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Post by alsamson on Dec 4, 2012 11:51:37 GMT -8
Greetings, I am a home hobbyist that got involved with machining about a year ago. I have a Shopmaster Patriot 3 in 1 machine that is full CNC and I use Mach 3 to control it. It's a simple setup that gets me parts to wihtin a thou or two which is all I'm looking for. I've been looking for a way to upgrade Mach 3 with cooler screens and came across the CVI site. I am very impressed with the added functionality, especially relating to tooling. All my tool changes are manual so I'm all for anything having to do with making the process better.
Based on my tooling needs it looks like I need the professoinal version. I do have a couple of questions. First, here's my system. I have a Windows 7, 64 bit computer with the Ethernet Smooth Stepper. I have a MPG from VistaCNC that has a plug-in. I already have a Wildhorse probe.
Will MachStdMill work in my environment?
I already have a profile that contains everything I need to interface Mach 3 to my machine. Since MachStdMill is profile-based, is there a way to merge my profile with the MachStdMill profile so I don't have to re-enter all my machine-specific parameters?
Thanks, Al
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Post by DaveCVI on Dec 4, 2012 15:05:28 GMT -8
Hi, Greetings, I am a home hobbyist that got involved with machining about a year ago. I have a Shopmaster Patriot 3 in 1 machine that is full CNC and I use Mach 3 to control it. It's a simple setup that gets me parts to wihtin a thou or two which is all I'm looking for. I've been looking for a way to upgrade Mach 3 with cooler screens and came across the CVI site. I am very impressed with the added functionality, especially relating to tooling. All my tool changes are manual so I'm all for anything having to do with making the process better. Based on my tooling needs it looks like I need the professoinal version. If you want the probing support and automatic tool measurements during a tool change, these features are only in the Pro Edition. I do have a couple of questions. First, here's my system. I have a Windows 7, 64 bit computer with the Ethernet Smooth Stepper. I have a MPG from VistaCNC that has a plug-in. I already have a Wildhorse probe. Will MachStdMill work in my environment? Should not be a problem. There are lots of Win7 and EnetSS users of MSM. I believe there are also vista pendant users - but I don't know detailed configurations for all MSM users - so I don't know if the exact combination is already in use or not. It's not a big worry as MSM does not use any plug-in code (in order to avoid plug-in conflicts). Generally, if the system works with stock mach, it will work for mach+MSM. Please be aware that MSM Pro can be installed as a trial version and is fully functional for 30 days. This provides an easy way for you to be sure the config etc is fine before buying an MSM license. I always recommend that people do this - it makes it a no $ risk situation for you re configurations etc. (and all license sales are final as they can't be undone once the license is created and provided to a user). I already have a profile that contains everything I need to interface Mach 3 to my machine. Since MachStdMill is profile-based, is there a way to merge my profile with the MachStdMill profile so I don't have to re-enter all my machine-specific parameters? Thanks, Al Yes, it's pretty easy. Essentially you make a copy of the current known good profile, start mach with the copy, make a small change to load MSM and then use the updated copy as the MSM profile. The instructions for how this is done are part of the MSM readme file and it's avail as a separate download from the MSM download page so you can read it before starting an installation. Always run MSM from a separate profile, then you can switch back and forth by simply picking the profile to start mach with. This also keeps the current profile free of any MSM specific changes. Dave
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Post by alsamson on Dec 5, 2012 6:18:03 GMT -8
Dave, Thanks for the quick response. I'll get the 30 day trial and test it out.
Regards, Al
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