Ordering a Tormach next week, question on PathPilot

Hey everyone, I am ordering a Tormach next week. One thing I am undecided on is the controller. The way I see it, the only reason I will buy the controller is if I plan to go to PathPilot eventually. I know there are a lot of kinks to work out as I am reading in this section, but I am wondering if those using it believe that once the kinks are worked out, if it will be a big improvement over Mach3?

Can anyone give me some insight into this? I don't want to debate the controller vs. not getting the controller for Mach3, I have read enough debates on that and feel comfortable, just really trying to understand the improvements people are seeing or potential improvmeents in pathPilot over Mach3.

I have tried going through this forum as much as possible, but there are so many threads that I am having a hard time getting an answer.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Learning2Machin

Hey everyone, I am ordering a Tormach next week. One thing I am undecided on is the controller. The way I see it, the only reason I will buy the controller is if I plan to go to PathPilot eventually. I know there are a lot of kinks to work out as I am reading in this section, but I am wondering if those using it believe that once the kinks are worked out, if it will be a big improvement over Mach3?

Can anyone give me some insight into this? I don't want to debate the controller vs. not getting the controller for Mach3, I have read enough debates on that and feel comfortable, just really trying to understand the improvements people are seeing or potential improvmeents in pathPilot over Mach3.

I have tried going through this forum as much as possible, but there are so many threads that I am having a hard time getting an answer.

Thanks!

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Yes, it will be a huge improvement over Mach3. It already is. The pendant works way better, the trajectory planner is way more efficient. It is just better build IMO.

Adam

Thanks for your comments Adam

I have the beta and it seems to work well but doesn't yet support things that I consider essential such as my touch screen and VistaCNC pendant so I'm not yet using it for production. That said, Path Pilot seems to be the future path for Tormach and Mach3 is a dead end. With Path Pilot you already get a better trajectory planner, nicer user interface, easier ways to move files to the machine (Samba share), etc. Couple that with probably better future support from Tormach and on this forum, no charge for the software (or no savings by using Mach3) it seems silly to not seriously contemplate using PathPilot. If I were buying a new Tormach today I would order their machine controller (which includes the special card required for PathPilot), run Mach3 initially and then upgrade to PathPilot when the production version is released.

Having a reliable stop feed and usable soft limits sold me.

Mike

You can get PathPilot without the controller. Order a board from Mesa, and the software from Tormach, and put em on your own PC. I haven't used PP much yet, but so far I like it much more than Mach. Soft limits and working feed hold are wonderful.

I have the Beta version and have switched from Mach 3, I use Sprutcam 7 and havent found anything it has a problem with yet.
There are a few issues to get resolved yet but I dont use those functions.

I absolutely love the software, it is simpler, smoother operating, I havent been losing usb ports on the controller, and there hasnt been one glitch yet.

For some people Mach 3 works very well all the time, it just didnt for me.

Everyone, thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated.

Philbobb, please forgive my ignorance, but would you be able to point me to which board I would need to buy from Mesa? I went on their website and it is not clear to me what I would need.

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Originally Posted by Learning2Machin

Everyone, thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated.

Philbobb, please forgive my ignorance, but would you be able to point me to which board I would need to buy from Mesa? I went on their website and it is not clear to me what I would need.

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You need the Mesa "5I25 Superport FPGA based PCI Anything I/O card" or "6I25 Superport FPGA based PCIE Anything I/O card" depending on your machine's available slots. The card is $109 which reduces the savings of omitting the Tormach computer.

I switched my production machine completely to PP during the early beta and never looked back. Once I got my touch screen going, it does everything I did with Mach at least as well if not better.

One thing I would like to see on PathPilot is a way to lock the step increment for the jog shuttle, I inadvertently hit the step button at times which isnt a problem usually but sometimes it is.

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Originally Posted by kstrauss

You need the Mesa "5I25 Superport FPGA based PCI Anything I/O card" or "6I25 Superport FPGA based PCIE Anything I/O card" depending on your machine's available slots. The card is $109 which reduces the savings of omitting the Tormach computer.

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Everyone, thanks much for the comments!

Kstrauss, is there an easy way to tell based on my PC which slots are available? That is kind of greek to me. My PC is a Dell Optiplex 755. I am not that savy with PC hardware.

Thanks!

I think the real question is will it be better than Mach 4. Both are relatively new in the controller game. Mach 3 is ancient by comparison.

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Originally Posted by Learning2Machin

Kstrauss, is there an easy way to tell based on my PC which slots are available? That is kind of greek to me. My PC is a Dell Optiplex 755. I am not that savy with PC hardware.

Thanks!

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Download the Pathpilot installation document (Direct Document and Software Download | Tormach Inc. providers of personal small CNC machines, CNC tooling, and many more CNC items. ) for detailed instructions/pictures regarding recognizing PCI vs PIC-E slots.

Yes, Mach4 may be better than LinuxCNC. However, with Mach4 Tormach would still be at the mercy of others for bug fixes and enhancements. If you feel that Mach4 is preferable nothing other than waiting for release prevents you from using it.

I am satisfied with Mach 3 so far, but just adding food for thought. If you are going to have to pay for a controller anyway, it is better to know what is available than not.

and mach4 is going to be a lot more expensive.... Other than development cost modifying linuxcnc - the software is free... You are really only paying for an inexpensive interface card.

sam

$220 all up ant expensive

$220 doesn't get you things like conditional gcode (macro B) so your stuck with $1000-$2000...

(for similar functionality as linuxcnc/pathpilot...)

sam

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Originally Posted by daniellyall

$220 all up ant expensive

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by samco

$220 doesn't get you things like conditional gcode (macro B) so your stuck with $1000-$2000...

(for similar functionality as linuxcnc/pathpilot...)

sam

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who told you that I have use macro B to do tool height in M4 it works fine and other things as well that's with hobby M4