Mach4 CNC Controller

Software Installation and

Con iguration Guide
10/26/22

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Copyright © 2014 Newfangled Solutions, Artsoft USA, All Rights Reserved

The following are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation: Microsoft, Windows. Any
other trademarks used in this manual are the property of the respective trademark holder.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduc on to CNC Systems.......................................................................................................4

Before You Begin.....................................................................................................................................4

Introduc on............................................................................................................................................4

Mach4 Layout.........................................................................................................................................5

Chapter 2 Installing Mach4 So ware...........................................................................................................6

Installa on..............................................................................................................................................6

Downloading...........................................................................................................................................6

Installing.................................................................................................................................................7

Run the installer.....................................................................................................................................7

Se ng up the Profile..............................................................................................................................7

Create Shortcut to Profile.......................................................................................................................9

Chapter 3 Se ng up the so ware...............................................................................................................9

Step by step se ng up of the machine...................................................................................................9

Plugins and their func on....................................................................................................................10

Adding and removing Plugins...............................................................................................................10

Configuring Plugins..............................................................................................................................11

Select Mo on device............................................................................................................................11

Other Plugins........................................................................................................................................12

Chapter 4 Machine Se ngs.......................................................................................................................12

Default Modal State..............................................................................................................................12

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Motor Tuning........................................................................................................................................14

Counts Per Unit.....................................................................................................................................15

Velocity.................................................................................................................................................16

Accelera on..........................................................................................................................................17

Backlash................................................................................................................................................17

Reverse.................................................................................................................................................17

Enable Delay.........................................................................................................................................17

Axis Mapping........................................................................................................................................18

Homing and Limits................................................................................................................................18

Home Direc on.....................................................................................................................................18

Home Order..........................................................................................................................................19

Home Offset.........................................................................................................................................19

Home Speed.........................................................................................................................................19

Home In Place.......................................................................................................................................20

So Enable............................................................................................................................................20

So Max / So Min...............................................................................................................................20

Signals in General.................................................................................................................................20

Input Signals.........................................................................................................................................23

Output Signals......................................................................................................................................24

Spindle..................................................................................................................................................26

Max Motor RPM...................................................................................................................................26

Motor as Spindle ..................................................................................................................................27

Tool Path Se ngs..................................................................................................................................27

Machine Limits.....................................................................................................................................27

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Chapter 1 Introduction to CNC Systems
This chapter introduces you to terminology used in the rest of this manual and explains the purpose
of the different components in a computer numerically controlled (CNC) system. CNC machines are in
many industries and becoming more popular in manufacturing lines. The tradi onal machine types are
Mills, Routers, Lathes and Plasma cu ers. The non tradi onal things that can be done with a CNC system
can be but not limited to laser measurement, pick and place, quil ng, assembly, laser cu ng, rapid
prototype, pain ng and so on. Because of the popularity of CNC's in non tradi onal CNC industries
Mach4 has been made to be extremely configurable and expandable. The ability to add and remove
modules will be covered in this manual but the screen and scrip ng customiza on will be covered in
their respec ve manuals.

Before You Begin....

Any machine tool is poten ally dangerous. Computer controlled machines are poten ally more
dangerous than manual ones because, for example, a computer is quite prepared to rotate an 8"
unbalanced cast iron four-jaw chuck at 3000 rpm, to plunge a panel-fielding router cu er deep into a
piece of oak, or to mill away the clamps holding your work to the table. Because we do not know the
details of your machine or local condi ons we can accept no responsibility for the performance of any
machine or any damage or injury caused by its use. It is your responsibility to ensure that you
understand the implica ons of what you design and build and to comply with any legisla on and codes
of prac ce applicable to your country or state. If you are in any doubt, be sure to seek guidance from a
professionally qualified expert rather than risk injury to yourself or to others.

