[jasoneule]

Some questions for those of up to date on the current motion hardware/software regarding Mach4

I have a 3'x4' CNC router that has been built and has been sitting dormant for well over a year. It was built around a gecko g540 and as far as I ever got was messing around with the Mach3 demo. I am now at the point that I have the time and can afford to purchase all the software I have wanted. Problem is, I have forgotten most of what I learned before. I would like to re 'learn' all of this and do a clean start with Mach4 (future proof) instead of Mach3 and I am trying to move away from the parallel port restrictions I can use modern computers.

My questions are:

1) What is considered to be the best options out there for making the Gecko G540 compatible with USB?
2) Should I bother trying to do this conversion or go with another setup, if so which one is popular for USB?
3) Provided you were in my situation (not knowing either of the software packages well), would you bother with trying to start with the new Mach4 or go with Mach3

Thank you-

Jason

[louieatienza]

Some questions for those of up to date on the current motion hardware/software regarding Mach4

I have a 3'x4' CNC router that has been built and has been sitting dormant for well over a year. It was built around a gecko g540 and as far as I ever got was messing around with the Mach3 demo. I am now at the point that I have the time and can afford to purchase all the software I have wanted. Problem is, I have forgotten most of what I learned before. I would like to re 'learn' all of this and do a clean start with Mach4 (future proof) instead of Mach3 and I am trying to move away from the parallel port restrictions I can use modern computers.

My questions are:

1) What is considered to be the best options out there for making the Gecko G540 compatible with USB?
2) Should I bother trying to do this conversion or go with another setup, if so which one is popular for USB?
3) Provided you were in my situation (not knowing either of the software packages well), would you bother with trying to start with the new Mach4 or go with Mach3

Thank you-

Jason

Unless you MUST have USB, if you have a decent enough computer then Mach3 with parallel port works just fine. There are USB options like SmoothStepper but it's not always the smoothest install or tweak, and the documentation frankly sucks. Really, unless you have unusually high step count per unit measure and you're running high rapids then likely there won't be much gain from USB. You can check out othe USB controllers like FlashCut, EdingCNC, PlanerCNC, MicroKinetics, but you will use their controller software, which isn't always a bad thing.

[jasoneule]

It's not the that I must have USB as much as the Gecko g540 will not work with Mach 4 unless I read the requirements wrong. Since I have not purchased any software, I would like to purchase mach4 and go from there.

[asuratman]

Mach4 is still in hobby size, but there are as powerful as mach3. Please continue posting your build with mach4 here. I'd like to see it.

[daniellyall]

mach 4 does run with the G540 it works with Darwin it runs very nicely

you would be better of with using a Ethernet based controller there are a few what you can plug the G540 into less noise issues.

you can use M4 know it is only basic but it does run well as it is. its just codes that are need for probing and that sort of thing plus some other miner issues need fix they don't stop it work just running G code its fine

[jasoneule]

I am not familiar with darwin . I was also not aware that ethernet version is better than usb. So is any eternet one in particular better than the USB ones listed above by louie? That's very good to know.

Are you talking about probing in the sense for finding the height of Z?

[alan_3301]

you can put a parallel port (or 2) add in card on any modern computer.
I agree, unless you need really high step rates, or just have to use a laptop, I would stick with the parallel port.

[louieatienza]

I am not familiar with darwin . I was also not aware that ethernet version is better than usb. So is any eternet one in particular better than the USB ones listed above by louie? That's very good to know.

Are you talking about probing in the sense for finding the height of Z?

I believe there are Ethernet versions of all the controllers I listed. I haven't tried M4 yet.

As far as interference from the USB, I never experienced that problem with SmoothStepper or EdingCNC. It's pretty easy to tweak your max feedrate with EdingCNC, and for me not so easy with the SmoothStepper. I have a thread on how I set it up somewhere.

[louieatienza]

I also am not sure about future-peoofing with software that really is in beta; heck M3 seens to be in perpetual beta stage. What's nice about M3 is the installed base, and thus support, is huge. There are also some slick screensets or front ends for it that add some great features, namely Gerry's 2010 screenset, MachStdMill (which is FREE for hobby use), and others.


Mach3 is something like 7 years old and will work as long as you have a computer that works. I've run mine for 6years over 3 different computers and two different drive setuos with no problems.

Again I reiterate faster connections like Ethernet and USB, while convenient are really not necessary unless you have a ridiculously high step count. Even the lowly parallel port is capable of almost 2MB/s, the bottleneck is the processor speed.

