Recent Posts

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach3 pneumatic z axis setup

« Last post by ZASto on May 05, 2026, 11:37:51 PM »

Or, you can use DIR signal for Z axis to control your cylinder.

eg.

G0 X100 Y100 // gantry moves to coordinate for drilling
G1 Z-10 // your cylinder gets energized and your drill goes down
G0 Z0 // your cylinder gets deenergized and your drill goes up
G4 P1.0 // wait a certain amount of time for the drill to clear the material surface

proceed to next hole
...

You can easily implement it in your postprocessor of your CAM software, or whatever you use to generate G-code

No switches, no aditional M codes, no extra configuration in Mach3

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach3 pneumatic z axis setup

« Last post by ryder2012 on May 05, 2026, 01:01:43 PM »

wait, the dwell would only work at the bottom of the plunge, the concern is the return.

im going to go about installing an upper and lower sensor but how would i configure mach3 to read these sensors and know that one is activated when the axis is at its lowest, trigger the vertically upward movement then read the upper sensor and know its then safe to move the X and Y?

3

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: Probe Settings

« Last post by paul.stephens on May 05, 2026, 10:38:41 AM »

Hi,

A manual tool setter does not have an input for Mach, Manual tool setters are usually some sort of scale. Place the tool setter on the table, jog the tool down to touch it until the dial reads zero or an LED lights up, and press the "Measure Tool Length" button on the Software to record the measurement. If you're using a G31 move to set your tool, you're going to want to use the Auto Tool Setter.

For the BLUM routines, go to Setup and Help → Browse...→ C:\Mach\Subroutines, and select that folder. This will give you a bunch of values. By default the Probe Tool Number is value 99, but this is where you change that value. Really, all the routines work off of your selected tool values, but if you were to use Calibrate Z or Calibrate X and Y, then it would directly change the values for Tool Number 99.. If you use multiple probes, then just set up different tools that have your probe settings and make sure that you're on the correct tool when doing your routine.

BLUM by design uses only the primary probe (G31). If you wanted to use and secondary probe inputs (G31.1, G31.2, G31.3) Then you will need to do some Mach Trickery. The easiest method would be to create a Button on your dashboard to swap your G31 inputs.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach3 pneumatic z axis setup

« Last post by ryder2012 on May 04, 2026, 11:03:27 PM »

ok thats cool, the dwell can be written into the gcode software too as a standard implementation.

is there any configuration to tell mach3 that its not using a stepper motor for z anymore?

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach3 pneumatic z axis setup

« Last post by marktuan on May 04, 2026, 07:07:39 PM »

Hey,

Simplest way is to add a small delay after activating the solenoid. In Mach3 you can use a G04 (dwell) so it waits before moving X/Y.

Example:

M7 (turn on solenoid)
G04 P0.5 (wait half a second)

Better option (more reliable) is to add a switch/sensor at the top so Mach3 knows the Z is fully up before moving.

If it’s a simple drilling setup, the delay usually works fine.

6

Probes and Tool Setters / Probe Settings

« Last post by cd_edwards on May 04, 2026, 02:12:32 PM »

Within the Tools Tab, you can setup probes and give them names. I have 4 probes. a tool length setter on my RCATC, a wireless probe I use for determining the height of my material, a wired probe which does the same but is smaller than the wireless and finally a 3d touch probe.
On a Manual Tool Setter, you cannot set the probe input. You have to change to auto, and then select a input and finally switch back.

then there's the BLUM routines. which tool does it use? maybe an option to select the tool you want to use with the routines might be a good idea. My wired probe has the edge detecting circle, which could be useful in some BLUM routines, or my 3d probe for others. I'm not sure which
probe they use by default. is is G31, G31.1 etc...

7

General Mach Discussion / mach3 pneumatic z axis setup

« Last post by ryder2012 on May 04, 2026, 11:52:42 AM »

hey everyone,

ive been building a CNC machine purely for drilling so accuracy doesnt need to be 1/100th of a milimeter perfect.

for reasons ive been instructed to move forward with using a pneumatic cylinder to control the Z axis.

im planning on having 2 physical stops and a 24v 2 possition solenoid to control this. im just in need of help in setting up mach3 to be able to control this. i know it will need a signal pin assigning to the solenoid but im concerned about timing. i dont want mach 3 to start moving the X or Y while the cylinder still has the spindle below the top of the working surface.

any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

8

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: Rapidchange ATC

« Last post by paul.stephens on May 04, 2026, 10:01:05 AM »

Hi,

That would be very correct. I depends on your Motion Controller Setup. Here is the basic wiring for your RCATC.

https://rcatcmedia.blob.core.windows.net/images/V1.6_control.png?v=1776362758

9

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: Rapidchange ATC

« Last post by cd_edwards on May 03, 2026, 09:30:44 PM »

Is there a wire diagram for the tool setter connections

wouldn't that be determined by your motion controller and bob? I found i needed to pull my input high on a C25S board for my NPN 3d probe to work.

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Hobby limit on max number of G Code lines?

« Last post by Fermate on May 03, 2026, 10:46:30 AM »

Hi Again
So some time has gone by and I need to bring up this topic again:

The solution with the extra button that loads the code without displaying the toolpath has worked fine; for small jobs I use the normal Load Code button and for big files I use a copy button without the mcToolPathGenerate call.

As I had to change my computer I used the opportunity to also get the latest Mach4 version and ESS driver.

Now a new problem turns up: it looks like the mcToolPathGenerate call is done already (maybe in the mcCntlLoadGcodeFile routine) as it is no use dropping the mcToolPathGenerate call, and the button that uses it gives an error that the routine is already called.

Is the problem with the stutter on big toolpaths solved now so I don’t need to drop the toolpath display?
Or is there a way to avoid automatically call the mcToolPathGenerate routine so I can control it myself?

ChatGPT only came up thit a solution to HIDE the Toolpath control, but I don’t trust the AI…