MACH 3 Display Question

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

I'm looking to buy a new touch screen as my Mach 3 control panel (I don't have Mach 3 to play with yet). Do 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio screens work best?

Like many of us, I don't have acres of space so thinking a 12 or 15" panel is enough…

I'll be using the locked down version of Mach3 as provided by ArcEurotrade.

Best regards

Steve

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Steve, I don't know which works best, but I use a 16:9 display and it's fine. Presumably you need Windows 10 to support the touch screen? Be aware that there are a number of issues with M3 and win10, see the support forum for details and fixes.

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Thanks John. I'm just setting up a WinXP SP3 workstation and I've found a couple of touchscreens I've found have XP support, one is 4:3 and a couple are 16:9, So just interested to know what aspect ratio Mach3 is designed for.

The 4:3 one I found is meant to be used as a PoS terminal, so might be more rugged than the standard desktop screen.

I have run Mach3 demo version on my laptop, but the aspect ratio looked a bit off, which is why I thought the native design was for 4:3.

Best regards

Steve

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

16:9 would probably let you have the Jog screen at the side of the main one without covering anything

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Cheers Jason.

Steve

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

as Jason says, go bigger so you can have the jog screen at the side and not on top of the screen – very helpful

You can download mach3 free and get used to it in sim mode

[Ian Johnson 1Participant @ianjohnson1]

Go large! For Mach3 I use the 16:9 display on my 22inch TV monitor (nicked from our spare bedroom!) and have the jog screen in the gap on the right of the screen. If the Mach3 screens are 'fitted' to the screen size they do look elongated and odd! But you may need to get new screen sets to support a touch screen.

My version came from Arc too, but I also got the licence for the full program, the locked down version has a limited number of lines of code if I remember rightly?

While I'm here I'll hi-jack the thread! Does anyone know how to make the jog screen stick on the screen? Because every time I change screens such as going to the offset page, the jog screen disappears! Pressing 'Tab' gets it back again but it is slightly annoying!

Ian

[William OrrParticipant @williamorr90708]

I am a complete Novice at CNC machining

my set up is Mac 3 and a 3axis mill

dedicated PC with screen Off line

anyone near me willing to show me how to work it??

between Salisbury and Southampton

i am conversant with machining teqniques as I am a time served toolmaker just not up with CNC

William

[geoff adamsParticipant @geoffadams14047]

Hi William

iam in New Milton i run two mills on mac3 and a Boxford lathe that i have just brought its

on its way you are welcome to come down and i can show you on my machines or i could come to you what machine do you have

Geoff

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Posted by William Orr on 31/03/2019 17:58:51:

I am a complete Novice at CNC machining

my set up is Mac 3 and a 3axis mill

dedicated PC with screen Off line

anyone near me willing to show me how to work it??

between Salisbury and Southampton

i am conversant with machining teqniques as I am a time served toolmaker just not up with CNC

William

 

 

Hi William,

 

I've just started out on this journey. I'm using Vectric Cut2D as an easy way to generate G code for Mach 3 and it's by far the easiest piece of CAD/CAM software I've tried so far.

 

Steve

Edited By Steve Withnell on 24/04/2019 08:27:59

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Did you get your touch screen up and running Steve?

I did use Cut2D for the first few test items but have not used it for any actual parts. agree it is quite easy to get the hang of but I have not found F360 CAM any harder to pick up and that is what I'm using now. As it imports a STEP file you get heights which you don't when using a DXF in Cut2D and no need to join all those vectors together.

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Posted by JasonB on 24/04/2019 09:08:39:

Did you get your touch screen up and running Steve?

I did use Cut2D for the first few test items but have not used it for any actual parts. agree it is quite easy to get the hang of but I have not found F360 CAM any harder to pick up and that is what I'm using now. As it imports a STEP file you get heights which you don't when using a DXF in Cut2D and no need to join all those vectors together.

HI Jason,

Got too absorbed with the KX1 You are right, the 16:9 ratio screen works well, but using a 23 inch monitor I already had. The Mach3 screens are properly proportioned and there is plenty of room for the Jog flyout. I've a bit of sorting out to do then I will move onto a touch screen.

I've cut quite a few things using CUT2D, I've just cut some holes in a case and have screws in different planes interfering , which wasn't obvious until I machined them! So I could do with a package which will show all features before generating the toolpaths.

The KX1 is really sweet, wish I'd got one years ago! A few trivial bugs the max spindle speed was set at 5,000 rpm, which I've now reset to 7,000 rpm as per spec.

One thing I'm not comfortable with yet is working out plunge rates and suspect I'm being a bit too gentle!

Regards

Steve

[Author]

Posts