Introduction
This document tells how to install and setup Mach4 mo on control so ware. The founda on of
Mach4 is the core called Mach4Core. Mach4Core can be setup in many configura ons for the following
machine configura ons general automa on, Mill, Router, Lathe, Plasma, Pick and Place, etc... A separate
document explains how to operate Mach4 with the specific machine types. The user interface has no
rela on to the core or mo on and/or IO devices used.

YOU WILL NEED TO READ THIS DOCUMENTATION! Mach4 is a very complex so ware package that
cannot be simply made "to work" without proper configura on. The install and play with the se ngs
approach may work for other so ware packages but this is not the case with Mach4. The me spent
reading the manual will save many hours of aggrava on and will result in a be er running machine. This
manual will give the steps in a logical order that must be followed.

Mach4 Layout
Mach4 is built on a central core called Mach4Core.dll and is what connects all the parts of Mach4
together. The following diagram (see Drawing 1) shows how all the components are connected:

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 Mach4Core.dll

Sim.dll
3rd Party plugin Motion Simulation
plugin

mcRegFile.dll mcKeyboard.dll mcModbus.dll mcLua.dll

Registers in Mach4 Keyboard Input Modbus Master Lua Scripting

All IO, Mo on and addon devices are plugins allowing them to be setup and configured in Mach4. The
plugins supplied by Newfangled Solu ons in the installer are added as appendixes to the end of this
document. Any plugins that are not being used should be removed from the system to lower the
overhead of Mach4 on the computer. Development partners of Newfangled Solu ons have access to
Mach4's SDK allowing them to manufacture plugins for other devices and/or func ons. The setup,
configura on, and any diagnos cs will not be covered in this manual for their devices.

Chapter 2 Installing Mach4 Software

If Mach4's installer is not on the machine, a copy can be found at www.machsupport.com in the
downloads sec on of the web page. The machine tool does not need to be connected to the web to
install Mach4.

If the machine is setup by an OEM or manufactured as a complete system, many if not all of the steps
in the following chapter may have already been done for you. The machine se ngs are all saved in the
profile directory with its own named directory. The named directories can be added and removed from
the profiles dialog but it is useful to know where the se ngs are. The named directory for each machine
contains all the machine se ngs in it's machine.ini file. The machine.ini file is backed up every me
mach4 is started so the user can roll back se ngs if there was an error made during so ware
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configura on. The other directories in the named profile directory contain the macros, tool table, fixture
table, ini backups, screw maps and so on. If a new computer is being setup to replace the an exis ng PC
with Mach4 a simple copy of the profile named directory can be done to move over all the machine
se ngs.

Installation
Mach4 is distributed by Newfangled Solu ons over the internet. The so ware is available as a single
installer from the web-page with a download size of about 17MB. A er install Mach4 will be in demo
mode with a limita on of how long Gcode will execute. The me the so ware can be run in demo is
about 20 min and then it will randomly stop in the middle of a run. Newfangled Solu ons recommends
that Mach4 is setup and tested before purchasing a license. Pricing and op ons are available at
www.machsupport.com .

Downloading
Download the installa on package from www.machsupport.com . Click on the download link and
save the self-installing file on the desktop or in a convenient folder. Mach4 needs to be install as
administrator, this can be done by right clicking on the self-installing file and telling it to “Run as
Administrator”. If installing in a remote loca on the installa on file can be saved and moved to a
machine that has no web access. The file will require a CD or USB drive to have adequate storage
volume.

Installing
This sec on will guide the process of installing Mach4 so ware. If Mach4 has been previously
installed on the machine, Mach4 can be installed on top of a previous installa on. There is no need to
uninstall before reinstalling.

If a machine is connected:
The machine that is connected to the computer should be set in a condi on that will not allow
mo on or IO to be triggered. If the machine can be disconnected please disconnect. If the machine
can't be disconnected please press the E-stop bu on to put the machine into an E-stop condi on.

Run the installer

Running the installer should be done as Administrator to allow Mach4 to be installed correctly. The
package will be installed by default in the C:/Mach4 directory. It is recommended that you keep the
installa on directory as C:/Mach4 so the support staff can be er assist you with your future support

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needs. The basic install will load the appropriate files needed for each machine type (Lathe. Mill and
Plasma).

