powerful software for the money than anything out there! Get the free download, save a little money every week and make the purchase, you will not be sorry. It is just not worth, in my never to be humble opinion, to switch from one software to another. Get one, learn it and learn how to machine with it, then compare with the knowlede base and learn what so many others have, it is the best value going.
Regards,
Glen

With many of the programs I have seen and used Mach has the best documentation I have seen, well worth keeping and paying for it. It's IMO the best program out there.

I just purchased Mach2 this week. Thankfully it looks like the right decision :)

I was dreading someone posting saying its not too good....

The manual seems really good. I just need a completed machine to give it a run out but so far very impressed.

EMC -- runs on Linux. Free. Open source.

Ken

one of the real nice things is once your reg. your updates are free not a pop of $$ here and there to keep it up to date

I just purchased Mach2 this week. Thankfully it looks like the right decision :)

I was dreading someone posting saying its not too good....

The manual seems really good. I just need a completed machine to give it a run out but so far very impressed.


hi mate

how much did you pay for mach2 and where did you get it.

thanks
chris

www.artofcnc.ca

You can find Mach2 here: http://www.artofcnc.ca/
I've had Mach2 for a while. I think it's $149 the details are all on the website.
You can pay by Paypal.

Regards Terry.....

Hey guys,
I will agree that Machx IS a good program, BUT I don't trust "winders" and I personally prefer DOS! My personal preference is TurboCNC because:
1) Its DOS (OK, MY preference) and it allows me to use everybodys cast off computers. I have gone through about 3 of them in my shop mainly do to my stupidity and let coolant/swarf get into the box while I was trying to tweak some things.
2) Once registered, it is "open source" as I have the source files and can/have modified it to suit my personal desires! (Try that with Machx)
3) Turbocnc is free to use (NO crippling) and only $60 to reg now.

Nuff said!

Mach 2 is $149 only about £78 and is the best program ive found. One of the features ive just been playing with is the wizards, you can cut circular or rectangular pockets, linear, rectangular or radial drill patterns , text engraving and others without leaving the program.
At the current exchange rate this is a steal, the only cheap part of diy cnc in this country, ( when is mcmaster carr opening a branch in Cardiff?)

Is there an alternative to mach 2? free, I hope. But I'm open to shareware.
Shoot, I dont suppose you realise that 150 bucks for a program like Mach2/3 is the bargain of the century.
For what it does and the support you get, I am surprised you even ask.

I must admit I dont like buying software and finding out it is a dud, but I had no problems parting with my bucks when it came to Mach2. It will take a lot for me to ever want to change to another driving program.

Note: The fact that we are doing a promotion for Mach3 at this moment, does not effect my opinion. I would say if I didnt like something.

I recently started on Master5 due to computer on 98SE. This past weekend I upgraded to 2000pro and installed Mach2 (P3 450mHz). Guess what? I was cutting again in 1/2 hour, very easy to set up and good documentation.

I've been testing both EMC and Mach2 side by side (well, on a KVM switch) on the CNC router I've been building.

Although EMC does work acceptably, I have found Mach2 to be much more refined and vastly better documented.

While Mach2 may not be open source, it includes all the tools needed to fully customize it. In particular is "screen designer" which let's you completely rebuild the screen display buttons captions etc. to suit your machine, all without having to code anything.

I've been running them on suprlus Dell P3/733 PCs that I get for <$100 and both run well on that level of PC.

Despite the Mach2 setup costing about $350 for Mach2 and Windows vs. $0 for EMC and Linux I'm going to go for the solution that is refined, well documented, easily configurable and well supported.

I'd recommend testing both side by side yourself since that can be done for free. I think you'll come to the same conclusion.

Pete C.

At least for my first machine I'm sure I don't want to spend more than $60 (and that's a stretch) for just initial tinkering. So for the 'cheap' guys like me, how would you compare EMC with TurboCNC? TIA.

Rance

Rance,
From what I have read, if you are NOT comfortable with Linux, it will be a pain to setup EMC. If you are, it should be a good program.
If you are halfway comfortable with dos, turbocnc is fairly easy to setup and the "trial" version is not crippled in any way. If you decide to download the package from the DAK site, please be advised that you should also join the yahooo group and in the files section, you can then download the latest "hotfix" version that has the latest updates.
Let me know if I can help.

At least for my first machine I'm sure I don't want to spend more than $60 (and that's a stretch) for just initial tinkering. So for the 'cheap' guys like me, how would you compare EMC with TurboCNC? TIA.

