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Thread: Setups Units

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    39

    Setups Units

    When I change the Setup Units for the motor tuning dialog does that affect the G-Code I load in any way? I have G-Code in Inch units. If I hook up to a machine with Metric Ballscrews and set my motors correctly does Mach translate the inch-unit G-Code instructions to the correct turns for the metric screws? If so, does it slow down the program and/or do I lose accuracy?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    35538
    You set up Mach in either Inch or Metric mode. It doesn't matter if the screws are metric, you still tell Mach how many step it needs to move 1 inch.

    It's not recommended to try to run both inch g-code and metric g-code with the same configuration. I think there are some issues with Mach. If you need to do this, you can set up 2 profiles, one inch and one metric, and just start Mach with the correct profile whether running imperial or metric.
    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    39
    So are you saying that if I am using Inch G-Code, and a metric machine, I should set up Mach in Inch units and convert the metric screw/step info to inches in the motor tuning dialog? That is what I assumed I should do but I just wanted to check and see if I should always set the units around the code or around the machine. Running Inch code on a Metric units set-up would not work; correct?

    If I convert my ballscrew sizes from metric to inch I get this:

    I have a 16mm pitch ballscrew
    200 step motor
    10 microstep drive

    16mm pitch = 0.62992125984251968503937007874016 inch pitch

    that's 1.5875000000000000000000000000004 turns per inch

    1.5875 turns per inch x 200 steps x 10 micro steps = 3175 steps per inch

    Just set units to inch, set my motor dialog to 3175 steps and load up my Inch g-code.

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