[ger21]

The only Mach3 compatible USB motion controller that suffers from noise issues is the USB Smoothstepper.
The KFlop, UC100, UC300 and other USB devices don't have this issue.
Neither do PlanetCNC, EdingCNC, or Flashcut, all of which use USB connections.


Darwin is the parallel port driver for Mach4. It's an additional $20.
Mach4 is basically in early beta right now. Many people think it could be another year before it has all the functionality of Mach3, if not longer.
Mach4 is far more powerful than Mach3, but also much more complex.

If you want the best motion controller for Mach (3 or 4), look at CS Labs. They're not cheap, though.

If you haven't really used Mach3 before, than Eding CNC and Planet CNC are very good alternatives.

[louieatienza]

The only Mach3 compatible USB motion controller that suffers from noise issues is the USB Smoothstepper.
The KFlop, UC100, UC300 and other USB devices don't have this issue.
Neither do PlanetCNC, EdingCNC, or Flashcut, all of which use USB connections.


Darwin is the parallel port driver for Mach4. It's an additional $20.
Mach4 is basically in early beta right now. Many people think it could be another year before it has all the functionality of Mach3, if not longer.
Mach4 is far more powerful than Mach3, but also much more complex.

If you want the best motion controller for Mach (3 or 4), look at CS Labs. They're not cheap, though.

If you haven't really used Mach3 before, than Eding CNC and Planet CNC are very good alternatives.

I didn't realize Darwin was an additional charge.

I alao remember something about floating the shield on the USB cable on the computer end when using the SS to alleviate the noise issue. I've actually done this with some USB recording interfaces I used ro help eliminate noise.

I will say that I believe EdingCNC's GUI beats them all, by a mile. And I've tried most all of them. I've even muktitasked while running jobs with no problems.

[jasoneule]

Thanks everyone. This is good info to go research. I just want something intuitive enough to get me operating for real.

The project has sat idle long enough. I just want to make sure I jump into the right software from the beginning.

I also plan on retro fitting a good size mill in a few months to do metal working so I kind of am looking for something cross platform.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks everyone. This is good info to go research. I just want something intuitive enough to get me operating for real.

The project has sat idle long enough. I just want to make sure I jump into the right software from the beginning.

I also plan on retro fitting a good size mill in a few months to do metal working so I kind of am looking for something cross platform.

[jasoneule]

I didn't realize Darwin was an additional charge.

I alao remember something about floating the shield on the USB cable on the computer end when using the SS to alleviate the noise issue. I've actually done this with some USB recording interfaces I used ro help eliminate noise.

I will say that I believe EdingCNC's GUI beats them all, by a mile. And I've tried most all of them. I've even muktitasked while running jobs with no problems.

Thanks I will look into this now, so basically edingCnc takes the place of Mach 3 correct?

[daniellyall]

correct it can

[DonKes]

With EdingCNC, you need the software and thehardware.

Don

[jasoneule]

Ok Louie...Eding CNC has my attention. I went back and read some of your old threads when you first got it.

I see that the machine you set it up on originally has been sold off. What setup are you using now? I am going to send an email out to EdingCNC about what 4axis board they recommend. It is not clear to me about the difference of details found outside of USB vs ethernet on the two boards. Anyone know?

I am going to keep the G540 as I see no reason to change that out at this point for something else. I am actually excited about moving away from Mach3. I know that is what everyone gravitates towards, but I really never dug the layout.

[louieatienza]

Ok Louie...Eding CNC has my attention. I went back and read some of your old threads when you first got it.

I see that the machine you set it up on originally has been sold off. What setup are you using now? I am going to send an email out to EdingCNC about what 4axis board they recommend. It is not clear to me about the difference of details found outside of USB vs ethernet on the two boards. Anyone know?

I am going to keep the G540 as I see no reason to change that out at this point for something else. I am actually excited about moving away from Mach3. I know that is what everyone gravitates towards, but I really never dug the layout.

If you use the G540, you need to have a custom parallel port cable made, or use a breakout board, because of the way the pins are laid out. I helped a friend build a CNC and we used it for hia machine for a while, now I have it back and will use it for an upcoming mill build.

[daniellyall]

they say the Ethernet is best for environments where there is a lot of noise

[papp101]

The Ethernet smoothstepper with mach seems to be popular for starting with mach3 and upgrading to 4 later. But I haven't looked at ending cnc yet so maybe I am in the wrong boat. I use a parallel card and a g540 with 2.8 amp stoppers from soigeneris.com jeff Birt over there is awesome.

[phil35581]

I currently have a 2ft x 5 ft cnc and a 4pt x 8 ft cnc both running planet cnc software and they do great as long as you have your grounds right and use a short double shielded usb cable. They both run about 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. For cad/cam we use Bobcad.