Warning

MillMage is in active development and in a prerelease state. Many operations and functions are not feature complete. Please report any unexpected behavior by searching for and reporting the issue or question in the MillMage Beta User Forum. Please include screenshots and as much detail as possible.

Beta Users: Finding Help

Find help and download the latest release candidate of MillMage in the MillMage Beta User Forum.

Users new to MillMage should follow the Getting Started guide.

Warning

This documentation is in active development and in a prerelease state. These documents are not complete and may include missing pages, broken links, and placeholders. Content is being updated as feedback is reviewed. Your patience is appreciated.

Adding Your Machine

Add a CNC to MillMage Original

1. Open MillMage. The Help and Notes window will be displayed for new MillMage installations and will show the Usage tab by default. The Hotkeys tab lists the hotkeys and gestures available in MillMage. The About tab can be referenced for build version information licensed library disclosures. Open this window again at any time by pressing F1 button on your keyboard.

   Click OK to continue.

   

2. Follow the CNC manufacturer instructions for installing their recommended device communications driver. Power on and connect your CNC machine to your computer by either:

   Plugging in the device with the appropriate USB or serial cable.

   or

   Connecting your machine to the local area network.

3. Open the Devices window if needed by clicking on the Devices button located in the CNC Control window found by default in the bottom right-hand corner of the MillMage window.

   

4. Add your machine in the Devices window by selecting either

   A. Find My CNC if connected through a USB/serial cable or over the network. Continue to the Finding My CNC Machine section.

   or

   B. Create Manually to enter your device details. Jump to the Manually Adding a CNC Machine section to continue.

   

   Info

   MillMage requires a machine setup/device in order to store settings and display the right options within the program.

   Create a placeholder entry if a CNC machine is not available by creating a device with placeholder values. A physical machine is not required to use MillMage.

 

Finding My CNC Machine

1. Click on the Find My CNC button to launch the Device Discovery Wizard to automatically poll the connected machine to retrieve the device dimensions & capabilities.

   

2. Verify that the device is connected to the computer by a USB/serial cable or accessible over the network.

3. Select Next in the Device Discovery Wizard to find the device. A progress bar will be displayed showing status of the connected devices search.

   

4. The device will be listed in the Device Discovery Wizard once found and may list the work area, COM—communications port, and baud rate—or information transfer speed. Click Add Device to save the found machine.

   If the Device Discovery Wizard device list is empty, unplug and power cycle the machine. Click Go Back (labeled A) to retry device discovery. Click Add Device once the machine has been found.

   

5. The Devices window will now list the added CNC machine. Select OK to continue.

   

   Info

   Mark a specific CNC machine as the default device if adding more than one by clicking Make Default → OK to finish

   

Jump to the Next Steps section to continue.

Next Steps

 

Manually Adding a CNC Machine

Info

Open the Devices window if needed by clicking the Devices button in the CNC Control window.

1. Click Create Manually to add a machine in the Devices window.

   

2. Update the connection method. Select the connection method for this device by clicking either

   A. Serial/USB if the machine is connected to the computer through a USB or serial cable. Select Next to continue.

   

   or

   B. Ethernet/TCP if the machine is going to be accessed through the network. Select Next to continue.

   

   C. Enter the IP address of your network connected device. Select Next to continue.

   

3. Name your machine in the New Device Wizard and enter the X and Y axis length in millimeters.

   Click Next to continue.

   

4. Change the GCode flavor to match the GCode variation required by the machine. Refer to the device documentation for details.

   Optionally update the remaining features as relevant. Most users will not need to change anything in the Misc Options or Supports Communication fields.

   Click Next to continue.

   

5. Confirm the device information summarized in the New Device Wizard window.

   Click Finish to add the new device.

   

6. Click OK to close the Devices window.

   

   Info

   Mark a specific CNC machine as the default device if adding more than one by clicking Make Default → OK to finish

   

Next Steps

Continue by setting up an initial workspace in the Project Wizard and updating your tooling in the Tool Library and by creating or importing designs into the MillMage workspace.

Ready to get started cutting? Setup and define your project parameters next by following the Project Wizard guide.

Go Back Installing MillMage Beginners → Project Setup MillMage User Interface Tour

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For more help using MillMage, please visit our forum to talk with MillMage staff and users, or email support.

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