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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    37

    Migrating from Mach 3

    I wonder if I could tap the collective wisdom here on how I should migrate from Mach 3 please? I've been using M3 for about 8 years now generally successfully, using an old Dell Optiplex computer running XP and driving through the parallel port. I have 3 worries: the machine is old and might crash any time and XP computers with PP are rare and also old; I've written quite a few macros and a new turning offset screen but that isn't finished yet, so there will be some legacy pain; Mach 3 documentation is DIRE and the software seems to be a patch kluge. As I'm about to upgrade my old Win 7 laptop to a new Win10 one I have an option to dedicated the old machine to CNC. So I'm thinking about both software and hardware options and very interested in others' experiences.

    My options seem to be
    1 Switch to a motion controller – this seems to be a given – preferably one that has a parallel port output so it can just plug in to my BoBs on lathe and mill. UC100 looks interesting.

    and…

    2 Mach 3 - but pretty unsupported now and poorly documented and will motion controller plugin support continue? Might be a way in though.

    3 Mach 4 – but why did they choose Lua as a scripting language rather than for example Python? Is the user base big enough for it to survive?

    4 UCCNC

    5 PlanetCNC

    6 Linux CNC – not sure if this supports motion controllers and anyway has a reputation for difficulty in setting up

    7 A dedicated controller – but that may not give me the flexibility I need for example to run my offset setting scripts.


    Any war stories or advice from others who have travelled this route would be most welcome!

    T.I.A.

    John.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    35538

    Re: Migrating from Mach 3

    2 Mach 3 - but pretty unsupported now and poorly documented and will motion controller plugin support continue?
    Mach3 development stopped about 5 years ago.
    There are a lot of different motion controllers for Mach3, and you'll find that their plugins don't all support the same features, and don't all support them the same way.

    The ones that function closest to the parallel port are the ESS from Warp9, and any motion controllers from CNC Drive (UC100, UC300ETH, UC400ETH). I know that CNC Drive still peridoically updates their Mach3 plugins, and will fix any reported bugs. This can get tricky, though, because different versions of Mach3 can cause plugins to work differently.


    3 Mach 4 – but why did they choose Lua as a scripting language rather than for example Python? Is the user base big enough for it to survive?
    They apparently feel that Lua was the best option. I think the user base is very small, compared to Mach3. Imo, they are surviving solely on their OEM sales.
    From what I hear, Mach4 is much better than Mach3. But a lot of the choices the developers made have caused a lot of Mach3 users to look elsewhere.


    4 UCCNC

    5 PlanetCNC

    6 Linux CNC – not sure if this supports motion controllers and anyway has a reputation for difficulty in setting up
    UCCNC is getting very popular with former Mach3 users. Note that it doesn't have a lathe or turn mode.

    I know of a few Planet CNC users that are happy with it.
    Eding CNC is also a good option.

    Linux CNC users will tell you that it's easy to set up. It's not that hard, if you don't mind using Linux.

    Mesa makes Linux CNC motion boards.
    http://store.mesanet.com/index.php?r...tegory&path=83
    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
    May 2009
    Posts
    37

    Re: Migrating from Mach 3

    Thanks Gerry. A bit further forward...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    341

    Re: Migrating from Mach 3

    If your looking for turning ,give Acorn from Centroid a try , i went with them for lathe software and it works well , you get constant surface speed ,spindle encoder feedback tru threading .

    And they just came out with support for shuttle pro express , as well as there wireless remote for jogging and such.

    Just my two cents

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    30

    Re: Migrating from Mach 3

    I'm in a similar boat.

    I have been using Mach3 with Screenset 2010 on my CNC router. I was recently given an Ethernet SmoothStepper and have a license for Mach4, although I've never used it. I've reconfigured my system to use the Smoothstepper with Mach3, and am looking at what the best next step might be. I haven't stayed very up-to-date on things at Newfangled, but I have to admit I'm a bit shocked how stagnant development has been with Mach4 and the ESS.

    Mach4/Newfangled seem to have turned off a lot of people. I'm not sure how solid the platorm is or what kind of "legs" it has for the future.

    I've heard all good things about UCCNC and the UC motion control boards and wonder if that is where I'll end up, or if Mach4, despite bad press, is a solid solution.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    45

    Re: Migrating from Mach 3

    Please include myCNC controllers in your list.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 15pc-et7r2c-wp2-7k-001.jpg   15PC-ET6-WP2.jpg   et6-a-010.jpg   et15-0kit-top-001.jpg  


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