What have I got and what do I need

[stevet.machine]

I bought a cnc router and Mach 3 and hope to make wooden gear clocks.
So far I have worked through the tutorials and can get the simulated program to run Ok.

Now I am confused and stuck with tool offsets.
What doesn't lazycam do if it is invoked by a licensed Mach 3.
Obviously gear teeth routed out can not be correct if tool offset isn't taken into account.
I suppose my question is do I have to buy anything else.

[Tweakie.CNC]

stevet.machine,

Take a look at Gearotic Motion http://www.gearotic.com/

Art is very into wooden clocks and he is continually developing this product which just keeps getting better and better.
I purchased this last year and it is just brilliant for all sorts of gears and most important of all, it is not expensive.

Tweakie.

[BR549]

Tool Offsets are fairly simple ONCE you understand them.To Use you assign each tool a number 1-255. Next you fill in the TOOL TABLE with the relavent infomation such as tool diam . Next assign the SAME numbers in Lcam as you have in Mach3. That way it stays straight in your head (;-).

Now when Lcam uses a tool offset Mach willl apply the same offset to the part and everything works out and the part comes out to size.

Another approach is to use a CAM that applies the offset to the Gcode directly. You specify what the tool diam is and the CAM compensates the toolpath as it writes the gcode(post).

WHICH is better??? It all depends. With ToolComp controlled by Mach you can simply adjust the profile as to correct size by just changing the Comp values in the tool table. BUT it relies HEAVILY on the operator to maintain the tool table correctly.

The Cam approach is extremely simple as there is NO tool table offsets involved. BUT to adjust the size you would have to RECAM the project to change size.

Most do well with the Cam approach. You can upgrade the LCAM to teh pro version BUT be aware there is little to NO support and the project is DEAD as to further developement.

I would suggest SheetCam for your Cam needs.

Just a thought(;-) TP

[ger21]

Tool Offsets are fairly simple ONCE you understand them.To Use you assign each tool a number 1-255. Next you fill in the TOOL TABLE with the relavent infomation such as tool diam . Next assign the SAME numbers in Lcam as you have in Mach3. That way it stays straight in your head (;-).

Now when Lcam uses a tool offset Mach willl apply the same offset to the part and everything works out and the part comes out to size.

Does LazyCAM add the lead-in and lead-out moves required for compensation? Do you need LazyCAM Pro for that?

[RICH]

Does LazyCAM add the lead-in and lead-out moves required for compensation? Do you need LazyCAM Pro for that?

Yes, leads are covered starting at page 105  ( Tutorial #7 ) in the manual. Not sure if you need the pro version to do it.
You'll need to try and to find out.
RICH

[BR549]

No you do not need the Pro version for Tool Comp with leadin leadout. The pro version just adds part offsetting directly to the gcode so there is no tool comp in the gcode.

(;-) TP