As I’m a super newbie here I have tons of questions and need some help. I have only been using the new 48 Pro only a few times now. When I had my spoil board issues I set the machine up to do MM and V carve. No problems it worked fine. I was doing a small project design and did it in IN so I switched Mach 4 back to IN. I ran it and it all seemed fine. Today I was trying to make some hold downs and in V carve I did IN and mach 4 is still set on IN but when I ran the G code it came up MM on Mach 4 and did not notice it till it was half way through the file. I double check ventric and mach 4 they are both on imperial, I tried loaded other g code and when you very first up load it you can see MM on the X,Y,z axis then it quick switched to IN . What is going on? Please let me know what I need to do. Thanks
Are you sure you used the appropriate post-processor to write the g-code? It’s easy to just default to the last post-processor Vectric used without recognizing you are using different units.
I’ve forced myself to just use imperial units all the time. My machine coordinates are in imperial, I measure imperial, I design imperial, and I don’t even have a metric post processor set up. Somewhere along the line it’s easy to miss the switch and ruin something.
It’s under Toolpaths, Save Toolpath. There can be a choice of different post processors.
I don’t use Mach 4, I use Centroid. If I used the Centroid Metric PP the output will be in mm.
There are inch and metric versions of Avid. Maybe a Mach 4 user will know if there is a difference.
Good opportunity to learn a little gcode too. After you load your file, scroll through the first part of your program. If there is a G20 your code is in inches; G21 specifies millimeters.
From job to job there is no need to change the default units in Mach4. The running gcode determines the units. Just set the default to whatever units you normally use. As mentioned above, make sure you use the proper post processor for the units you want for the specific job. For practice, type G20 or G21 in the MDI and you can see the DROs change from one unit to the other.
Finally, you can see what units Mach4 is in currently by checking the line of currently active states in the Mach4 screen at the lower left just above History. Usually starts with G1 or G0. Look for G20 or G21 somewhere in that line. The DROs show it too of course
Hello, Thanks for all the help. I did check the setting in the processor and I had MM picked in the post processor for Avid. So So much to learn but it sure is great having a place to get help for us newbies. I really do appreciate the time you all take to write these very detailed reply’s. If you were in town I buy you a adult beverage.