Setting up the Profile

To test the installa on double click on the Mach4 Icon that was placed on the desktop by the Mach4
installer. The icon will launch the MachGUI.exe executable and allow the selec on of a profile. It is
recommended that a new profile is setup for the machine that is being configured. A new profile can be
generated by pressing the "Create Profile" bu on (see Figure 1),but this will create a blank profile. If a
similar setup is available the "Copy Profile" bu on (see Figure 1) can be used to copy all the profile
se ngs and create the profile.

A "Copy Profile" is very powerful as it will copy all the machine se ngs such as the tool data,
fixture data, ini backups, Macros, and all machine se ngs. This can be used later to make a test profile
to allow changes to be made without harming the running machine profile. The profile can be removed
a er tes ng is finished with the "Delete Profile" bu on. The profile se ngs can also be restored to a
previous session if a bad se ng has been made. The "Restore Backup" bu on (see Figure 1) will launch
the Restore Backup dialog (see Figure 2). The machine.ini can be selected by looking at the Date and
Time if the last known running configura on.

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Create Shortcut to Profile

A shortcut can be created to allow the an immediate launch of the so ware with a selected profile.
By adding the following " /p Mach4Mill" to the end of the target string (see Figure 3) allows
MachGUI.exe to load and immediately load the "Mach4Mill" profile.

Any other profile can be loaded by changing the profile name a er the /p in the target string.

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Chapter 3 Setting up the software

Step by step setting up of the machine

In this sec on the machine specific se ngs will be done to transform the so ware into a func oning
machine controller. The first step was to create a new profile to save the machine se ngs. This was done
as part of the installa on process to protect the machine se ngs. If this was not done please review the
“Se ng up the Profile” sec on of this manual.

By the end of this chapter a typical machine should be setup and capable of mo on and IO (inputs and
outputs). In order to setup the machine the first step is to install all the plugins that you need for the
machine. Examples of plugins that may be needed could be Parallel Port and Modbus.

Note: If the so ware is locked the configura on se ngs may not be available. If the so ware is locked
non of the configura on dialogs will be available.

Plugins and their function

The plugins in Mach4 are the building blocks of the system. The plugins all use the Mach4core.dll as a
base but have the power to add func onality to the system. Plugins can perform the following func ons
Scip ng, Mo on, IO, File conversions, File loading, Mo on Genera on and countless other func ons.
The ability to add such func onality is fundamental in the setup of the machine. The most important
plugin is the mo on control plugin. A careful selec on of plugins needs to be done to add the
appropriate func onality for the machine to be configured.

Adding and removing Plugins

To add a plugin from a plugin archive file m4plugw for windows, m4plugl for linux, and m4plugm for
mac. To load a plugin archive navigate to the "Configure Plugin" Dialog (see Figure 5) by naviga ng
Configure/Plugins (see Figure 4)

A plugin must be enabled to allow the plugin to func on. The so ware must be restarted a er enabling
or disabling to allow the plugin func on to change its state. To remove a plugin highlight the row of the
plugin and press the "Remove" bu on (see Figure 5).

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Configuring Plugins
The configura on of the plugins can be done from the "Configure Plugins" dialog (see Figure 5). Not
all plugins can be configured as they have no se ngs that can be customized. For the plugins that can be
configured a "configure" plugin bu on is available to the right of the plugin descrip on. When the
configure bu on is pressed it will launch the configura on dialog supplied by the Plugin author. The
configura on of the device must be done before the devices IO can be accessed or used by Mach4. The
configura on of the plugins incorporated in the installer will be covered in appendixes to this document.

