Restarting a project

[Jim]

I'm running Mach3 with VCarve pro on my WD1 and I'm looking for some help.
On occasion when I'm running a large project I'd like to stop the run while it is running then restart it later. Is this possible and if so can someone guide/instruct me on how to do it?
By the way I'm still a newbie but I'm having a lot of fun learning.

Lameiii

[romaxxcnc]

Hello,

To Pause a project run simply hit "Feedhold" on the Mach3 screen. Pressing Cycle Start again will resume the run. It's always best to pause the tool out of the work. Stop, means stop completely. The program cannot be resumed after a "Stop" command and must be restarted. If the machine is running when Stop is pressed, it almost certain that machine position will be lost as well.

-Ron

[Jim]

Ron

I appreciate your response. I probably should have explained my question better.
While using the "Feedhold" and then "Cycle Start" does let me stop and restart a run, the router continues to spin.
What I'm wanting to do is also have the router stop to allow it to cool off during a project that takes a long time to run.
Is this possible??

Lameiii

[romaxxcnc]

Jim,

There are a few ways to do that actually. One is wait until the cutter retracts, do a feed hold and then manually turn the router off, then after a period turn it back on and resume with Cycle Start.

Another way is to do it automatically with G and M codes. exactly what the code would look like, not sure, it will take some experimentation to achieve the exact results.

I'm thinking something along these lines:

Z .100 Cutter retract in your program
M5 Stop spindle
G4 PXXX Where G4 is dwell and P value is the amount of time to dwell or stop in seconds
M3 Restart spindle
G00 X??? Y??? Then resume cutting

Hope this helps, Ron

[Jim]

Thanks Ron

I'll do some experimenting to see if I can get it set up per your suggestions.

jim

[jimwill52]

I haven't tried it but I was wondering if a calling a tool change in g-code would keep your place and let you continue when you are ready where you left off?

[romaxxcnc]

Jim,

That would probably do it too. Just call an arbitrary M6T01 etc.

-Ron

[petergambino]

It's been a while since I've used mach 3, but what I used to do if I had to
stop a program and then pick it up the next day is to wait for a time when the cutter is not in contact (usually retracting in the z) with the piece and then press feed hold...

If you look at mach3 each line of code has a line number next to it on the left, the line that your are on should be highlighted in some way... You will most likely want to start your program from the next line and should write that number down, for example if the z is raising and you stop it, the next move should be positioning the next cut...

Now you can hit the stop button, mach 3 will reset to the beginning of your code.. Return your cutter to zero in all positions and shut down everything...

The next day start up your machine and mach 3, load your program and reset your xyz to 0 (thats why you return positions to zero before you close program) and skip to the line you wrote down the night before...

Now heres the key, Since your picking up in the middle of the gcode, its all dependant on the code on where your z axis needs to be..If the line your running raises your z to the proper clearance and then positions for a new cut your fine.. If there are only x and y coordinates on the line and then z coordinates on another line, you need to raise your z so that it will clear your part.. To raise your z just manually jog the z to the height it needs to be..

Now your ready to continue your program, start your router and on mach3 click on i think its run from this line, there is a box for you to enter the line number in... The cutter will now move to the proper coordinates and continue on with the program like nothing happened.. And you don't have to worry about losing your position because you returned to home and reset everything to zero...

Thats pretty much it, like I said I havn't used mach 3 in like 2 years, I'll be getting back into it once my machine arrives..