Suggestion: clearer feedback when Spindle Speed is 0 (no preview)

MillMage Core 0.8.01‑RC‑3
Apple MacBook Air
Machine: X‑Carve 1000 with trim router (spindle speed set manually on the router, not via software)

I ran into a UX issue today that might be easy to improve.

I created a simple project with a pocket and profile operation. I had just added a couple of new bits and left the Spindle Speed (RPM) field at 0 for those tools, since my router speed is set manually. With spindle speed at 0, I could not get the Preview to show the cut path – there was no obvious indication why.

After quite a bit of head‑scratching (including re‑watching a few videos), I eventually opened the Operation Settings editor again and noticed the caution icon next to Spindle Speed. That icon currently isn’t “hot” – there’s no tooltip or message explaining that a 0 RPM value will prevent the operation from being considered valid for preview/runtime.

From a user’s perspective, it would be very helpful if:

  • Parameters that block preview (like Spindle Speed = 0) produced a clear warning message, and/or

  • The caution icon had a tooltip such as: “Spindle Speed must be greater than 0 RPM for this operation. Routers with manual speed still need a value here for preview and feed/speed calculations.”

That small change would have saved me a fair bit of time and should help other users running manual‑speed routers as well.

Thanks for all the work you’re putting into MillMage – it’s been great to use so far.

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Make that a suggestion on millmags.fider.io to get it in the queue.

Hi George, thankyou for your report. I’m just looking at an internal nightly version, and it seems work has already be done on this (so it’s coming), instead of the preview you will now see an error similar to this:

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