Hello there! This is my first post regarding Mach 3 and its
capabilities, so please bear with me. I am a high school Metal Shop teacher
trying to get some CNC going for the class.
I have a few EMCO compact 5 pc lathes I am trying to get running.
They have not run since the late 90's but do turn on and the spindle turns
with the key and switch. I have modified the U3 board by removing the chip
with the octal latch and jumped the wires as per the instructions in the
"digital machinist, 2007" write up. I have the lathe hooked up to a 25 pin
serial port connector to a USB connector, and into a fairly new IBM thinkpad
laptop running window XP.?
I downloaded mach 3 in the demo mode to see if i could get something
to happen, before I spring for the full version of Mach3.
My first question: Will the "demo"
mode actually move the stepper motors if connected
correctly??
Second question: Will Mach 3 run off
a laptop? I have seen conflicting information regarding this... ?
?
third question: Is the serial cable
connector going from the lathe to the computer something special? I
just bought one for a printer to usb so I can connect it to my laptop
computer. I'm not 100% sure its the right one, hence nothing happening with
the lathe.
It would be a big help getting started if I can get these 3 things figured
out. Then i can start configuring mach 3 and see if there is any movement.
Right now I have mach 3 running in demo mode, but it doesn't have any
affect on the lathe. I have all the settings set as the article in the digital
machinist says.?
So? what should I do??
Thanks in advance,?
Matt.
