Hello Brett,

Yes I am making progress. 

What set me back for days was the quirk/bug/fault/omission in Mach 3 when using the MAXNC mode.  The native mode for Mach 3 is to provide Step & Direction signals to the stepper controllers for each axis - 2 signals per axis.  Maxnc uses "wave drive", presumably for some sort of half or quarter stepping,  where there are 5 wires and 4 signals needed for each channel.  No matter how you configure Mach 3 it always shows only the step and direction pins as being active.  In fact the correct maxnc signals ARE being generated despite the screens showing otherwise - I consider this a fault in Mach 3.  Some also suggested that the Sherline half step mode should be checked.  AFAICT this makes no difference and I always get 314 steps per mm in all axes in all configurations that I tried. 

Next came the direction signals, I had Y and Z going the wrong way.  There were two suggestions from this forum about how to change the direction of the axes.  Neither worked, but they got me fiddling in areas I had not fiddled before and I now have control of the machine in X, Y and Z axes, all in the correct sense/direction.  I also found out, when a lead fell off at the stepper motor, that the stepper motor plugs can be unplugged, rotated 180 degrees and replugged and this also reverses direction.

I am now at the point where I can draw a shape in TurboCad, save as a DXF, import that DXF into LazyCAM and generate a GCode file.  I have to edit the GCode file by hand to increase the feed from F1.00 to F100 and to manually set the plunge depth.  I am sure there are programatic ways of doing this but my attempts to set logical (to me at least) values in LazyCAM, before the GCode generation takes place, are not yielding the expected results.

I can draw simple shapes and cut text into MDF.  I am only using a Vee bit at this point so no tool diameter compensation but overall I am making progress.

Cheers
Brian

Hello Brian,
Wave Drive will ONLY work in a MaxNC and all the Directions are set in the software for a MaxNC. This was done to make it simple for the user and was done with he help Of MaxNC (Otto the creator him self). So If you need to change the direction you don't have a standard MaxNC. As for not showing the motor axis pins... This is a very small section of the sales and was added to help a few users with old MaxNCs.

As for the Sherline mode, this will give you a longer step pulse (40us) and some of the lesser quality drives need to have a pulse that long to make them work. Sherline Mode will not effect MaxNc modes as they have there own pulsing format.

Under the properties  tab you can set the depth per pass, rapid height, start height, depth, plung feed and feed rate. You MUST have the layer selected to change the settings. If you are new to running a machine stay away from cutter comp. Cutter Comp is great for typical parts and sucks if you are doing short moves that are in artistic shapes.

Wow! this seems to have pricked a nerve.

My complaint is inconsistent documentation.  I find I can change to/from maxnc mode but NEVER does the step direction page change, even though I later find out that maxnc wave mode is being secretly turned on/off.  It is absolutely great that maxnc is supported by Mach3, I can't thank you enough, but I sure get frustrated when the program tells me it is stuck in step/direction mode when in reality it is in maxnc mode.

Sherline mode - 40 uS pulses.  Where is that covered?  I found no mention in the help or tutorials but then I do doze off from time to time. I see no change on my maxnc so I leave the Sherline mode OFF.

Axis direction.  The step/direction screen lets me change direction on my maxnc - you seem to be saying this is not so.  The other way to change direction on my maxnc, found after a lead fell off, is to flip the connector at the stepper motor.

Keep up the good work, a great program but one that could do with a few consistency checks.

Cheers
Brian

Nope, it is not a nerve I am just trying to set everything straight...  Mail and Forums are not that good at showing emotion

In Quantum we are going to change how all this is done and I think you are going to like how we are going to work it... We are going to take the settings and move them to the PlugIn. There you will only have the settings that you need... But you have to know that you are doing something that you only do one time, If you have to change your Pin settings every time you run your mill I think there is a problem .

You will not see any Docs on Sherline more because it was done to make Sherline mills work in Mach3. It just happens to be something that helps other drives as well (2-3 years later). You can check Sherline mode but it is not going to change anything in the driver We locked out the settings in the code.

You are correct MaxNC mode is only setup in one direction, It should be the correct direction, I hope

The Checks that you are looking for can be added but this is a section that we get such little support on that we have not taken much time to go back and add code. We are going to keep working on bugs and get the software running as good as we can for the users and after that we will see... It may be time to go back and add a few dialogs for you 

Later and best of luck with the mill!
Brain