Trial Period or Updates Expiring? Email Trial ID to Support

Thank you for testing MillMage!

Release Candidate users who see a "Your trial period has expired" notice when opening MillMage can request an extension to the update period by emailing the MillMage Trial ID to the Support team.

Find your Trial ID in the License Management window. Email your Trial ID to [email protected] to start your request. The duration of the extended update period may vary.

Warning

The current version of MillMage is a Release Candidate — a stable version of software that is nearly ready for official release, but in need of additional public testing. Please report any unexpected behavior in the MillMage Software Questions section of our forum, including screenshots and as much detail as possible. Ask hardware compatibility questions in the MillMage Hardware Compatibility section.

Users new to MillMage should follow the Getting Started guide.

Video: How to Use a Release Candidate

This video features our sister software, LightBurn. While there may be slight differences in appearance and layout, the demonstrated processes are similar in MillMage.

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.

Controlling Vacuum Accessories With Custom GCode

In this guide we will review what's needed to turn on and off vacuum accessories in MillMage using Custom GCode.

Hardware Requirements

To follow this guide, you will need:

• A vacuum accessory, correctly wired into your control board. Refer to your CNC machine and accessory manufacturer's instructions for details.
• The firmware on your CNC control board needs to have support for M7 and/or M8 GCodes enabled. Check with your CNC manufacturer for details.
• A CNC machine, properly setup in MillMage

In general, many GRBL users can assign the following GCode commands to these functions:

GCode MCode	Primary Use	Secondary Use
M7	Turn on vacuum	Turn mist coolant
M8	Reserved for coolant accessories
M9	Turn off both M7 and M8 accessories

Using Coolant With Vacuum Tables

Verify that your coolant materials are compatible with your vacuum system.

Want to Enable Both Vacuum and Mist/Flood Coolant?

Traditionally, M8 is reserved for flood coolant (optionally mist coolant) accessories. If you need to control both mist and flood coolant delivery systems and still want to control vacuum accessories as well, consult your CNC manufacturer's documentation to learn about your control board's additional IO pins and their support for additional MCode assignments.

M9 will turn off any accessories activated with either the M7 and M8 commands. Turning off only M7 or M8 while leaving the other accessory on is not supported.

Learn more about controlling coolant accessories here: Controlling Coolant Accessories With Custom GCode

If you are enabling your vacuum accessories as part of setting up a new device or are a new user, consider waiting until you are comfortable with your CNC machine and are familiar with the MillMage design to production workflow.

Enabling Vacuum Functions

1. Open Custom GCode Settings

   Open the Device Settings window by selecting in the Main Toolbar, or by selecting CNC Tools → Device Settings and select the Custom GCode tab at the top of the window.

   

2. Scroll down in the Custom GCode section on the left-hand side of the Device Settings window until the Vacuum On and Vacuum Off fields are visible.

   

3. Enable Has Vacuum

   In the Custom GCode Options column on the right-hand side of the same Device Settings window, scroll down until the Accessory section is visible and enable Has Vacuum. Once enabled, you will be greeted with error messages in the empty Vacuum On/Off fields.

   

   

   The Stop Vacuum toggle will activate automatically when Has Vacuum is enabled. This feature sends the M9 stop accessories command when the job is stopped by the user.

4. Set Vacuum On/Off Commands

   Enter M7 in the Vacuum On text field and M9 in the Vacuum Off text field.

   

5. Save Changes

   Click the OK button to save your changes and close the Device Settings window.

   

6. Test Activating Vacuum

   With your CNC machine powered on and connected to MillMage, select the Move tab — by default in the right-hand side of the main window, and press the Vacuum button to turn on and off your vacuum accessory.

   

7. Optionally,

   1. Open the Console window and send the Vacuum On GCode command you set up (M7) to test turning your vacuum accessory on.
   2. Send the Vacuum Off GCode command you set up (M9) to test turning your vacuum accessory off.

Troubleshooting

If your vacuum accessory does not respond as expected, refer to the CNC machine and accessory manufacturer's documentation. Verify that the:

• Accessory hardware is wired correctly to the vacuum controls and to the CNC control board's M7 and M8 assigned pins or connectors,
• Your CNC machine's firmware has M7 and M8 support enabled,
• The accessory is connected to power,

• Your CNC machine is selected and reads ready in the Job Control Window,

  

• Your Custom GCode commands are entered in the correct field.

  • Open the Device Settings window by selecting the or by selecting CNC Tools → Device Settings and select the Custom GCode tab at the top of the window.
  • Check that the Vacuum On Custom GCode field is set to M7 or the command your CNC control board supports to turn off CNC accessories.

  • Check that the Vacuum Off Custom GCode field is set to M9 or the command your CNC control board supports to turn off CNC accessories.

    

Related Topics

• Custom GCode
• Machine Settings
• Workholding: Vacuum Table
• Enabling Coolant Accessories

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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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