Rance

If you missed my earlier post, you can use Mach2 for FREE, as long as your g-code files are less than 1000 lines. If you have a PC with Win2K or XP, try it out.

Gerry,

No I didn't miss it. :) 1000 lines seems rather limiting though. However, having NEVER ran a cnc job I don't have any experience to go on.

So what's the average # of lines in a g-code file for etching, say, a 2" x 3" PCB? Or tell me what you would have not been able to mill if you had a 1000 line limit? I know, I know, these are VERY subjective questions but someone try to give me an answer anyways. Thanks.

Rance


If you missed my earlier post, you can use Mach2 for FREE, as long as your g-code files are less than 1000 lines. If you have a PC with Win2K or XP, try it out.

Where 1,000 lines could be limiting is situations with a lot of contouring such as text engraving. It could also be an issue for CAD designed parts if they are converted with excessive resolution resulting in far too many arc segments.

I've never personally tried PCB engraving (always etched), but for a typical PC board layout one would expect to vast majority of the toolpaths to be straight line segments which would equate to a single line of G code.

For other types of work, say a front panel with an opening for an LCD display, some buttons and some LED holes, the G code could quite easily be under 50 lines.

Also note that you can cut a larger job in sections as well with a little extra effort. If your code is 1,500 lines you can cut the first 1,000 and then load the next 500 without moving the machine and continue the cut.

Pete C.

Rance, I'd guess that most 2D CNC programs could easily be under the 1000 line code. Especially with subroutine calls.

3D stepover machining will take hundreds of thousands of lines though.

You could work around the 1000 line limit by breaking your program down into 2 programs. Its more inconvenient, but you get what you pay for.

I have used a previous version of TurboCNC and Mach2. I can't speak for the new version of TurboCNC, but Mach2 ran much smoother than TurboCNC. It would run a few lines, stop for a second, run a few lines, etc. Mach2 runs my programs smoothly. I'd say that I saved 15 minutes on a 1-1/2 program cycle.

I would try the new version of TurboCNC, except that it requires DOS. If you use a new computer its not an easy matter to run DOS (unless you are a computer expert). The 20 year olds at the local computer store don't even know what it DOS is, let alone set up the FAT tables, and partition drives to to get it to run. I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and bought Mach2. I haven't been disappointed.

Hassle? You're kidding!

Just download a copy of freeDOS off the internet, or make a bootable floppy from Windows 95-ME, and just run from that! The windows versions that run off the NT core don't have DOS underneath them.

http://www.freedos.org

TurboCNC works off of floppy disk, if you want. It's small and efficient.

-- Chuck Knight

Hassle? You're kidding!

Just download a copy of freeDOS off the internet, or make a bootable floppy from Windows 95-ME, and just run from that! The windows versions that run off the NT core don't have DOS underneath them.

http://www.freedos.org

TurboCNC works off of floppy disk, if you want. It's small and efficient.

-- Chuck Knight

Just don't run g-code from a floppy, unless you want the start and stop that Trent mentioned. Another problem with running from a floppy is you may not be able to see the hard drive if it's NTFS, or sometimes even FAT32.

Gerry is correct about the hard drive. That's the problem I had. The DOS wouldn't read the hard drive after I booted from a floppy like Chuck suggested.

Just to add...

Depending on if you also need a CAM program, you can also get Mach2 bundled with Sheetcam or Meshcam - save $25.

What I dislike about Mach2 is that on my 1ghz with 256 mb of memory the program is very slow. it will lock the mouser every few seconds.

Same with my engraver, it will run for about 4 seconds then pause for a half second and continue. I assume that would messing up my board.

I'd take a close look at your system configuration and what background tasks or sypware you might have hiding on it if you have issues on a 1GHz 256MB machine.

I'm running Mach2 on a P3/733 w/ 128MB under Win2Kpro at this very moment doing a test of engraving at 24IPM feed rate over an 8" x 10" area and do not have the slightest pauses. It's streaming through tens of thousands of lines of G code. The mouse is fully responsive, and even if I let it go into the OpenGL screensaver it still runs perfectly.

Pete C.

The downside of Mach2 is that it require NOTHING else be running at the same time, for best performance. What you're seeing is most likely caused by something else in the background. You might want to read this: http://f6.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/kO0wQsQ6AcB1JzfhooBmFZLEFobAtmy-Q8bm-DEWIVxMMhug0QJBkXv5d2BYITq6rHmerd-7YXPjnOKw0CAgk11Sh7Z96K3sdw/%20Utilities/optimisation%20XP.txt
You may need to be a member of the Yahoo group to get access to it.