Select Motion device

The first device that needs to be setup is the mo on device. To select the device go to
"Configure/Select Mo on Dev." (see Figure 4). The "Select Mo on Device " dialog (see Figure 6) allows
the appropriate mo on device to be selected. The selected mo on device tells the core what device can
drive the motors and the high speed IO. The all other mo on devices are set to be deac vated and will
not allow the IO or mo on to be controlled. The system must be restarted a er mo on device has been
selected to allow the mo on device plugin to do its startup ini aliza on. A er the restart, the mo on
device needs to be configured. To configure the mo on device please use the Mo on device supplied
manual and con nue se ng up the so ware once it is complete.
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Other Plugins
The rest of the IO devices can be setup at this me if the se ngs are known. Some plugins that are
not fundamental to the machine can be setup at a later me. It is the responsibility of the installer to
determine what is needed to get the machine running. An example of a plugin that would need to be
setup and configured would be if a PLC was installed to enable the servo amps and machine. In this case
no tes ng can be done without Modbus communica on to the PLC. To many machine configura ons can
be done for this manual to take them into account so careful planning on the part of the installer is the
only way to get a system setup.

Chapter 4 Machine Settings

Default Modal State

The default state of the so ware is set at start-up or when the reset bu on is pressed. The following
op ons can be set and should only be set once. If the CV mode or some other se ng needs to be
changed in a Gcode or for a short period of me, MDI should be used. The configura on dialogs are only
used for se ng the start up state

All configura on se ngs can be found in the "Mach Configura on" dialog (see Figure 7). The following is
a descrip on of the se ngs that can be changed in the dialog (see Table 1).

Se ng Descrip on
Units Mode Inch G20 / G21 Millimeters, The default units the machine is setup in such as
Traverse Mode Rapid G00 / Feed G01
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Mo on Mode Exact Stop G61 / Constant Velocity G64
Number of lines the interpreter can chain together to get to the programmed
Look Ahead Lines
Feedrate
Distance Mode Absolute G90 / Incremental G91, Distance mode used by default
Absolute G90.1 / Incremental G91.1, Distance mode for the IJK circle centers. R
Arc Center Mode
type centers are not effected.
Feed Per Rev G95 / Feed Per Min G94, feed mode used by linear and arc feed
Feed Mode
moved. Feed per rev must have true spindle RPM to be used.
XY Plane G17 / XZ Plane G18 / YZ Plane G19, The plane selec on used for Drill
Ac ve Plane
cycles, Arcs and cu er comp
Ini al Z G98 / Rapid Plane G99, Selects the can cycle posi on for the moves in
Cycle Retract
the working axis. The working axis is perpendicular to the current ac ve plane.
Constant RPM G97 / Constance surface Speed G96, Selects the default spindle
Spindle Mode
speed mode.
The init codes are run when the program starts and also when the reset is
Ini aliza on Codes
pressed
Coolant Delay Time to wait for the Coolant to turn on
Mist Delay Time to wait for the Mist to turn on
Jog Increments Increments used for Incjog register
Gcode File The Gcode extensions for files to be executed. This sets the open able extensions
Extensions of the file open dialog.
Include Comments Enabling the selec on will add all comments in the Gcode file to the messages
in Message log.
Deref Axis In E-
stop Enabling sets the axis homing to be false when in E-stop is ac ve
Cycle Stop is Enabling will set the axis to do a controlled decelera on when a Cycle Stop is
Controlled Stop commanded. A very slight delay will be seen as the axis comes to a stop.
Table 1: General Se ngs
Motor Tuning
Motor tuning is one of the most important se ngs in configuring a machine. The se ngs available in
the motor tuning dialog (see Figure 8) will allow the motor to be setup for the appropriate Counts per
Unit, Max Velocity, Accelera on, Backlash, Direc on Reversal and delay for enable signal. A detailed
descrip on of each of the se ngs will be given in the following sec on.

