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I have a Novakon NM-200 CNC mill and I find the Novakon MPG (Pendant) to be a mandatory purchase. The Pendant greatly assists in the movement of the axes. Although you can move the axes in Mach 3, the MPG Pendant simplifies the operation.
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Hi i could use some input on this mill i just purchased a 145 yesterday at york cabin fever meet. I was glad to hear on this site all the good reviews on machine, as for me i don't have a clue when it comes to cnc i'm the old time hands on machinist ! talked to KHai he seems like a good guy and willing to help . purchased machine and quick change tooling package , also t slot bolts till i got home and seen they were half the price from enco. which khai emailed me of it being no problem deleteing them . Do you guys recomend penent control for running machine in manual till i get more familair with the cnc world . I thank you for your help in advance Bob b
I have a Novakon NM-200 CNC mill and I find the Novakon MPG (Pendant) to be a mandatory purchase. The Pendant greatly assists in the movement of the axes. Although you can move the axes in Mach 3, the MPG Pendant simplifies the operation.
thanjks igak any help is apreciated i'm new to cnc world
You can get one of these:
ShuttlePro2 CONTOUR DESIGN ShuttlePro 2 Version V.2 New - eBay (item 320459929469 end time Feb-01-11 01:06:37 PST)
They work well with mach3 and are relatively cheap.
If you look back in some older posts on this forum (Novakon) you'll see some other pendant recommendations as well. Which to buy depends on what you want to be able to do with it.
The absolute cheapest option is a usb joystick. Like $5 from ebay or dealextreme.
I absolutely suggest something other than just the keyboard. I'm stuck with that now and plan on buying something as soon as my next batch of orders comes in. Being able to change the speed while jogging to touch off is invaluable. It's a nasty process with a keyboard and drives me crazy!
As for using it to manually mill - I wouldn't bother. Bite the bullet and learn CNC from the get-go. They process of manually milling something and CNC milling something is really different in my opinion. I find that there are a ton of things I CNC cut that I wouldn't even know how to start cutting manually.
Oh man Joe, you can't make a comment like that and leave it out there. How do you get Mach 3 to properly handle the input? Or do you use a joystick to key mapper?The absolute cheapest option is a usb joystick. Like $5 from ebay or dealextreme.
Thanks!
-Mike
The joystick is a little better than a keyboard but not that much in my opinion. I used to use one but now I have a shuttle pro and it is much better. Unless you could have an analogue joystick working, I have not heard of it.
I wasn't saying it was better than a shuttle (you don't need the pro), simply cheaper. Considering the low cost of a real purpose-specific pendant I personally wouldn't spend money on a new shuttle, or shuttle pro for that matter. The Shuttle Pro is selling new on ebay right now for just under $100 + shipping. My Homann Designs mp-03 is about $150+ shipping and has been unbelievably useful. You can add piles of scripts to do just about anything, like auto-zeroing Z, and the built in LCD option gets used almost all the time. Plus there's issues with coolant in Shuttles if you're not careful, and I'm a klutz.Originally Posted by concombrefrais
Search machsupport.com or here for more info on the joystick setup if interested, it's pretty straight forward. Here's something to get you startec.
Thanks for the link! While a pendant would be nice, I know from my own use of the machine all I care about is jogging and changing jog speed. I'd gladly use the keyboard for everything else. As I have several PC game pads sitting around, this looks perfect!
-Mike
I agree that a real pendant is better but still but the shuttle device are not as expensive as you say. You can get a new shuttle pro for $77:
NEW Contour ShuttlePRO v2 3D Input Device 00499-0 - eBay (item 400178436660 end time Feb-02-11 10:24:54 PST)
Or a used one for less than 50 bucks:
Contour Shuttle Pro Model SP-JNS Mouse/Controller - eBay (item 320633798163 end time Jan-21-11 02:36:57 PST)
Or if you prefer the simpler contour shuttle, a new one for less than $50 too:
Contour Design 00496-0 Shuttle Xpress Black (004960) - eBay (item 230559142745 end time Feb-01-11 12:25:07 PST)
They work very well in my opinion, cheap and they also have plenty of macros available. There is a good reason why many people are using them and why tormach is recommending them. You are totally right about coolant. Even worse, the chips get in and I had an almost crash because of the z-axis going down due to a stuck button. So the real pendant is certainly the best answer if you can afford it.
None of those guys ship to Canada, thus my higher price reference (I'm in Canada).
Everyone's different, but when I was looking I thought about a shuttle, but itnjust seemed like false economy. But as always YMMV. And yes, I know many people use and love them, including John Stevenson over on HSM. For my money that's a good recommendation. But as I said it just wasn't for me.
Try wrapping the Shuttle in a ziplock bag with an elastic band around the cable end. Might sound silly but it's common practice on many industrial control systems, especially in places with airborne particulate and/or cold temps and high humidity, like meat packing plants.
Oh, ok, did not know it was more expensive for Canada. Thanks for the suggestion. I thought about it actually, but since I don't use coolant (yet), I decided I will build a little plexiglas box to go around the shuttle, with just one face open for my hand.
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