Quote Originally Posted by m_c View Post
Does it actually pause, or does it continue to retract very slowly?

There is a 'glitch' with turning, external motion controllers, and certain versions of Mach3, where at the end of the threading move when things should switch from mm/rev to mm/min, it changes mode but doesn't update the feedrate. So if you were doing say a 1mm pitch thread, it'll switch to 1mm/min and retract at that speed until the retract move is done, at which point the feedrate will update to the correct rate.

It's a known problem with later versions of Mach3 that CS-Labs can't do a tapered lead out, and you have to have a groove at the end of the thread. I've also witnessed it when using Mach 3 with my KFlop controlled lathe.

Thats brilliant thank you !!
I have just run the code direct from the wizard and from my saved files,
You where correct , it was in fact moving very slowly , i'm not sure how i didn't notice the DRO's changing.
I then ran them while watching the diagnostics screen.
Loading from the wizard automatically sets a G95 mode where as my saved code did not contain the G95 so was still in G94.
I added a G95 to the threading part of my saved code and it ran perfectly.

This has all been a very steep learning curve over the last few months and i must say that the idea of uninstalling and reinstalling another version of mach3 would fill me with dread !!
Can you recommend another Mach3 version that may work,
although I think for now i will just remember to manually add G95 + G94 commands into the code.

I had also spent some time trying to achieve a tapered lead out to a thread with no success so my failure there makes more sense now.

Thank you so much for your help i had been scratching my head for ages trying to figure this out.