Example 1: CNC Router with rack and pinion drive

Stepper Motor with 2000 Steps per Rev
Belt Reduc on (Small Pulley 15 teeth(Input Gear), Large Pulley is 40 teeth(Output Gear))
Pitch Ra o of the Pinion gear is .765 “

Ou t p utG e a r
( )* C o u n t P e r R e v
I n put G ea r
=C o u n t s p e r I n c h
PitchDia
15
( )* 2000
40
=6971.67756C o u n t s P e r I n c h
. 765
Example 2: CNC Lathe with a lead screw
Lead of screw .25 inch Per Rev
Belt Reduc on 15 tooth (Input Gear), 30 tooth (Output Gear)
Servo drive with 5000 encoder counts per rev

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 Ou t p utGe a r
( )* E n c o d e r C o u n t p e r R e v
I n put G ea r
=C o u n t s P e r I n c h
S cr ew P itc h
15
( )* 5000
30
=40,000 C o u n t s P e r I n c h
. 25

As a rule of thumb an inch machine should have the steps per unit greater then 5000 (200 for MM). A
value of 5000 will give a resolu on of .0002 inches. A greater number of steps per unit will give be er
performance as well as finer resolu on. The only issue with a very high count per unit is that the max
velocity can become limited. The mo on controller may only be able do deal with a limited number of
counts or steps per sec. Please check your mo on controllers documenta on to see get the max
frequency of the motors. If you would like to predict the max frequency this can also be done with
mathema cs.

M a xV el oci t y *C ou nt s P er U ni t
=O u t p u t F r e q u e n c y
60
In the next examples we will consider the max velocity to be 200 Inches per minute

40,000 counts per unit 200 * 40,000 =133,333.333 H z=133.33 k H z

60
6971.67756 counts per unit 200 * 6971.67756 =23,238.93 H z=32.24 k H z
60

Velocity
The Velocity in the dialog is the maximum rate in units per min. This is also the velocity that will be
used for rapid moves when running Gcode.

Se ng a Stepper:

On a stepper machine to set the max velocity a series of test need to be made. The Steps per Unit
must be set before the axis can be tested. Set a value of a max velocity that seems to be reasonable and
test with a jog at 100% jog rate. If the axis is able to move without missing steps (most mes you will
hear a “buzzing” or “squealing” sound when steps are missed, repeat this process un l the upper limit is
found. Once the max velocity is found the max velocity should then be set to 20% - 30% less. To insure
that there are no missed steps during mo on.

Se ng a Servo:

To set the max velocity of a servo machine a small series of tests can be preformed or it can be done
mathema cally with some calcula ons. When tes ng the max rate of a servo and the max velocity is
exceeded the servo may fault from being out of posi on (digital servo) or will not get to max velocity and
make an abrupt stop. If ether one of the following happen the velocity must be lowered un l the
behavior is fixed. Once the motor is fixed the velocity should be lowered by 5% to insure that the best
performance can be obtained.

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Acceleration
The max accelera on sets how quickly the motor can get to speed. The higher the accelera on the
faster the cu ng can be done. The higher the accelera on the quicker an axis can reverse and go around
corners. Cycle mes can be lowered by running higher accelera ons and lowering the max velocity. The
accelera on should not be raised to the point that it causes motor stalling, vibra on in the frame, or
other unwanted vibra on.

Backlash
Backlash is used to take out mechanical wind up in the drive system. The misconcep on is that
backlash can be used to fix “slop” in a screw/ ball-nut or slop in a rack and pinion. This can be used to
help fix the machine but is not the proper way to correct the problem. The only way to truly fix the issue
is to fix the mechanical issue. The backlash should never exceed .005 inches or .1 mm .

Reverse
The reverse sec on is used to reverse the mo on of the motor.

Enable Delay
Enable delay will allow a the enable signals to turn on with a delay. The delay can be used to stage the
enabling of the amps. This can be used to lower the inrush current by enabling the amps one by one.

Axis Mapping
The axis mapping dialog (see Figure 9) is used to set what motors are used for an axis as well as the
homing order and max limits for the axis. The motors can be assigned to an axis with a maximum of 6
motors per axis. The axis will use the lowest max velocity and the lowest accelera on. This is done to
allow slave motors to not have the same motor se ngs as the other motors associated to he axis. The
steps per unit also do not need to be the same for each motor that is part of the axis.

