Taig Micro Mill & Micro Lathe Mach3 Setup for CNC

Mach3 Setup for CNC Micro Mill & CNC Micro Lathe
Last updated on Saturday, April 01, 2023 09:06:06 AM Mountain US Time Zone

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These settings are specific to my computer,
interfaces, CNC mill, CNC lathe, & machining needs.
The settings shown here are not a substitute for
reading & understanding the details of the manuals.
Periodically backup the Mach3 mill & lathe setup files
using the Config/Save Settings menu. This places an xml
file into the Mach3 xmlbackups folder. Saving to another
off-computer location is also advised. Placing a backup
Mach3Mill.xml and/or Mach3Turn.xml profile into the
Mach3 folder restores the settings from that date.

Mach3 Mill main screen showing,
among other things, the DROs.
Mach3 setup tutorial. Updated
Mach3 using the PBJ ScreenSets.

Simple Run screen. Mirrored (DRO)
information not standard
ergonomic practice; may slow
reading speed & cause errors.

Program Run screen (Alt-1), showing
among many other things,
the Digital Read-Outs or DROs.
Mach3 setup tutorial.

Manual Data Input or MDI (Alt-2) screen.

Settings (Alt-6). Auto Limit Override is
set ON so when a limit switch is tripped,
the machine can be manually jogged
back off to close the circuit, again.

Diagnostics screen (Alt-7).
When all of the limit/home switches are
closed, there are no input signals.
When one of the limit/home switches
is opened (active low), all of the
input signals light up as they are all
wired in series. System Schematic

3D Probing (Alt-3) menu. The 3D Mach3 Probe
Plug-in module & a probe (switch) are required.

Sets the native units of the lead screw.
Do not use this dialog box to
change between Imperial & Metric GCode.
Only used for motor tuning.

MOBO LPT1 is the main I/O for the stepper motors &
signals like spindle, mist, E-stop, & digitizing probe.
LPT2, shown here, is dedicated to only the MPG pendant
control. Lava Parallel-PCI/LP Installation Manual

In the BIOS, I turned-off the two RS232 serial
ports & configured the two LPT ports to EPP+ECP.
LPT1 is on the motherboard (0378 hex) &
LPT2 is a PCI card (DF00 hex). The Port #1 address
is standard but the Port #2 address can vary
so examine the computer's devices menu.

LPT1 PIN I/O
PIN NUMBER	FUNCTION
1 - Output	-
2 - Output	X Direction
3 - Output	X Step
4 - Output	Y Direction
5 - Output	Y Step
6 - Output	Z Direction
7 - Output	Z Step
8 - Output	A Direction
9 - Output	A Step
10 - Input	Limits
11 - Input	Mill Tachometer
12 - Input	3D Digitizing Probe
13 - Input	E-stops
14 - Output	Safety Charge Pump
15 - Input	Spindle Index
16 - Output	Spindle Motor
17 - Output	Air / Mist / Vacuum
18 - 25	Ground

Motor Outputs step & direction signals.
The motors are set via PCB jumpers to 1/4-stepped &
the no idle mode. Stepper Motors & Controller

Input Signals tab. Mill & lathe home/limit input
signals are on the same circuit, all wired in series.

This Manual Pulse Generator (MPG2) has
4 pulses/detent with 100 detents/dial revolution.
Handy Pulser specs.

Encoder/MPG tab. Pendant Manual Pulse Generator
(MPG) inputs to LPT2. The MPG2 has 4 pulses/detent.
There are 100 detents/dial revolution. Handy Pulser specs.
It is very important to perform the Mach3 jog control CAL.
Disable any Mach3 brains that are not in use. The
MPG's white button has to be held down during use.
This setup is for the LPT2 pendant C22
v2.4 interface board powered via USB.

A brain can be opened within Mach3 &
its operations viewed in real-time.
The diagnostic tab (Alt-7) also shows
all the signal states & changes.

PENDANT BRAIN SETUP
BRAIN v4	STATUS
Axis_JogRes_SelectorLPT2.brn	Enabled
EnableLPT2.brn	Enabled
E-stop_W_AutoResetLPT2.brn	Enabled
DisableLPT2.brn	Disabled
E-stop_WO_AutoResetLPT2.brn	Disabled

Output Signals tab. Control of the 110VAC relay box;
turns ON/Off the spindle motor (16) & mist/vacuum (17).
The 12.5 kHz Safety Charge Pump (SCHP) is on
LPT1 output Pin #14. C4 safety pump manual

The MPG can also be setup using the
MPG 4-6 Plug-in & its Readme 1st file.
I found the Mach3 MPG 4-6v3 plug-in control
method to be a better implementation than the Brains.

Mill Options tab.

Stepper Motor Tuning

Tuning for the mill's X, Y, Z-axes & the
lathe's X, Z1-axes 3A stepper motors.
My motors are set via PCB jumpers to 1/4-step so
4 x 200 (native) steps/rev = 800 steps/rev, total.
Full or 1/2-stepping may cause mid-band resonance.
1/4-stepping gives me smooth low-speed (5 RPM or less)
performance. It is essential to click Save Axis
Settings & OK after making changes & before testing.

(MOTOR STEPS / REVOLUTION) x (LEAD SCREW 20 THREADS / INCH) = STEPS / INCH
(800 STEPS / REV) x (20 REVS / INCH) = 16,000 STEPS / INCH [REV units cancel]

Tuning for the 4th A-axis rotary table stepper motor.

(MOTOR STEPS / REVOLUTION) x (ROTARY TABLE GEAR RATIO 72 REVOLUTIONS / 360 DEGREES) = STEPS / DEGREE
(800 STEPS / REV) x (72 REVS / 360 DEGREES) = 160 STEPS / DEGREE [REV units cancel]

System HotKey definitions.

The Mach3 Driver Test is located in the Mach3 root folder.

Mach3 Turn Menus

The Mach3 Turn wizard was used to setup cutting threads.
For threading, the spindle must have an indexing sensor.
The Mach3 spindle switch must also be ON, even if it does not
directly control it, so the program will read the indexing position.

Motor Outputs tab for Mach3 Turn
X & Z1-axes. Mach3Turn Manual
Many Mach3 Turn menus are the same as in
Mach3 Mill so just the main changes are shown.

Input tab for the spindle indexing pickup using
LPT1 pin 15. The mill uses pin 11 for its tachometer.

The General Logic Configuration for Mach3
Turn showing the Initialization String parameters
needed for threading.
See the Mach3 Threading Setup Manual

Diagnostics page for Mach3 Turn.
Note a limit switch has been tripped open, lighting-up
the X & Z-axes input LEDs. System Schematic