Questions or Advice

[SPEEDRE]

I am new to cnc and have a few queries, whats the difference between Mach2 and Mach2 Mill? I want to set a home position on a work space of 14 x 25 in. at 12 x 24 in. and if the coordinates are in the -x, +y what would they be?
My machine is a K2cnc running Geko drives. I haven't started the thing up yet because I'm still trying to work BobCad V20.5 but I think these thing are important?

[ger21]

Mach2 can use different configurations. It comes already setup for mills (and routers) and lathes. If you start the program with the Mach2 icon it will let you choose which config to use. Mach2 Mill starts with the Mill config.

Not sure exactly what you're asking about the coordinates? Does your machine have home switches? Probably the easiest thing to do is to work in BobCAD so that your workpiece is always X+ and Y+, and you're machine home is 0,0.

If your parts are X-, and Y+, you'll have to set your 0,0 at the opposite end of the X axis so it has room to move in the X- direction.

If you haven't used the machine yet, I'd recommend using Mach3. if you want to upgrade to Mach3 at a later time (it's free if you purchased Mach2), you'll have to do the setup all over again, as the settings can't be transferred. And Mach3 runs better, and has many more features. It may have a few minor bugs, but a LOT of people are using it right now and the last of the problems are being eliminated on a daily basis.

[SPEEDRE]

Thanks Ger21. I have no switches as of yet. I thought I'd like to put the cutter away up in the left hand corner of my machine to facilitate set up and material changes. Can the image of the table be set in Mach 2/3, as the cutting area is a rectangle of 12" x 24", to home the machine? Say how do I get the Mach 3. I'm a registered user paid in full?

[ger21]

Download it from http://www.artofcnc.ca You just need to copy the license file from Mach2 into the Mach3 directory (folder). You can zoom in or out of the toolpath display by hlding the shift key while left clicking and dragging. But the display has nothing to do with the home position, it defaults to whatever is in the gcode file when it's loaded.