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Home Direction
This sets the direc on to home the axis (see Figure 10). Pos for homing in the posi ve direc on. Neg
for homing in the nega ve direc on.

Home Order
The sequence the axis home in can be controlled by se ng the “Home Order” (see Figure 10). The
first axis to home will be axis with the number 0 and then subsequent axis will home with the next
greatest home order value. For example, if you would like to home the Z axis first then the X and Y at the
same me the values would be as follows:

X=2
Y=2
Z=1

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to shi the home posi on if the home switch is not located at the end of travel.

Home Speed
The home speed is the rate the machine moves to detect the home switch (see Figure 10). The home
switch will set the machine zero posi on with the addi on of any home offset. The Home Speed is set as
a percentage of the max velocity of the axis. Example :

MaxVel = 200 Units Per Min

HomeSpeed = 20%

H om e S p ee d
M a x V el *( )=40U n i t s P e r M i n
100
20
200 * ( )=40 U n i t s P e r M i n
100

Home In Place
The Home in Place selec on tells the axis to set the machine zero where it is when a home axis is
requested (see Figure 10). This feature is used on machines that have no home switches or an axis that
has no home switch. On a machine with no home switches the axis can be moved to the end of the
travel and lined up with an indicator mark. With the machine at the home posi on the home can be
triggered for that axis se ng the machine posi on. This will allow the so limits to be used and fixture
offsets.

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Soft Enable
The state of the So Enable tells the core if the axis should be checked against the upper and lower
so limits (see Figure 10). With the so limits ac ve the axis will decelerate to the Max or Min limit if it
is jogging and will prevent any incremental jogs past the limits. When running Gcode any moves panned
past the limits will not be done and the machine will be put into a stop condi on and a so limit error
will be displayed.

Soft Max / Soft Min

The max and min se ngs are the most posi ve and nega ve machine posi ons for the axis (see
Figure 10). The most simplis c way to get to get the values is to use the machine posi on DRO's. The
process is to home the machine, jog each axis to the most posi ve posi on in each axis and enter as the
posi ve so limit. Then repeat the process in the nega ve direc on and set the min so limit.

Signals in General
The signals are used to represent the internal state of items needed by the controller or items needed
to trigger IO for special func ons. The signals can be triggered by Inputs, Outputs, Plugins, or Lua. When
a signal changes state, a state change event is propagated throughout the system and will be seen by all
plugins, and Lua event scripts. Later in the customiza on of Mach4 the u liza on of Mach4's signals will
be seen. In the sec on the setup of triggering IO with signals will be shown. When se ng up an IO point
the device's plugin must be first setup. A device could be a mo on controller, bussed IO (modbus), Input
device (keyboard), Special Func ons in plugins, etc.. The “Device” is the first selec on and displays all
the registered IO devices to the system (see Figure 11)
when the Input assigned to it changes state, and Outputs are triggered by their associated Output
signals. The high / low state can be inverted by selec ng the Ac ve low state.

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Input Signals
The input signals are used to connect Inputs from devices to Input Signals in the core. Some of the
most important signals are the Homing and Limit inputs. The Homing and Limits are set per motor NOT
per axis. The axis use motors to show what motors drive the axis and to display the state of the limits
and homes. As an example if Motor 1 and Motor 5 where used on the X axis and the + Limit was hit the X
axis would show posi ve limit as being ac ve. The inputs of the motors are or'ed to the axis states.
Below is a complete list of the Input signals (See Table 2).

