PraxProbe V1_0.zip is subdivided into two sets of folders; Metric and Imperial. Note that the bitmaps in each folder are identical.

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1 Installation Once downloaded, the installation of the macros, bitmaps and screensets is very simple. First you will need to note where is your Mach3 machine profile. For the following example, we will use: C:\Mach3\macros\MyCNCmill\ We ll assume that the downloaded files are in C:\Users\Georges\Downloads\PraxProbeV1_0.zip PraxProbe V1_0.zip is subdivided into two sets of folders; Metric and Imperial. Note that the bitmaps in each folder are identical. STEP 1 Copy the Bitmaps Files Open the folder PraxProbe V1_0.zip Metric or Imperial Bitmaps Select all the files and copy to C:\Mach3\macros\MyCNCmill\Bitmaps\MillBitmaps\ STEP 2 Copy the Screenset File Open the folder PraxProbe V1_0.zip Metric or Imperial Screenset Select the file 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Imperial.set or 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Metric.set. Copy that file in C:\Mach3\ STEP 3 Copy the Macro Files Open the folder PraxProbe V1_0.zip Metric or Imperial Select the file.m1s macro files Copy the.m1s macro files into C:\Mach3\macros\MyCNCmill\ STEP 4 Set the Prax Probe Screenset File. From the Mach3 menu, select View Load Sceens Select the newly copied screenset; 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Imperial.set or 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Metric.set

2 STEP 5 Selecting and Setting a Tool Number for the Probe On Mach3, select the Offset/Probe (Alt-5) tab. Click on Save Tool Offsets button (bottom right). Enter a tool Description. In this case it is Probe. Enter the probe diameter. In most cases, this would be the ruby diameter at the stylus tip. Enter the tool height. This would normally be the distance between the stylus tip to under the spindle collar. Note the tool number. In this case, it is 253. Be sure to press Apply to save the changes. Pressing OK does not save changes made to the tool table. Finally, on the edge finder control panel, enter the tool number 253 in the third DRO.

3 STEP 6 Activate the Mach3 Probe Option On the Mach3 main menu, select Config Ports and Pins Input Signals Probe Enable Probe option Depending on your setup, select the appropriate Port # and Pin Number. If depending on your probe type, set the Active Low. If the probe is not touching anything, the Digitize LED on the Diagnostics (Alt-7) screen should be off. If it is ON, then change3 the Active Low mode.

4 How to use the control panel Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the buttons and macros with a small loose part on your milling machine that will not damage your probe. You should set a small piece of aluminum for testing and practice. Once your new screeset is loaded, the main page will have one different tab. Instead of the tab Offset it will now be called Offset/Probe. Click on this new tab to access the new probing functions. Before you start, you should enter your probe ball diameter. The values on this screen are always saved on disk, so you don t have to re-enter them each time. If you want your part Z coordinate system to be at the on top of the part, set Plate Thickness to 0. If the Z origin should be at the bottom of the part, simply enter the plate thickness. The Approx. Part Dia. is used when with the M910 marco or the find the OD center button. The Z origin will be at the bottom of the probed plate. If probing the ID or OD, put in the approximate size. Probing will be done using 60% of the diameter from the approximate centre. Tool length and diameter will be taken from the tool table. Z probing Position the probe tip to about 1/2 [12 mm] above the plate and press the Z button. If the Plate Thickness DRO is other than , the Z coordinate will compensate for the plate thickness. 3D corner probing Position the probe above a plate corner and press the appropriate button. Probing will start on the Z axis and will compensate for plate thickness. The probe will do short and quick move beside the part 0.3 [7 mm] below the surface for X probing. Next, a quick retract and move for the Y probing. Resulting X and Y coordinates will compensate for the probe diameter. EDGE probing Bring the probe at about 1/2 [12 mm] from the edge and about ¼ [6 mm] below the top surface. Press the appropriate button. Probing will immediately start. The resulting coordinate will compensate for the probe diameter.