As for the 1000 line limit, our $100,000+ machine at work only handles about 1100. (It's 5 years old)

Considering that you can get a good used business class PC such as the Dell Optiplex GX200 P3/733 I'm running Mach2 on for less than the cost of the Mach2 license it makes little sense to try to use you desktop PC as your controller.

I get machines like that one that are typically less than 4 years old for about $99 complete with kbd,mouse,speakers and a 17" CRT monitor. Each time I go to get another one it's a faster machine.

Pete C.

If your code is 1,500 lines you can cut the first 1,000 and then load the next 500 without moving the machine and continue the cut.

Pete C.


Now that is a smart idea, I should of come up with that first.. I little program could easily be written to put a hook on the text box and watch for 999. once it is found then open the next file.

Hell, it wouldnt hard to write a basic program similar to it.

Nick

Now that is a smart idea, I should of come up with that first.. I little program could easily be written to put a hook on the text box and watch for 999. once it is found then open the next file.

Hell, it wouldnt hard to write a basic program similar to it.

Nick

I guess you could "get around the system" that way, but bear in mind, you are depriving the guy who made the program for the benifit of helping others. Its not as though he is a corporate giant who is charging heaps, and screwing the little guy.
He is a one man team ( Along with his volunteer helpers) who is providing an above average service to many hobbist and professional level CNCers.
The reason this guys has a large team of followers is because they all know what sort of an excellent service he provides.

Well said Benny. Art deserves to be paid for his work. Mach2 is well worth the money.

Regards Terry.....

If anyone is looking for the ultra cheap route I would highly reccommend Deskam's DeskNC. Its only $40 and after trying out turbocnc and mach2 I was hooked. Of course I have no cnc or machining experience so most of the other software was confusing to me. DeskNc runs in dos but it runs just fine in windows dos mode for me and is ultra simple. I was up and running in like 3 minutes since there aren't many buttons or features but for any hobby homebuilt machines its perfect.
I bought mine from hobbycnc when i purchased my board, www.hobbycnc.com
As I said i was/am a cnc newbie but I found DeskNC 10 times easier and simpler to use than Mach2, no offense to mach2.

CNCMage

With capability comes complexity. Mach2 is a very capable and versitile product and because of that the configuration can get a little complex.

Mach2 is very configurable, both in what it will interface with, and also in the screen layout. The default screen is indeed rather complex, however there are many elements on the screen that won't be used for a given application.

There is a "simplify screen" button that will strip out some of the less frequently used items. More important is the "screen designer" utility that is included with Mach2 which alloes you to quite easily put together a fully custom screen to match the application perfectly.

Another item to note is the in addition to the very reasonable $150 license cost for Mach2, for personal use that is the only license you'll ever need since the license allows you to use as many copies as you need for personal use.

If you have a CNC router, CNC mill and CNC lathe plus a CAD workstation where you also want to do Mach2 test runs, it's still just one $150 license.

Pete C.

While everyone likes to use "free programs" there are some that are just wroth paying for. Mach2 is one of them. For what it does it is not expensive by any means and the support for it seems unbeatable. I was sold within 5 min of downloading the demo. Wish I had looked into it earlier.

I would think for the amount of time and error of trying to get 999 lines of code and then to reset everything to get the rest of your part the price of Mach2 is hard to beat. Beside your going to do this for every code that is over 1000 lines? Seems silly. Lot of work for $149 bucks.

I have cncpro and it is nothing comparted to mach 2. Heck, I will sell you my copy for $50 bucks and you can use it all day long, if you don't mind my name flashing up on the screen for 1 sec. everytime you turn it on. It is DOS based and works perfectly. I never plan to use it again so really if your interessted let me know.

To each there own but this program is REALLY worth its price and then some.

taus
www.cuttingedgecnc.com

Has anyone any experience with CncPlayer

http://www.cncplayer.com/

Nothing that is better IMO, but you can use Turbocnc, but that is dos based or Ya also dos based but is not free.

Tell me please, am I the only one that Mach2 slows his machine down or does every body else suffers the same thing?

When I run it and I minimize a window, any program window I minimize, it minimize in slow motion and it stays like it until I reboot the computer, even though I closed the program Mach2.

I run win2k on a 1.2 gigahz with a 256 meg memory

Yoram

Side point you need more memory 256megs is not nearly enough for windows I wouldn't use anything less than a gig.

Tell me please, am I the only one that Mach2 slows his machine down or does every body else suffers the same thing?

When I run it and I minimize a window, any program window I minimize, it minimize in slow motion and it stays like it until I reboot the computer, even though I closed the program Mach2.

