Machine home altered after play with toolpath viewer while cutting

Hello, i'm new to cnc and software, still playing around.

It was doing a 3d finish operation, near the end of the gcode i wanted to see how many passes/width still left, so i lead to mach3 toolpath preview window and left click and drag, left click, right click, double click, middle click, so basically i tried everything there with the mouse. Then when i got the desired preview i notice the machine not on right Y, i stop machine right away and check stuff. I send a Go To Zero to check home and home was altered in Y, it was some cm lower than expected.
What caused such problem?

Mach3 with LTP. First time this happen just because i mess arround with preview window.

Here the disaster:
Attachment 436912

It is generally not a good idea to mess with an LPT-based CNC computer while the program is running. Windows is not exactly a realtime operating system, so playing with the preview may have upset the timing and made the Y axis lose steps.

Hi,
fiddling with the toolpath viewer while the machine is running is an absolutely sure way of losing steps. Even toolpath regens can cause the machine to stutter or stall.
With BIG Gcode files the advice is to turn the toolpath viewer off, the large amount of data in the toolpath demands to much CPU time and therefore Machs
parallel port gets starved of service and stutters or stalls.

Craig

Thank you all. Good to know the culprit.
I'm also improving my machine which come with a very basic ltp control board. For just two times the machine just stop without reason and stop response to mach3, had to close and restart mach3 to machine start response again, for my luck i was able to continue from that point and nothing bad happen, still is not the type of thing i want to happen.
What control boards out there do you guys recommend?

I do not have any practical experience with it, but I'm thinking about trying AXBB-E for my next machine.

https://us1.dh-cdn.net/uploads/db558...6dda2c59e.jpeg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CitizenOfDreams

I do not have any practical experience with it, but I'm thinking about trying AXBB-E for my next machine.

https://us1.dh-cdn.net/uploads/db558...6dda2c59e.jpeg

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look's sexy, it still need mach3 to send out commands right? So still can be affected by the computer and buffer or it have some kind of integrity?

Hi,
I'm not sure that the AXBB-E even has a Mach plugin and it doesn't have a mach4 plugin. Being made by CNCDrive it is natively a UCCNC controller.

I use an Ethernet SmoothStepper and Mach4, light years ahead of Mach3.

Craig

Yes, the AXBB-E has both a Mach3 and Mach4 plugin

I don't care about mach3, if i upgrade i would go for the better.
Mach4 or UCCNC, what would be the better move?

Depends on what you want it to do, and who you ask.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ger21

Depends on what you want it to do, and who you ask.

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3 axis steel 6090 cnc router, i cut wood and aluminium
For now i work only with simples cuts and this engravings, nothing special. I'm a simple cnc user.
I use aspire and Inventor HSM
Just want something stable, future proof, problem free
Eletronics, software and programming are not a problem for me
Price difference is not a problem

Hi,
both Mach4 AND UCCNC are very good with little to separate them.

CNCDrive make their own controller and is therfore superbly intergrated with their own UCCNC software.

NFS (Mach4's makers) do not manufacture motion controllers, they rely on third party vendors. This means competition
but also means there is a spread of performance and features and prices.

Mach4 enjoys a very flexible structure, flexible GUI, powerful scripting language/ API. This allows OEM's particularly to customize Mach to their needs.
That may appeal to you. In addition if you wish to write your own plugin for a piece of hardware, you can with an NDA (Non-Disclosure Aggreement) get
all the inside information to do so. Again this may appeal more to manufacturers than yourself.

I would double check with CNCDrive about the plugin status for their new release ABXX-E. As of a short while ago it did NOT have a Mach4 plugin,
whereas the earlier UC100, UC300 and UC400 did. It must be said that CNCDrives Mach4 plugins lacked the features and finesse of some of their
competitors and I would not regard CNCDrive products as the first choice for Mach4 operation but are creditable performers none-the-less. Of course
they are superb and ABSOLUTELY required to operate UCCNC.

Craig

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sn4k3

look's sexy, it still need mach3 to send out commands right? So still can be affected by the computer and buffer or it have some kind of integrity?

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You still need SOME control program, either Mach3, Mach4 or their own UCCNC.

