Well, I finally broke down and got Mach4. I needed a new laptop, so I thought I'd do ti all at once. It has been a bit of an adventure. I have a Standard 2x4 machine with a Bosch 1617, prox sensors, etc. When I setup the machine (Mach3), I made the long axis X and the gantry Y. Why? It just made sense to me. My machine is against a wall, so when I face it, the long axis is to the right. Anyway, I guess when I did that, I just switched wires. Its been so long that I forgot exactly what/how. So, when I installed the Avid Mach 4, I checked the box to swap axis. Oops! I ended up with things quite a mess. Took a while, but I got everything swapped and then swapped sensors (connectors) and then everything was moving as expected. Except that the Z axis was backwards for some reason? I managed to figure that out after some Googling. So, it all works now. There are some other peculiarities, but nothing major.
One thing that really frustrates me though, is that the machine coordinates are not saved on exit like Mach3. I guess the thought is that you should home every time you power up? I can see that, but I have never done that in the three years or so of owning this machine and I don't like having to home each time. I'm not sure if the Avid folks did that or if that is standard Mach4? Not sure if there is a toggle that can be changed? I think one could create a script in the Mach4 "shutoff" script that would save the coordinates and then add something in the screen script to read them on power up. I'm not that good with that stuff yet! I had several custom buttons for Mach3 that I am already missing. I'm working on setting up those. I used my own AutoZero routine, a button that moved the router just off the stop, a park button, bit change, etc. Just a few simple things that made it convenient for the way I work. To qualify, I am a hobbyist.
Funny though, the Mach4 screen was not all unfamiliar. So, after a fixing the issues, I am making parts today.
Oh, I got a new i7 with 12Gb and an SSD. That thing cooks! Wow, what a difference! I run Vcarve Pro, IntelliCAD, and Mach4 and that's about it, but it is fast. Vcarve saves on my old i3 took forever. This thing is so quick, I have to watch to see that it saved!
Attaching a pic of what I am working on now. This is a small mahogany table top. One reason I like to save the homed coordinates is projects like this. It is a two sided project and alignment is critical. I try to make it all in one day, but sometimes.... I'm not sure how accurate the prox sensors are and how accurate the homing routine is. Maybe its plenty good? I may do some testing out of curiosity.
Oh, figuring out how to hold this thing down was quite a challenge! Worked out well though.
Not sure I see any gain by changing to Mach4. Maybe after I use it for a while? Maybe if I don't get anymore ESS ran out of data errors? Gonna take a while to figure out the programming stuff. I knew some Lua already, so that helped. Oh, the AutoZero function that the Avid folks supply is great! They did a nice job with it and the whole install thing. The only issue I had that wasn't my own doing was the Z axis being backwards. And, I'm still not sure that was not my doing as well?
Oh, another stupid mistake...I installed Vcarve Pro on the new laptop. Designed a new part, saved the file, ran the program...the router dove into the work without coming on! Thankfully, the Estop works (I verified it before testing!). I didn't change the profile in Vcarve to Mach3 (not Mach4 entry yet). So, don't be like me! No broken bit though, thankfully.