Windows 98 cnc program

Mirac tool set up and computers All info relating to the Denford Mirac lathes. Mirac tool set up and computers Post by Mark AW » Tue 26 Feb , pm HI Guys could you offer some help to a complete beginner, I have just acquired a Mirac Lathe edition and just getting my head around setting tools , stupid question 1 , how do you set up a boring bar in the tool holder , I understand the auto changer bit and the holes , but does the bar need to be upside down , and if so how do you ensure the tip is at centre height as on a manual lathe you could align it with a dead centre in the tail stock and would the setup be the same for a internal screw cutting tool , also which of the little symbols in the tool library would you use tool orientation picture things??????

Stupid question 2 , what do those pictures mean?? Stupid question 3 with the system being based around a P. C with windows 98 on it would it be possible to upgrade the computer to a slightly new system ie win XP , if so what would I need to look out for in the terms of mother boards. I understand some cnc equipment must have a printer port to control the machine???? Of all the tools I have said in my previous post, the UltimateBootCD is a must-have, works like your "swiss-army knife".

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! We decided to just stick with Clonezilla and forgo the console on the server. To continue this discussion, please ask a new question. Get answers from your peers along with millions of IT pros who visit Spiceworks. Anyone have any recommendations? Popular Topics in Data Backup. Which of the following retains the information it's storing when the system power is turned off?

Submit ». Thai Pepper. Bagaudin Acronis This person is a verified professional. Verify your account to enable IT peers to see that you are a professional. Dave This person is a verified professional. SmartDeploy 2, Followers Follow. Heidi SmartDeploy Cayenne. Jim This person is a verified professional. I would just stick with Clonezilla, it's pretty tried and true! Lockout Jun 4, at UTC. If Clonezillia works, use it. Heidi SmartDeploy This person is a verified professional. Cloning software would likely be a better fit in this use case.

But, ultimately, if you really must have Win98 licenses, people do sell them though often without the installation media. Again, Amazon is a decent place to start. Brand Representative for Microsoft. The current options are Windows 8. This info and more can be found on the downgrade rights VL brief here. Some of our CNC milling machines have Windows 98 on the back end as well.

The licenses for these should be included with the machine as Bryce stated. Even if you could upgrade, I would NOT recommend it, if upgrading is something that NEEDED to happen, I would contact your machine vendor and ask them for a proper procedure or if they do that kind of thing. It doesn't take much to mess one of those machines up if you don't know what you are doing.

However, I vaguely remember trying to get windows 95 working on a p4 class mb, and it wouldn't work. I don't remember where I gave up on 98, though I know Pentium 4 based machines will work. You will have to limit how much ram you put in, and probably what CPU will actually work is a good question.. InnateTech: Unfortunately the driver for the card does not work in XP. I apologize for not explaining myself clearly.

They were upgraded to Windows 98 using retail 98 upgrade boxes. But over the years the box containing the COA for those win98 upgrades have disappeared. I'm sure someone saw Win98, laughed and chucked them into the trash. About buying licenses on eBay. Two things, how do I know the licenses are legit and not just some Chinese counterfit? The problem with VL desktop licenses is that they're upgrade only licenses.

When you work with 15 to 20 year old milling machines from defunct manufacturers using PC based controls, your only recourse is to soup them up. Worrying about down time and lost production is the bane of invention and innovation. I guess that's one of the benefits of small business. Fusion has good technical support from Autodesk that provides you with resources to learn the software.

The forums, blogs and groups on their official website have a large online community of users to help you with your queries. Fusion is for users who want to access advanced features in CNC Machining and don't mind the learning curve involved with mastering it.

You can design 2D as well as 3D models. As it is a paid software, the customer support is good and reliable. Their website provides a customer portal, training and tutorial videos.

Inkscape is free-to-use software that is primarily used to create vector drawings. The advantage of vector drawing is that the lines have a mathematical function related to them and can be manipulated to create G-code.

Alternatively, you can also download plug-ins for Inkscape that will let you create G-code directly in Inkscape. There are several tutorials on their website and many more YouTube videos to help you through your design process. The designs you create are well detailed, and it allows you to color-code your lines for ease of understanding.

AutoCAD has a very large user base and has a subreddit that you can use for troubleshooting. It also provides user-friendly and reliable official support.

Controller software and motion controllers cannot read 2D or 3D design files. The design file needs to be converted into direction and speed commands called G-code. This G-code is then used by the control software to output signals that result in the movements of the CNC. The following software programs are considered as the best dedicated CAM software programs on the market.

This software is almost a plug-and-play solution, which highly reduces the amount of machining knowledge you need to know. For an experienced machinist, this means there's less freedom to customize while for beginner's it makes things really simple. This 3D files is then used to generate toolpath. Which makes things much quicker by not having to model it in CAD first.

MeshCAM Pro offers a toolpath simulation tool apart from all the features in the standard version. This helps in identifying any errors before doing the machining. Although the single license is intended for a single user, MeshCAM allows you to install it in up to 3 computers.

MeshCAM claims to have more toolpaths than all other competing CAM software and that makes it easy machine even highly complex parts using this software. These tabs greatly help in keeping the stock zeroed and also helps hold down the part after its flipped over for machining the other side. If you're unsure of whether MeshCAM is the right fit for you, they offer a 15 day free trial for their software. This means there is a learning curve with CamBam compared to MeshCAM which doesn't required much knowledge of machining.

However, if you're someone who loves to manually set each parameter and wants full freedom with your CAM software then CamBam is a great choice. A major drawback of CamBam was that it did not support spline editing. CamBam offers a free trial which lets you run 40 sessions with all the features to test everything. Overall, if you want more control over your CAM work and not a plug-and play solution then CamBam is a good choice. Estlcam lets you do 2D and 3D toolpath generation by cutting out all the complexities for a quick operation.

What is remarkable about Estlcam is the much lower learning curve and quick turn around times which a lot of hobbyists prefer compared to the bulk of other CAM solutions. Overall, this is a good choice for a hobbyist who's looking to make quick inroads into CNC work, but as you learn and your requirements change you might feel a bit limited.

Now, Openbuilds is an end to end CNC manufacturing company which sells their own machine kits and software. True to the philosophy of the open source maker movement, the software made by Openbuilds is free and open for use to anyone. Openbuilds also makes the openbuilds control which is a G-code sender software which I have talked about below in the Control software section. One important drawback of Openbuilds CAM is that it only works with Openbuilds Control G-code sender and you cannot use any other control software.

The great thing about Openbuilds software is the community around it who have great experience in using and troubleshooting it. Instead of support from a brand like with MeshCAM you get support from the Openbuilds community, which is expected as its a free software. Overall, this is a good CAM software for hobbyists and people who love the simplicity of a free software and the great community behind it. This interface softaware is used to send the G-code from the computer to the CNC controller board.

Therefore this interface is also called as a G-code sender. The G-code that's received in the controller hardware is interpreted by the firmware that's installed in the control board. These all-in-one control software do all the tasks that's to be done after g-code is generated. These software programs do the process of sending the G-code as well as interpreting the G-code for outputting signals for motor movement.

Mach 3 is a control software that you can install on a Bit Windows PC to control the motions of your CNC machine through a graphical user interface. This is because Mach3 runs in real-time and USB does not support real time access.

Smoothstepper has a parallel port end which connects to the CNC and the other end that connects to the computer can be a USB or ethernet port. However, a breakout board is highly recommended as it results in much lower latency and immunity from electrical noise compared to connecting directly from the computer.