I have a new version of the wizards ready. This has several changes and some bug fixes.

A major change has been made to the Tool Selection screen. I hope it makes it more clear, and insures all parameters are updated. I believe in the old screen many guys were not getting the Feeds and Speeds updated. I also added a button to read the tool table if you want to instead of entering the number and diameter. Thanks to Pat Lorenz for help on this one.

I also made major changes to the Surface wizard. It now makes even width cuts based on 75% of the tool diameter. Before it made The first cuts even, then did a narrow cut for whatever was left. In some cases it made an extra unnecessary move. Fans of Rudy Kouhoupt will like the look.

I also added a G code window to the Preview screen, and fixed the initial conditions to make the previews work correctly.

The zip file is attached to this post. Please check it out and let me know of any bugs. In a week or so I will ask Art to include this version in the Mach release.

Now that I know there is a manual I will be updating it for this version in the next few days.

thanks,

10/25, edited to update zip with tool table fixes

10/26, tool table now handles all 255 entries and can skip over blanks. Still no description, but Art has promised a function so I can fix that

10/31 Fixed top of material in Surface wizard

I have removed this version, see the new topic for V2.76

Hi ROn it looks really good, But I did find some bugs and offer some suggestions

1.  TOOL properties page it will not let you make a manual entry for the tool selection, it accepts the number but does not update the info.

2.  The tool selection table needs to include the tool description. I have 6  different .500" tools but can't select one without knowing what it is.

3. the tool selection table will not select tool#1  it  just lets you know you must select a tool.

4. The tool table selection does not have a scroll bar to allow you to see all the tools it just display 1-6 that all.

5. some of the  wizards allow you to set TOM (top of material) other assume the TOM =zero. To be usefull as a program code assembler you need to be able to assign what the TOM is. ( really important)

6. On some wizards such as the rectangular pocket there needs to be a reference as to what the width and length refer to is the width Y or X axis, is the length Y or X axis.

7. On the drill wizards there need to be a reference as to what the starting angle is referenced to y or x axis and where is zero.

8. On some wizards the term pitch is used on others it is plunge/ramp on others it is ramp angle. These terms need to be the same for consistancy .

9. On wizards that have a drill or hole function the terms step depth, depth,peck depth should just show a value based on TOM  and not allow the +/- sign this can be confusing to newbies. or does the +/- apply to this function??

10. on the code preview you need to add a rewind button so you can preview the code and tool path easier the second time( GOOD idea the gcode window) Good for proofing the code.


All in ALL a very good step forward. I look forward to using them. (;-) TP

MT??

When trying to run any of the electrical shapes operations, I get an "Error on line 53 - Path not found" . It seems the wizard is looking for a Shape TAP file in the G-code directory that doesn't exist.

Yes, there should be a Shapes.tap file in the Mach\gcode folder. It should have been installed by the mach install. I will attach a copy here.

Hi ROn it looks really good, But I did find some bugs and offer some suggestions

1.  TOOL properties page it will not let you make a manual entry for the tool selection, it accepts the number but does not update the info.

Works for me- are you sure you are pressing enter?

2.  The tool selection table needs to include the tool description. I have 6  different .500" tools but can't select one without knowing what it is.

Sorry, Art does not make the description available, just the tool params- numbers, not strings. I see the need, but cant be done.


3. the tool selection table will not select tool#1  it  just lets you know you must select a tool.

Found that and fixed it, it will be in the release version

4. The tool table selection does not have a scroll bar to allow you to see all the tools it just display 1-6 that all.

I added 8 tools and a scroll bar pops up just as expected. It works for me.

5. some of the  wizards allow you to set TOM (top of material) other assume the TOM =zero. To be usefull as a program code assembler you need to be able to assign what the TOM is. ( really important)

Yes, this has been raised before. Its a big change, I will try to get to it.

6. On some wizards such as the rectangular pocket there needs to be a reference as to what the width and length refer to is the width Y or X axis, is the length Y or X axis.

Yep, and on the old surface wizards it was confused inside the code- I dont know how that one ever worked. I will try to clean this up.


7. On the drill wizards there need to be a reference as to what the starting angle is referenced to y or x axis and where is zero.

It assumes the CAD convention, 0 degrees is 3:00 O'clock

8. On some wizards the term pitch is used on others it is plunge/ramp on others it is ramp angle. These terms need to be the same for consistancy .

Yep, Ive fixed a couple places, Ill get the others.

9. On wizards that have a drill or hole function the terms step depth, depth,peck depth should just show a value based on TOM  and not allow the +/- sign this can be confusing to newbies. or does the +/- apply to this function??

On most of them I think the code handles the + or - OK. You can enter either, it takes the ABS() of the number and uses it correctly.

10. on the code preview you need to add a rewind button so you can preview the code and tool path easier the second time( GOOD idea the gcode window) Good for proofing the code.

