Confused: Mach Turn, Mach Mill, Mach 2/3 ?

[CanSir]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I tried to no avail to figure it out from surfing Artsoft's website.

Is Mach Turn and Mach Mill different programs entirely from Mach 2 and/or Mach 3? Mach 1,2,3,4, LazyCAM, etc. are all listed on Artsofts products page, but "Mach Mill" and "Mach Turn" only show up on their home page. The screenshots for Mach Turn look completely different than the Mach 2/3 screenshots I have seen.

Artsoft's licensing information isn't clear to me either. If I buy Mach3 today, then will I get a free upgrade to Mach4? People who purchased Mach1 or Mach2 will have to pay an upgrade fee to move to Mach4 though correct?

Either I have a different way of thinking or that website really needs an overhaul...

Thanks

[turmite]

I can't answer the buy free upgrade later but I can answer the rest of your question.

Mach1 is no longer supported so don't bother with it.
Mach2 is supported and very stable
Mach3 is in development stage with one stable version
Mach4 is a dedicated version of Mach3 that has been re-worked for use with the Gecko G-Rex, which is a high speed pulse generator and breakout board all in one package. It's slightly more complicated than that, but that is the short version.

With any purchase of Mach you get a password that will open your copy of Mach whatever. That password can be used for multiple seats of Mach on different machines. Mach comes with MachMill and Machturn but also does plasma and other things depending on how you set it up. So for your single payment to Artsoft, you get a Mill crontroller, lathe controller, plasma controller etc.

You will have to ask Art about the upgrade, but unless you need very high speed, or many i/o's you won't really need version 4.

Hope this helped.

Mike

edited to add: Lazycam is Artsoft's cam software and I think it is included in the purchase price, but again you will need to ask.

[ger21]

The upgrade to Mach4 is currently $50, but will soon be going up tp $100. This upgrade price is to cover the cost of the firmware for the Gecko G100, which is being developed by a 3rd party.

THe price of Mach3 includes free upgrades to all future parallel port versions of Mach.

[CanSir]

Thanks Mike and Gerry. I need to finish my table before spending any more $$$ or the wife will come unhinged, but at least now I know what I'll be buying!

Cheers!

[ynneb]

Fair questions, and I will try to make it clearer on the Mach website.

As Gerry and turmite have said, there will be a upgrade charge for Mach 4 however if you dont use a G-Rex, then you will never need to upgrade to 4. Mach 3 will still be improving and new features added. There will not be an upgrade charge for any new Mach3 upgrades.
In the 4 years that Master5 and the mach series has existed, there has never been an upgrade charge, even if you had the original Master 5 version, you can still use Mach3 for no upgrade charge. Not many software companies are that generous.
Mach 4 is written for a specific product and while it may look similar externally, there is major changes internally. It has taken a lot of work for one specific product, therefore there needs to be some extra charges applied.

Lazy Cam is still in development stage too, and is currently free. Art has told me that there will always be a free basic version of LazyCam availiable, but in the future there will be a version of LazyCam that comes with and additional charge.

The screens you see on the website may look diferent due to constant developement and chaging of them. One of the many good things about Mach is that there are many screen choices you can use, or even develop yourself.

I hope this has helped.

I will post an explantion on the website, because this question seems to be raised quite often.

[timeout555]

I have built a hobby CNC machine, I am thro with the structure, tried moving X,Y,Z using a regular motor, they moved ok.

I bought a stepper motor driver from the net, tested motors, they seemed to be in working condirion, but cannot get MACH3 to jog motors, i know this entails setting up pinns and ports and so on, which is not my best subject.

Your help is greatly appreciated