Input Signal Descrip on

Input #0 To
Input #63 User inputs that can be mapped to any func on
Motor 0 Home To
Motor 31 Home The home input of the motor with the associated number
Motor 0 ++ To
Motor 31 ++ Posi ve limit for the motor
Motor 0 – To
Motor 31 -- Nega ve limit for the motor
Digi ze Probe input for G31 commands
Index Once per rev input for ge ng the RPM of the spindle
Limit Override Override the limits to allow jogging when on a limit switch
Used to tell the core that the system is in E-stop. This input is NOT to
E-Stop issue an an E-stop but to tell that the one has occurred with the proper
e-stop hardware (Master control relay disabled for example).
THC (Torch Height Control) is enabled allowing the head to be jogged up
THC On and down while Gcode mo on is ac ve to keep a proper gap from the
plate to the p.
THC Up Move the Torch p Up when THC is ac ve , Disabled it THC On is off
THC Down Move the Torch p Down when THC is ac ve, Disabled it THC On is off
More then one input per rev to get spindle speed (legacy input and may
Timing
not be in all mo on devices).
Jog Axis +/- Jog X+, Jog X-,Jog Y+... Command axis to jog in the +/- direc on
Input to tell the the spindle is at the commanded Speed. This will take
Spindle At Speed
the place of the spindle speed up delay if enabled.
Input to tell the spindle has reached zero Speed. This will take the place
Spindle At Zero
of the Spindle decelera on me if enabled.
Table 2: Input Signals

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Output Signals
The output signals are used to e the device outputs to the output signals. The output signals can be
used to drive outputs directly for things such as Spindle outputs, Coolant, indicator lights on panels and
so on.

Output Signal Descrip on

Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the X axis has a posi ve limit
X ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the X axis has a nega ve limit
X -- switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the X axis has a Home switch
X Home
pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Y axis has a posi ve limit
Y ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Y axis has a nega ve limit
Y --
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Y axis has a Home switch
Y Home
pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Z axis has a posi ve limit
Z ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Z axis has a nega ve limit
Z --
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the Z axis has a Home switch
Z Home
pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the A axis has a posi ve limit
A ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the A axis has a nega ve limit
A --
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the A axis has a Home switch
A Home
pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the B axis has a posi ve limit
B ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the B axis has a nega ve limit
B --
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the B axis has a Home switch
B Home
pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the C axis has a posi ve limit
C ++
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the C axis has a nega ve limit
C --
switch pressed.
Ac vated when one of the motors that makes up the C axis has a Home switch
C Home
pressed.
Enable will be ac ve when the machine is enabled. The enables can be turned
Enable #0 →
on with a delay set under the motor tuning dialog. If the axis that uses the
Enable #31
motor is not enabled the motor will not get an enable signal
Output #0 →
Output #63 Output #0 → #63 are used for OEM and user output signals
Gcode Running Output is ac ve when running Gcode, used for indicator lights to show a file is
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Output Signal Descrip on
running
Feed Hold Output is ac ve when in a Feed Hold state
Block Delete Output is ac ve when Block delete is ac ve
Single Block Output is ac ve when Single Block is ac ve
Output is ac ve when Reverse Run is ac ve (reverse run is to run a file
Reverse Run
backwards)
Opt Stop Output is ac ve when op onal stop is ac ve (stop on M01's in Gcode file)
Machine Enabled Output is ac ve when the machine is in an enabled state
Output is ac ve when a tool change is ac ve or wai ng for a Cycle start when
Tool Change
in manual toolchange
Output ac ve when selectable DRO is set to display Distance To Go (distance
Dist To Go
from end point of the current move)
Output ac ve when selectable DRO is set to display Machine Posi on (posi on
Machine coord
from the home switch)
So limits On Output ac ve when the so limits are ac ve
Jog Inc Output ac ve when the cores user Jog mode is set to Incremental jog mode
Jog Cont Output ac ve when the cores user Jog mode is set to con nuous jog mode
Jog Enabled Output ac ve when the cores user Jog mode is enabled
Output ac ve when the cores user Jog mode is set to Manual Pulse Generator
Jog MPG
(MPG) jog mode
X Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the X axis
Y Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the Y axis
Z Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the Z axis
A Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the A axis
B Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the B axis
C Homed Output ac ve when a home cycle has been completed for the C axis
Dwell Output ac ve when a Dwell is ac ve (G4 command in Gcode)
Output toggles when the toolpath is set to report the mouse posi on and Core
Toolpath Mouse
is set to report clicks. See Lua Script manual to set the core into Toolpath
Down
capture mode
Limit Override Output ac ve when the Limit override is acitve
Charge Pump #1 Output when the Charge Pump #1 should be ac ve
Charge Pump #2 Output when the Charge Pump #2 should be ac ve
Output ac ve when mo on is about to be done to set drive to be in high
Current Hi/Low
current mode
Spindle On Output ac ve when the spindle is on
Spindle Fwd Output ac ve when the spindle is running in forward direc on
Spindle Rev Output ac ve when the spindle is running in the reverse direc on
Coolant On Output ac ve when the Coolant is set to be on
Mist On Output ac ve when the Mist is set to be on
Digi ze Trigger Output ac ve with the digi ze input is ac ve
Table 3: Output Se ngs