5 Outside diameter probing Enter the approximate diameter on the MACH3 DRO. Then position the probe near the part centre. Probing will start on the X axis and then the Y. Jogs across the parts and on Z negative are all done in G31 mode rather than G0 or G1. If there should be an obstruction, the machine will stop before there is damage to the probe or stylus. Once probing is completed, the exact diameter will displayed in the Approx. Part. Dia. DRO. Inside diameter probing Enter the approximate diameter on the MACH3 DRO. Position the probe near the part centre. Probing will start on the X axis and then the Y. Once probing is completed, the exact diameter will be displayed in the Approx. Part. Dia. DRO. CALLING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE DIAMETER MACROS If you are running a G-code program and would like to find the center of a hole or a rounded part, you would call M909 or M910. It would be impractical to enter the diameter in the DRO for Approx. Part Dia. Instead, use M920 P# just before the M909 or M910. Example: M920 P5.25 M909 OR M920 P5.25 M910

6 MODIFYING THE BUTTON Functions PRAX PROBE Listed here are two ways to modify the button functionality and hidden code associated with buttons. If a simple script modification is required, use method 1. If button layout are extra button are required, use method 2. METHOD 1 - MODIFICATIONS USING MACH3 EDIT BUTTON SCRIPT For simple code modifications to the hidden script, go to the Offset/Probe screen and use the Edit Button Script command under the Operator menu. All the buttons that can be modified will start blinking. Select the one you wish to modify. The Mach3 VB Script Editor will open with the hidden script. Once changes are done be sure to save the changes are saved to the hidden script by selecting Yes when prompt.

7 IMPORTANT NOTE: In the figure below, the script associated with the upper right button is listed as M905.m1s. This script was originally loaded from the file M905.m1s into the Mach3 VB Script Editor and then saved to the HiddenScript. It is important to understand that by simply clicking yes to Save changes to HiddenScript will not update the file macro file M905.m1s. To update the M905.m1s macro file click on File and use the Save As option. METHOD 2 - MODIFICATIONS USING MACHSCREEN Modifying the button functions can also be accomplished using Machscreen. MachScreen is a free Windows based editing program specifically built to work with Artsoft Mach3. The English link is: It s fine if you never used MachScreen before. After an hour or two you will become proficient, it s quite easy to use. But there are a few tips that you should consider. Open the 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Imperial.set or 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Metric.set from the C:\Mach3 folder. On page 7, you will find the Prax Probe control panel with its 11 buttons. If you select one of the buttons, in the MachScreen properties window, double-click the content for Execute code and the Machscreen Editor will pop open. It s important to

8 understand that the code that you are viewing in the Machscreen Editor is NOT the.m1s file. The script that you see is hard coded in the.set file. If you do any changes on to the code, you may want to save that code to update the particular.m1s file. This means is that all the.m1s macros are not directly linked to the screenset file. If you were to make a change in one of the.m1s file using Microsoft Notepad program, you would see that when you press the button in Mach3, any changes done using Notepad would not work. It s because the screenset hasn t been updated. Follow these steps for the changes to take effect: Step 1 Open Machscreen and the select 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Imperial.set or 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Metric.set. Then go to page 7. Step 2 Select the button to modify and double click on the content for Execute Code. This will open the current code associated with the selected button. Step 3 To upload the new code that was modified and saved using Notepad (or any other text editing program), click the Open icon and select the.m1s macro file. You will note the Machscreen Editor will get updated with the new code. Step 4 Press the X button to exit the VB Screen editor. You will be prompt Include data to screen set

9 Select Yes. This will have the effect of updating the screenset currently in memory. Step 5 From the main menu, be sure to save the new screenset to file. Step 6 If you updated the same screenset being used by Mach3 from the previous session, simply start Mach3 and the newly updated screenset will be loaded. If your Mach3 is already running then you will need to reload the screenset to enable the new updated button. Click View and Load Screensets. Select and open the required screenset. This would normally be _0 Imperial.set or 1024PraxProbeV1_0 Metric.set from the C:\Mach3 folder. This may sound a little bit tedious, but after a few dozen changes, the mouse clicking becomes quicker and easier. If simple changes are required, use method 1, Edit Button Script under the Operator menu.