Hi I bought a Bridgeport Series I mill. I am considering using the Mach 3 system to download programs and I had a few questions.

(1) can you use this system as cad?
(2) how easy is it to set up?
(3) are there any particular break out board that works best?




Thank You for your reply.

Scott

Scott, Mach 3 is a controller. It isn't a CAD or CAM software. It does come with Lazycam though.

how easy is it to set up?

This is all relative. Depending on what your doing, what you know, and what your willing to learn. If you have a little patients and are willing to learn, it shouldn't be too bad. Thousands have done it allready so it is deffinatley a goal within your reach.

There are lots of Break out boards out there that will work just fine. I like the PMDX 122s but but depending on your needs it may not be right for you.

Brett

I prefer a non-powered breakout board, i.e. one that is just an easy way to access the wires from the LPT1 socket. However, the latest thing is the smooth stepper, which I have not used, but many swear by them.

This is a USB driven breakout board, (you just plug it into the USB port on your computer) and it provides all the signals for the axis, plus input and output lines for switches, spindle control etc (far moroe that you would get on an LPT1 port - which only has 4 outs and 5 ins)

Yes - I was new to CNC when I started with Mach 3, and I found it easy to use. It appears very flexible ( i.e. it con be configured many different ways for different application) Therein lies the rub - more flexibility means it is more complicated than a plug and play system - but if you take it bit by bit, it's easy enough.

AND you've got this forum