Need Help!- using engrave lab with mach3

[malti2104]

hi there i am a newbie at this just finished my first cnc machibe 1200mmx600mm bed running 34 motors everthing works fine with mach3. i am uning a kit from ocean controls, using leadshine controllers and a breakout board.
promarily i am a signwriter and have been using signlab for 16 years i have 2 legal copies of engrave lab which i have never used, since i am quite used to signlab 5 i would like to run the machine with engravelab, can anyone pse help or advise how and what i need to do to get the machine running with engravelab. thank you in advance mikehttp://www.cnczone.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Torchhead]

I would think that if you can setup a POST in EngraveLab that is the same as your SignLab it should work just fine with MACH. Mach just takes G-code and moves the motors (oversimplification). I have used Signlab with MACH before and I installed a G-code (with arcs) generic post then modified it slightly. That was before I started using SheetCAM so now all I need is a drawing program. SignLab has a whole list of "drivers" for XYZ equipment. I still use it with my vinyl cutter since it has the correct driver to run it.

So it boils down to picking the g-code driver (POST) and outputting the g-code to a file then running it in MACH. For simple engravings it should be pretty easy. If you want to cut sculpted signage you may want to graduate to something like VCarve Pro. (www.vectric.com).

TOM Caudle
www.CandCNC.com
Totally Modular CNC Electronics