Hi, I just purchased a small milling machine and all the hardware to convert it to CNC.  I am using stepper motors and Gecko drives.  MACH3 looks wonderful, I would just like to verify what it does.

Does it allow me to pull in 3D solid models and generate G-code?
Does it generate the step/direction output that is necessary for the Gecko drives? (if so, what is the interface to the host PC?)
Does it support such things as limit switches?
Is there a hardware interface manual that I can download and take a look at?
What exactly do the wizards do?

Thank you all in advance for your help.  I am afraid I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of information on the website.  If you could just point me in the right direction, that would be great.

Thanks,
Shayne

Hi Shayne,

Does it allow me to pull in 3D solid models and generate G-code?

No, you would need CAM software that can post G-code for the model.

Does it generate the step/direction output that is necessary for the Gecko drives? (if so, what is the interface to the host PC?)

Yes, parallel port.

Does it support such things as limit switches?

Yes, limit and home switches.

Is there a hardware interface manual that I can download and take a look at?

Yes, go to the top of this page and drop down the 'Tutorials' list and you'll see douments and videos.

What exactly do the wizards do?

The 'Wizards' are add ons that bring up a page that you can fill in parameters and values to generate cutting files for various tasks such as drilling , pocketing, circles, etc.

Regards,

I also would like the documentation.

The highest version 3 documentation is 1.84

The latest version 3 lockdown is 2.48

Thanks
Phil_H