13.
A few practical notes about Mach3 program and CSMIO/IP-S
Here you can find few tips that can help users unfamiliar with Mach3 program.
1.
Computer keyboard.
a.
Do not use a wireless keyboard, sometimes this keyboard record keystroke, but
does not notice releasing it, which can be very dangerous while controlling the
machine.
b.
In addition – an USB keyboard can behave in unpredictable ways. The USB port
is not resistant to interference therefore, especially on machines with servo
drives and higher power spindles. We definitely not recommend the USB key-
board.
c.
The most reliable solution is PS2 keyboard or connection of industrial buttons to
CSMIO/IP-S digital inputs and defining them correctly in Mach3 program.
2.
Remember that writing down the value in any text boxes on the Mach screen - must al-
ways be confirmed by pressing ENTER.
3.
If you are doing CNC programs at high speeds and sometimes the movement loses its
smoothness, check the „LookAhead” parameter in "Config / General config". It is re-
sponsible for sections of the trajectory analyzed in advance. Set this parameter to 999.
4.
If you are doing CNC programs at high speeds and you notice some distortions related to
rounded corners then switch on and experiment with "CV Dist. Tolerance" parameter in
„Config
General Config”. At the beginning, you can set the value on 0,5 - it will corre-
spond to 0,5mm corner tolerance.
5.
Mach3 program as a decimal separator (to separate the fractional part) uses a dot „ . ”.
Keep it in mind entering the values.
6.
3D trajectory preview on Mach screen can significantly burden the computer when the
files are large. While the machine runs, do not do operations such as zooming, rotation,
etc. For very large files, we recommend to turn of the 3D preview - Diagnostics screen,
click "Toolpath on / off."
7.
If a machine has touched a hardware LIMIT switch, you can back of the switch by
"OveRride Limits" button activation on Settings screen. It is also convenience to activate
"Auto LimitOverRide" - this will cause that when we touch the limit switch a machine
will stop, but you can click RESET and back of the limit switches without any additional
operations. Additionally the "Smart Limits" function activated will protect you against
motion in wrong direction, which can be cause by e.g. accidentally wrong button
pressed.
8.
Manual control (JOG).
a.
Do not forget that pressing TAB key causes that additional side panel appears
where you can set speed, continuous or step mode – it makes that controlling
the axes and precise setting of material base is easier.
b.
By pressing the combination of feed rate key (e.g. right arrow) and SHIFT key,
the movement is in continuous mode with 100% speed - regardless of the cur-
rent settings.
c.
By pressing the combination of the feed rate key and CTRL key – the movement
is always in step mode with speed set in FEEDRATE area.
C S - L a b s . c . – C S M I O / I P - S - C N C C o n t r o l l e r
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