With an external controller like this, the computer does not have to do realtime "bit banging" anymore, so it is much more reliable than the traditional LPT port. All time-critical calculations and input/output operations are done inside the controller.

we dont need shinking machines....with lack of control.. dew we cloud control to major tom
?

IMO, UCCNC is much easier to setup and learn than Mach4. I like to think of it as a highly advanced Mach3. It has most of the features of Mach3, with none of the bugs. And much easier customization.

At this time, Mach4 might have a slight edge in motion quality in some cases, but UCCNC is still much more accurate than Mach3 in CV mode.

CNC Drive is working on an S-Curve Planner for UCCNC, which should make it even better.

UCCNC is also 1/3 the price of Mach4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CitizenOfDreams

You still need SOME control program, either Mach3, Mach4 or their own UCCNC.

With an external controller like this, the computer does not have to do realtime "bit banging" anymore, so it is much more reliable than the traditional LPT port. All time-critical calculations and input/output operations are done inside the controller.

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Thank you for explaining this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ger21

IMO, UCCNC is much easier to setup and learn than Mach4. I like to think of it as a highly advanced Mach3. It has most of the features of Mach3, with none of the bugs. And much easier customization.

At this time, Mach4 might have a slight edge in motion quality in some cases, but UCCNC is still much more accurate than Mach3 in CV mode.

CNC Drive is working on an S-Curve Planner for UCCNC, which should make it even better.

UCCNC is also 1/3 the price of Mach4.

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I see lot of good comments about UCCNC. I may go for it as favor of their own software is made for their hardware, so i guess it's a plus.
About mach4 i see split fellings but i guess it was from earlier versions since i read some old threads.
About the controller only "joeavaerage" suggested "AXBB-E" which fullfill my needs and look's solid. I also take look at Acorn CNC which seens more advanced but i think AXBB-E will do the same on my use case.
There are any other suggestions that worth a look? eg: Planet CNC, others?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sn4k3

Thank you for explaining this.



I see lot of good comments about UCCNC. I may go for it as favor of their own software is made for their hardware, so i guess it's a plus.
About mach4 i see split fellings but i guess it was from earlier versions since i read some old threads.
About the controller only "joeavaerage" suggested "AXBB-E" which fullfill my needs and look's solid. I also take look at Acorn CNC which seens more advanced but i think AXBB-E will do the same on my use case.
There are any other suggestions that worth a look? eg: Planet CNC, others?

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Acorn is the #1 choice

Eding is 2nd choice

UCCNC comes in 3rd along with Mach4 and Planet CNC

Hi,

Quote:

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About the controller only "joeavaerage" suggested "AXBB-E" which fullfill my needs and look's solid.

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My apologies, I did not offer any alternative controller. The AXBB-E is certainly solid and perfectly matched to UCCNC.

IF however you were interested in Mach4 then the CNCDrive boards, despite their quality, are not the first choice as there are others for about the same price
which are equal in quality and have many more realtime features and supports. The leading example is the Ethernet SmoothStepper by Warp9TD.

Craig

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joeavaerage

Hi,

My apologies, I did not offer any alternative controller. The AXBB-E is certainly solid and perfectly matched to UCCNC.

IF however you were interested in Mach4 then the CNCDrive boards, despite their quality, are not the first choice as there are others for about the same price
which are equal in quality and have many more realtime features and supports. The leading example is the Ethernet SmoothStepper by Warp9TD.

Craig

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The AXBB-E is not only a motion controller, but a high speed breakout board on a single board. So you comparing the price of an apple to oranges.
With UCCNC it has realtime features like backlash compensation, plasma THC, rigid tapping, thread cutting. I'm using all these features on my machines (except the thread cutting) and all work fine.
As far as I remember with Mach4 it has backlash compensation, but no THC and no rigid tapping.
If can't think of any other possible realtime features, but you've mentioned "many more", so please explain what else are you thinking of.

I forgot to mention that in the last few releases UCCNC also has a nice new screen set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyRwk_TQd5w

But you can switch back to the old screen anytime if you want.

And a nice probing screen too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdlkbb3uh-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUaxCJa_9hI