Has anyone used Mach3 to run a Longmill or MillOne. I like the GUI look of Mach3 and from their website it looks like they only support parallel ports. I wondered if Mach3 connected via USB to the LongMill control box would even work…
@gtrboy77 I looked into it. Mach3 and the newer Mach4 are not compatible with a usb/grbl based controller, if I understood what I was reading. It’s not just a case of finding a PC old enough to have a parallel port. Feel free to do your own research though, Dean. I’m open to be proven wrong. 
@gtrboy77 - @gwilki - I do believe Grant is correct. Everything I’ve read says it won’t work with the grbl controller. Oranges and apples thing.
That stinks. It looks super cool. Reminds me of Fanuc controls on the big boy machines.
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If you really wanted to use Mach 3/4 with the LongMill hardware, you could. You’d have to replace the LM controller with a Mach motion control unit, though.
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I use mach3 with my 30 X 30 Longmill. So far I have had no problem.
I am using RnR controller, but had to do extensive research initially for the settings.
I am not new to mach3, but have been using it for about 8 years, which is the reason I went this route . The RnR controller is USB and 4-axis (does not use parallel port and are the ones I am using . There are other USB controller cards available. Some less spendy and some more, some 3-axis and some more.
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Where did you get the RnR and how difficult was it to set up with the Longmill? I have the 30”x30” Longmill and I would love to be able to use Mach3 with it.
Bought mine from EBAY. Do a search for the following:
100Khz CNC MACH3 USB Breakout Board 4Axis Interface Driver Motion Controller NEW — currently $16.88 plus $3 shipping.
TB6600 Stepper Motor Driver Micro-Step 9~40V for Nema17 Nema23 Steppers Motor— need 4 I bought 5 for $40. They are from China, so I decided on a little insurance because of quality.
You will also have to download RnRmotion.dll (it’s easy, just do a google search)
I found this video to be helpful for mach3 settings: MACH3 USB CARD - YouTube
So you had to replace the stepper motors on the Longmill as well? From your first post, I thought you had just used the existing stepper motors that came with the Longmill.
@gtrboy77 Dean: I believe that you will find that Wade had to replace the stepper motor drivers, not the motors.
@wlfaries Wade: In the video that you linked to, some users report electrical noise issues using the TB6600 drivers, some going so far as to recommend scrapping them in favour of DM542 drivers. Have you had any issues with the 6600’s?
I am not Wade but I use TB-drivers on my cnc-lathe and recommend them.
Besids some over-temperature caused issues (no cooling and small housing) they work as proposed to do.
Yes, there was an issue with my installation. It was not noise. One of the (5) TB6600 drivers I purchased did not work reliably, Sometimes it would drive the stepper motor the wrong direction. I replaced it with the 5th driver and since then my machine has worked faultlessly. I could probably Have returned it to China for a replacement, but it did not seemd to be worth the hassle to me.
And yes, I did use the Stepper motors that came with the Longmill. They work very well.
The stepper motor drivers are soldered onto the controller board and I did not choose to attempt canniblizing them from the longmill board.
In the future I intend to add a fourth rotational axis which was the reason I bought 5 drivers. Has anyone tried that yet?,
I am now the satisfied owned of my 2nd Longmill It is the M2 EX. I gave g-sender a fair try and then converted this one to Mach3, also.
I have been using my Longmill_EX/Mach3 now for a couple of months with no problems. I am using the BITSENSOR BSMCEO4U-PP Chinese breakout board. to drive it. The same board I used on my MK1 machine which is also still running well. Functionally both brains are the same. For homing I used limit switches on the MK1 and proximity detectors on the MK2.
It’s been as couple of years, now. Did you go with Mach3? If so, how do you like it?
I have now added an extended Mk2 about a year ago and am using the same Mach3 setup. It is also working well.
I’m curious, Would I be out of line Entering projects made on my machines in the weekly contests?