Bugs in NewFangled Wizards

[titchener]

I saw the mention of the PowerFeed wizard and was encouraged to see there was some activity to improve the wizards. Here's some bugs I posted a while ago that never got fixed:

In addition to the bugs listed below it appears that in the slotting wizard the spindle doesn't get turned on. I beleive the problem below mentioned with the coolant not getting turned on is present in several (if not all) of the wizards.

Paul T.

Brian-

The Wizards are still giving me 2 problems, when I click on the Flood
Cooling option there's no M8 placed in the resultant G code to turn
on the coolant (there is an M9 at the end turning it off though).

Also with the Surfacing wizard, the Traverse height comes out wrong
as shown in the previous post below. By necessity I have to run my
quill pretty close to the limit, so having the traverse height come
out higher than the specified setting causes me problems.

Thanks,

Paul T.

> Brian-
>
> For the code generated below, the material was set at 0.000", the
> Rapid Height at 0.1", and both the Depth and Step size were set at
> 0.010", but as shown in the code, in the later parts it uses a
Rapid
> height of .11", not the expected .1" over the 0.0" material top.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul T.
>
> > > (Program Posted for Aluminum )
> > > G0 G49 G40.1 G17
> > > G80 G50 G90 G98
> > > G20 (Inch)
> > > (***** Material Surfacing *****)
> > > M03 S4329
> > > G00 Z0.1
> > > G00 Z0.1
> > > G00 X-0.475 Y1.8125
> > > G01 Z-0.01 F30
> > > G01 X5.175 F60
> > > G00 Z0.11
> > > G00 Y1.25
> > > G01 Z-0.01 F30
> > > G01 X-0.475 F60
> > > G00 Z0.11
> > > G00 Y0.6875
> > > G01 Z-0.01 F30
> > > G01 X5.175 F60
> > > G00 Z0.11
> > > G00 Y0.125
> > > G01 Z-0.01 F30
> > > G01 X-0.475 F60
> > > G0 Z0.1
> > > G0 X0Y2
> > > M5 M9
> > > M30
>

[Ron Ginger]

There is code in the surface wizard to do the flood. They must be selected in the Tool setup screen.
I cant seem to get the G00 Z0.11 effect you describe. Tell me more about your settings. One change I am making is to add more comments into the Gcode. That not only helps debug it makes them better self-documenting.

Can you tell me a specific one that fails to do the Flood? Ive been working on cut rectangle and I know its correct.

ron ginger

[titchener]

Ron-

With the surfacing wizard please look in my original post, all the parameters I entered are listed there, but here they are again below. The only thing I didn't specify below is I had rapid stepover selected. It looks like the Flood coolant button has been fixed in the most recent release as I am now getting an M8 to turn on the flood cooling, thanks. However if you look at the code below (just generated with the most recent release) the first rapid move is at the correct 0.1 height but on the second and all following rapid moves for some reason 0.11 is used for the rapid height.

I would strongly consider putting a Help button on every Wizard to bring up a window that briefly explains each pararmeter.

Paul T.

> For the code generated below, the material was set at 0.000", the
> Rapid Height at 0.1", and both the Depth and Step size were set at
> 0.010", but as shown in the code, in the later parts it uses a
Rapid
> height of .11", not the expected .1" over the 0.0" material top.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul T.
>
(Program Posted for Aluminum )
G0 G49 G40.1 G17
G80 G50 G90 G98 
G20 (Inch)
(***** Material Surfacing *****)
M6 T4
M03 S763.9
M8 (Flood On)
G00G43 H4 Z0.1
G00 Z0.1
G00 X-0.3125 Y-0.0313
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X0.8125 F2.8
G00 Z0.11
G00 Y-0.1251
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X-0.3125 F2.8
G00 Z0.11
G00 Y-0.2189
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X0.8125 F2.8
G00 Z0.11
G00 Y-0.3127
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X-0.3125 F2.8
G00 Z0.11
G00 Y-0.4065
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X0.8125 F2.8
G00 Z0.11
G00 Y-0.5003
G01 Z-0.01 F1.4
G01 X-0.3125 F2.8
G0 Z0.1
G0 X0Y0
M5 M9
M30

[Ron Ginger]

Ok, I found the problem with the Z0.11. The wizard was trying to adjust the rapid height and subtracted the Depth of cut, but forgot that was a negative number so it increased the Z. I have fixed it so it always goes up to the Zrapid Setting.

I agree with the need for help screens and have added a few already. I think Im going to try to post an updated copy here tomorrow with the changes Ive made so far and get some input on them. I ahve several more changes to make.

ron ginger

[titchener]

Ron-

Thanks for looking into the Z problem. It appears that the other problem I mentioned, the spindle not getting turned on in the Keyway wizard, has also been fixed in the most recent release.

One other thing I would recommend taking a look at in the Wizards is consistency of parameter names. In the Surfacing Wizard for example Rapid Height is the name of the parameter for the height of rapid x,y moves, which makes sense. However in the Drilling Wizards Traverse Height is used for the name of the height for rapid x,y moves and a pararmeter called Rapid Height is used to set the height that the drill bit moves down to towards the hole at rapid speed at the beginning of a drilling cycle.

This is pretty confusing for new users, especially ones not used to the parameters used for drilling cycles.

For the Drilling wizards I would recommend making the Rapid Height parameter be consistent with the other wizards, ie it should be the height for rapid x,y moves, and use a parameter called Approach Height to set the height that the drill bit moves down quickly to at the start of a drilling cycle.

Thanks,

Paul T.