Newbie needs HELP!!! w/testing CNC Router

[Torhino]

I have a chance to get a small CNC table top router set up. It looks like it is decently made. It is a Masters CNC. The guy bought it off of ebay and thought he could plug it in to his computer send a picture from photo shop to it and it would cut it out. After this did not work he put it on a shelf until I found it. My problem is that he lost all documentation and software that came with it. It looks to have a hobby cnc board for the controller.
I just want to be able to hook it up and see if it works before I buy it. Is there a simple free program that will let me jog the machine around to ensure proper operation? Also the controller output has a parallel cable and I only have computers with USB plugs. Is there a converter that I can use?
Any advice or help wold be greatly appreciated.

[DPDerleth]

I have a degree in architectural engineering and my entire life I've been using math and quite good at it or so I thought. I've been trying to build some custom parts for some of the guns I have. For example, I've been recently working on a compensator for a 1911 45 ACP. This question has basically nothing to do with my previous statement but here goes...

I was sharing dimensions with an old school CNC worker guy who's been helping me out and when I gave a certain dimension of 1.04 I said 1 and 4 hundreths and wrote it down. Then this guy looked at the number and said "1 and 40 thousandths". I realize that 4 hundreths and 40 thousandths equal the same number technically but I always learned that excess zero's are unnecessary so I don't pronounce them. I.e. 00.200 is obviously just 0.2. But this "Old School CNCer" debated with me that it's incorrect how I say it when in CNC now-a-days and I should change my ways. Now I absolutely disagree and I thought this would be the best place to ask somebody if things are pronounced differently in Machine Shops.

Thanks and sorry for the wasting your time.

[miopicman]

You can download a free demo copy of Mach3 that will allow you to jog the machine. Download it from Artsoft at: ArtSoft USA - Home of Mach3 and LazyCam.
The demo restricts the code to only 500 lines but should be ok for your purpose.
Good luck.
Jim

[jblakes34]

I have a degree in architectural engineering and my entire life I've been using math and quite good at it or so I thought. I've been trying to build some custom parts for some of the guns I have. For example, I've been recently working on a compensator for a 1911 45 ACP. This question has basically nothing to do with my previous statement but here goes...

I was sharing dimensions with an old school CNC worker guy who's been helping me out and when I gave a certain dimension of 1.04 I said 1 and 4 hundreths and wrote it down. Then this guy looked at the number and said "1 and 40 thousandths". I realize that 4 hundreths and 40 thousandths equal the same number technically but I always learned that excess zero's are unnecessary so I don't pronounce them. I.e. 00.200 is obviously just 0.2. But this "Old School CNCer" debated with me that it's incorrect how I say it when in CNC now-a-days and I should change my ways. Now I absolutely disagree and I thought this would be the best place to ask somebody if things are pronounced differently in Machine Shops.

Thanks and sorry for the wasting your time.

I know the strange question was from a few months ago, but I may be able to shed some light on the question of 4 hundredths versus 40 thousandths. Google scientific notation and engineering notation. You'll see that scientific notation basically uses the idea of only one digit to the left of the decimal place, with whichever exponent is necessary to designate the size of the number, ie: 4 hundredths = 4 e-2, or 4 thousandths = 4 e-3. 4 hundred = 4 e2, 4 thousand = 4 e3. Engineering notation is more commonly used by machinists as well as electrical engineers because it is grouped into sets of three. Numbers above one use the prefixes kilo, mega, giga, tera, and so forth, with exponents e3, e6, e9, and e12 respectively. Numbers below one use the prefixes milli, micro, nano, pico, and so forth, with the exponents e-3, e-6, e-9, and e-12 respectively. Engineers will use the term milli, machinists will use the term thousandths, but they are the same thing. In engineering notation, there is no designation for tenths or hundredths. It's just 40 thousandths, not 4 hundredths. An old school machinist may not realize he is using engineering notation, but that's what he is doing.