Mach 4 Hobby

[JPigg55]

I was perusing around this morning looking at CNC software. Ended up on the Artsoft website and saw they were coming out with a completely new version called Mach 4 Hobby.
According to the page, the program is complete, but not software plug-ins that allow Mach4 to communicate with specific hardware devices.
From their website: "Mach4 is completely new software and has less than 1% of the programming code in common with Mach3. It was written from the ground up to be expandable, flexible, and extremely responsive for use with very large files on any operating system; including Windows, Apple, and Linux."
Looks like the Mach 4 Hobby license is running $200.
Anyone paling around with this yet ???

 

[xalky]

Looks interesting. I'm currently running mach 3 on my plasma table. It sure would be nice to be able to use a newish computer on my plasma table instead of obsolete pcs with parallel port

 

[countryguy]

Looks interesting. I'm currently running mach 3 on my plasma table. It sure would be nice to be able to use a newish computer on my plasma table instead of obsolete pcs with parallel port

You could check into CandCnc.com to remove the parallel port. Also linuxCNC in on the board for candcnc as mach3 heads toward depreciation. (Which may never really happen as worldwide as it is). There are other Mach3 to USB threads in here as well if you search. There is someone with a converter for you. Post back if you cannot locate it. CG

 

[RonGinger]

I have been running Mach4 for a while, with smoothstepper and the new SmartBOB from PMDX. It runs very smooth and has run a few jobs. I have not really had any long or complicated jobs yet. I have not tried the parallel port diriver, and probably wont- I like the idea of external motion control boards with ethernet or USB connection.

I should note that I work for ArtSoft- I support the Mach3 wizards, wrote some of them, and wrote the new MillWizard. I am lucky enough to live near Brian Barkers shop and have been discussing Mach4 for a couple years.

 

[xalky]

You could check into CandCnc.com to remove the parallel port. Also linuxCNC in on the board for candcnc as mach3 heads toward depreciation. (Which may never really happen as worldwide as it is). There are other Mach3 to USB threads in here as well if you search. There is someone with a converter for you. Post back if you cannot locate it. CG

At this point, the parallel port isn't a major drawback because it's running fine. The issue arises when the computer malfunctions and you need to replace it, they're getting to be as rare as hens teeth. I have 2 backup PCs with factory parrallel ports sitting in my attic for this reason, that were sitting on a computer stores shelf. I paid $25 a piece for them, just to have them handy.

I am using a CandCNC system, and it works great. I would probably only upgrade through CandCNC if I was gonna go forward, since they test and debug everything before they put it out for sale. They have really been top notch on the service front for me. I originally started with a Chinese plasma cutter that was frying components and PCs like it was an EMP blast in my garage. They replaced a bunch of parts on thier system for free. That POS chinese plasma cutter cost me and CandCNC quite a few bucks. I replaced it with a Hypertherm and it has been the difference between a yugo and a rolls royce. )