I run win2k on a 1.2 gigahz with a 256 meg memory

Yoram

Its because you have resources being used, i disabled qtask and it fixed it for me, just stop all proccesses other than mach2 and it will work fine for you. min. memory for win2k is 128meg., should work fine on 256meg mem. I do it all the time.

More memory shouldn't be the problem. Download msconfig from here. http://www.perfectdrivers.com/local/msconfigxp/msconfig.exe
Run it and remove everything in the startup tab. Reboot and Mach2 should run better.

I thought msconfig is aleady in windows, just go to start and run and type msconfig

Tiger, you are not the only one that happens to. I still cant find out why it afffects one computer and not the other. My lesser computer is best for running Mach2 even though it runs on 1gig processor, 256ram, onboard video card and all the things that are recomended against.
I think a lot has to do with the mother board design/layout.
I have found that lots of people has varying opinions, and success with different types of computers. I still cant figure out a common denominator.

Mach2 is running just fine for me on a surplus Dell Optiplex GX200. That's a P3/733 w/128MB and a clean install of W2Kpro.

This is a dedicated machine and I suspect that's where people get into trouble trying to use their "regular" PC with all the spyware and virus scanners and popup blockers and file sharing dis-services that go with it.

I can have Mach2 running a big chunk of engraving G code and still go out and browse and pull files from my other machines without any issues with window response or with the running G code.

My recomendation is to keep the GHz machines on your desktop and get a cheap used business PC to dedicate to the CNC.

Pete C.

I forgot this one. If your network card speed is set to auto, set it to 100. Or 10. But not auto.

Joe, Win2K doesn't come with msconfig.

And I probably should tell anyone this :) but after reading one of Pete's posts the other day, I looked on Ebay for 700-1Ghz PC's. there were a ton, and I watched a few that were ending that day. 3 of them went for between $60-$80, + $35 shipping. All were 800's. Not bad for $100 delivered.

mach 2 has a memory leak, i'm pretty sure about that. And it seems that you have verfied it. Even after you close the program down the system memory doesnt come back.


Not a big deal I just downloaded turbocnc and made a boot disk, it seems that is the method that I will do.


Here are the steps 5 steps to freedom on an XP computer

1. make a boot disk -> my computer -> disk -> format disk-> dos disk
2. extract/copy TurboCNC program to boot disk
3. delete the extra utilites(free up space) from boot disk
4. copy G code file to disk
5. reboot and run a:\turbocnc



Enjoy.

Nick

mach 2 has a memory leak, i'm pretty sure about that. And it seems that you have verfied it. Even after you close the program down the system memory doesnt come back.

Nick

I don't think so. There are several thousand users, and I read about 50-100 messages every day on the Yahoo support group, and I've never heard anyone mention a memory leak.

Ger I saw it mentioned a long long time ago. It seems that is was someone who did not listen to Art and set the system up wrong! (wedge)

Mike

My Windows XP has msconfig.......

I am using a laptop, 850 mhz, windows 2000 with 256 megs memory. Before I run Mach 2 I use a program called End It All...it used to be free but now there is a charge for it. You basically run it and it will pull up all of the programs that are running in the background. You can pick and choose which ones to close. You can also do this individually of course but with end it all it is just MUCH faster. It won't let you close programs that are needed for windows to work. One click, your done.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,697,00.asp

Looks like it is only $5.97 if you want the program.

taus
www.cuttingedgecnc.com

if you google enought you can find Enditall's free version (before they made it payware).

Nick

i found enditall here
http://www.docsdownloads.com/Tier1/enditall.htm

Mach 2 is $149 only about £78 and is the best program ive found. One of the features ive just been playing with is the wizards, you can cut circular or rectangular pockets, linear, rectangular or radial drill patterns , text engraving and others without leaving the program.
At the current exchange rate this is a steal, the only cheap part of diy cnc in this country, ( when is mcmaster carr opening a branch in Cardiff?)

when I went to the website I also found out it is made in N.S. your not to far from our cottage spook1e

Just bought Mach 2 and don't regret a penny!!! As was said earlier - why even ask? - at the price they're asking it's a steal.

Hi,

I do not make money from CNC. I hope will do, maybe one day. I borrowed money in order to buy Mach, Sheetcam and Vcarve, and, believe me, it is not easy to give money back. I have a job after almost one year of unemplyement, and my wife is still unempolyed, and we have two children. I live in Romania, and my income is Romanian...but, I am very proud, and happy that I bought these programs, and reward the great work these people put in and give as a support. Mach2 is the greatest program I have seen.