Mach3 vs Dynapath Delta 40

[Preston E]

Hello Everyone, I reciently aquired my first CNC Milling machne a 1999 Hurco 500 with very few hours or run time, unfortunately the freight company dumped it over in the trailer and that damaged the control system.

Hurco's is wanting something like 12K+ for the upgrade to Dynapath 2000M and upon looking at the functionallity, it appears that Mach 3 has most if not all of the same functions.

I have Mach 3 on a Shopbot router and am very happy with the performance.

My question than is ,"would Mach 3 not be as good for doing metal work driving servos as the Delta 40 software or the newer 2000M"?

Is there something that I'm missing other than a HUGE price differance?

Best Regards,

Preston

[turmite]

First thing I would do is tell the freight co. to get their checkbook out!
It is their responsibility to make things like this right.

Second, Mach will do the job quite nicely. I don't have the link but there is a guy who has designed and built a brand new line of motorcycle engines that are awesome.......all machined by Mach. I'll try to find the link if you want.

Mike

[Preston E]

Hi Mike, Thanks for the reply...I'll be dealing with the freight company in due course, but after filing the claim they have 120 days in which to respond...thus I'm starting...

Please do post the link to the motorcycle engine being build using Mach...

Numerous people have said to be concerned with Windows Operating systems hanging and then the mill is un controlled...but with all of the Mach users here, I've not seen the problem crop up or being discussed much if at all.

Best Regards,

Preston

[jfc11]

I have Lagunmatic with th 40 control that I am going to change over to mach....I have two of these I bought this one for parts so I am going to gut all the controls and keep them for the other and retro it...i foung some software that has a good conversational out put screen pretty resonable that i thank will go good with mach
Jim

[Preston E]

Interesting Jim, Do you have Mach running anything currently?

You mention some other software the has good conversational out put screen...what would that happen to be?

I'm finding that even the New Detla 2000 control and software looks even more primitive that the current Mach...

Regards,

Preston

I have Lagunmatic with th 40 control that I am going to change over to mach....I have two of these I bought this one for parts so I am going to gut all the controls and keep them for the other and retro it...i foung some software that has a good conversational out put screen pretty resonable that i thank will go good with mach
Jim

[jfc11]

I have mach running on 2 routers.....
Here is the link http://www.kentechinc.com/KipwareM.shtml

jim

[jfc11]

here is a video i dowmloaded

[ckm]

Just as a note concerning Windows as a controller. If nothing else is running on it (and I mean nothing) and it's not hooked up to the internet, then you should be fine. Once you get it setup and running right, leave it alone. No hardware, software or application updates unless you absolutely have to.

I'm not just saying this because I have 15 years of experience in the software business, but mostly because I noticed that Tarus uses Windows to control their HUGE CNC machines. Check out the videos at http://www.tarus.com/products.htm. No affiliation with Tarus, I just think their machines are insane.

If you do have concerns with the software, take a look at boards that offload some of the realtime work, particularly timing pulses. I think ModIO does this, and I know that the GRex does. Both of these will also free up the PC's parallel port for non-critical IO, such as MPGs and switches.

And I have to agree, Mach3 seems to be far more comprehensive than most industrial/commercial control systems that I have seen, but I've not seen a lot of high-end machines (mostly Haas and Fanuc).

Chris.
P.S. I'm using Mach3 on two machines, neither of which would be considered professional grade. I use a USB key to transfer files.

[MetLHead]

Hi Preston,

If you decide to go with Mach, can I have the Dynapath?

I tend to agree with the others here. Mach has many features that the Dynapath does not. Dynapath has really fallen behind on the PC based features such as no ethernet, no USB and a max of about 450K of program memory. The main thing that they have going for them is the conversational programming.

However, the Dynapath is a servo based system and also includes a built-in PLC. If you know how to program their PLC, you can control the entire machine with it.

Let us know how you make out with the freight company!

Scott

[Preston E]

Chris and Scott, Thanks for the informative replys. My Shopbot router is running Mach3 (since I converted it) and the computer is running XP Pro with nothing else running in the background.

I use it mainly for digitizing parts and it will sometimes run for 36-48 hours while digitizing just one part...never had any problems so far.

I've looked at G Rex and am hoping that Art gets back to work on Quantum, but I'll look more closely at the G Rex again.

Many Thanks to you both,

Regards,

Preston

ps...if I do convert to Mach3 the Hurco control will be up for grabs