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Spindle
The Spindle dialog allows the configura on and setup of up to 20 spindle rages. The spindle ranges can
be gears and or belt se ngs to allow for a change in the range of speeds available.

Output Signal Descrip on

MinRPM The minimum RPM the spindle in the selected range
MaxRPM The maximum RPM the spindle in the selected range
The me to accelerate the spindle in the selected range. If the “Spindle At
Speed” signal is enabled the Accel Time is not need and should be set to zero.
Accel Time
Any value in the Accel Time field will be done a er the Spindle At Speed signal
has been toggled.
The me to decelerate the spindle in the selected range. If the “Spindle At
Zero” signal is enabled the Decel Time is not need and should be set to zero.
Decel Time
Any value in the Decel Time field will be done a er the Spindle At Zero signal
has been toggled.
By default the Feedback ra o is 1, a value of one is used in an applica on
where the feed back device is mounted on the spindle. If the feedback device is
Feedback Ra o
mounted on the motor or some other part of the gear train the feedback ra o
can be used to get the correct speed.
Reversed selec on allows the spindle motor to reverse the direc on based on
the reversed check box. This selec on is used when a gear or ra o causes a
Reversed
reverse in the spindle direc on. It is common for knee type mills to reverse
direc on from high to low range.

Max Motor RPM

The maximum RPM of the spindle motor. The reason for the maximum RPM is to allow for proper
scaling of the motors RPM on all ranges. The motor RPM is used by mo on devices, plugins, VFD's, Lua
etc for planning the proper motor RPM to get the requested spindle RPM.

Motor as Spindle
With this selec on a stepper motor, servo motor, or VFD that can be setup as a motor in the mo on
device. The motor will be treated as an out of band axis and will use the motors accelera on se ngs.

Tool Path Settings

The toolpath has some parameters that can be changed to allow be er visualiza on of the toolpath.
The colors of the toolpath can be changed to allow for a be er “looking” toolpath. But more importantly
is the ability to change the color of the toolpath to aid color blind users.

Machine Limits
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 The machine limits can be show in the toolpath, showing where the machine can traverse to by
displaying do ed lines.

Extended Functionality
To get more extended func onality and or customiza on, Plugins and or scripts will need to be added
and configured. The Customiza on and scrip ng manual covers topics such as on screen bu ons to
trigger outputs, Tool changers, Bu ons to move the machine to a specific loca on, hardware bu ons for
operator interfaces, etc. Some of the plugins are covered in the appendixes for your convenience. If the
plugin of interest is not covered in the appendix please visit www.machsupport.com and look under
Mach4 plugins for more informa on.

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Appendix A mcKeyboard (how to get keyboard input)

Purpose:

Reading keyboard inputs and ge ng all key presses even if Mach4 is not in focus.

Descrip on:

Mach4 has no na ve way of ge ng the key presses to the “jog” bu ons or any other bu ons for
that ma er. Mach4 is designed to use inputs to trigger event. This is a fundamental difference
from most so ware packages and allows custom operator panels to be made with the
maximum amount of func onality. McKeyboard will consume any key presses that it is mapped
to while it is enabled.

Opera on:

The disabling of the keyboard can be done many ways. The first way is to click on the CNC
Keyboard Icon in the taskbar and when disabled a red X will appear on the keyboard icon.

Setup:

Test:

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