Yeah, I thiught the Gcode window was usefull- it helped me debug the code, so I thoughtit would be good. I just use the scroll bar to move around, Ill see if I can add a rewind button.


All in ALL a very good step forward. I look forward to using them. (;-) TP

Thanks for all the review.

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      Re: V2.75 ready for test
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2007, 06:58:10 PM »   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi ROn it looks really good, But I did find some bugs and offer some suggestions

1.  TOOL properties page it will not let you make a manual entry for the tool selection, it accepts the number but does not update the info.

Works for me- are you sure you are pressing enter?

*****I am assuming that if I enter a tool# that the diam info will update to reflect the change If so then it does not work. If that is NOT how it works then it should(;-) IF you are goint to use the tool table info. If that is NOT how it works you need to explain the process

2.  The tool selection table needs to include the tool description. I have 6  different .500" tools but can't select one without knowing what it is.

Sorry, Art does not make the description available, just the tool params- numbers, not strings. I see the need, but cant be done.

*****You could add a label along with the TOOLDESC function to display the description of the selected tool,, also did not ART add a new command to retreive the string for use in VB???


3. the tool selection table will not select tool#1  it  just lets you know you must select a tool.

Found that and fixed it, it will be in the release version

4. The tool table selection does not have a scroll bar to allow you to see all the tools it just display 1-6 that all.

I added 8 tools and a scroll bar pops up just as expected. It works for me.

****I have 52 tools and the display only shows 6, and there is NO scroll bar and the up/down buttons scroll but only through 1-6. THat is ALL that displays

5. some of the  wizards allow you to set TOM (top of material) other assume the TOM =zero. To be usefull as a program code assembler you need to be able to assign what the TOM is. ( really important)

Yes, this has been raised before. Its a big change, I will try to get to it.

6. On some wizards such as the rectangular pocket there needs to be a reference as to what the width and length refer to is the width Y or X axis, is the length Y or X axis.

Yep, and on the old surface wizards it was confused inside the code- I dont know how that one ever worked. I will try to clean this up.


7. On the drill wizards there need to be a reference as to what the starting angle is referenced to y or x axis and where is zero.

It assumes the CAD convention, 0 degrees is 3:00 O'clock

*** YOU might consider adding a reference to the picture on the screen so everyone will know that(;-)

8. On some wizards the term pitch is used on others it is plunge/ramp on others it is ramp angle. These terms need to be the same for consistancy .

Yep, Ive fixed a couple places, Ill get the others.

9. On wizards that have a drill or hole function the terms step depth, depth,peck depth should just show a value based on TOM  and not allow the +/- sign this can be confusing to newbies. or does the +/- apply to this function??

On most of them I think the code handles the + or - OK. You can enter either, it takes the ABS() of the number and uses it correctly.

10. on the code preview you need to add a rewind button so you can preview the code and tool path easier the second time( GOOD idea the gcode window) Good for proofing the code.

Yeah, I thiught the Gcode window was usefull- it helped me debug the code, so I thoughtit would be good. I just use the scroll bar to move around, Ill see if I can add a rewind button.


All in ALL a very good step forward. I look forward to using them. (;-) TP

Thanks for all the review.
 

*****I am assuming that if I enter a tool# that the diam info will update to reflect the change If so then it does not work. If that is NOT how it works then it should(;-) IF you are goint to use the tool table info. If that is NOT how it works you need to explain the process

No, that should not work. The idea is if you want to get the data from the table you press the button and select it. If you do NOT use the tool table then you can enter the number and diameter directly into the DRO. Some will likely leave the tool number as 0, just enter the diameter.

*****You could add a label along with the TOOLDESC function to display the description of the selected tool,, also did not ART add a new command to retreive the string for use in VB???

The note I saw only lists the numeric tool table values. I will look a bit deeper. The TOOLDESC would allow me to display the description AFTER it was selected, but not in a way I can pick it up for the list box.

****I have 52 tools and the display only shows 6, and there is NO scroll bar and the up/down buttons scroll but only through 1-6. THat is ALL that displays

Do you have a gap in your list- an unused tool at #7 maybe. The code reads the tool table params unti it gets a null. There is no way to tell how many tools there are.

I was warned the tool table would be a can of worms !

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      Re: V2.75 ready for test
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2007, 06:46:52 AM »   

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*****I am assuming that if I enter a tool# that the diam info will update to reflect the change If so then it does not work. If that is NOT how it works then it should(;-) IF you are goint to use the tool table info. If that is NOT how it works you need to explain the process

No, that should not work. The idea is if you want to get the data from the table you press the button and select it. If you do NOT use the tool table then you can enter the number and diameter directly into the DRO. Some will likely leave the tool number as 0, just enter the diameter.

#### BUt what if you left say too# 6 in the input box then used diam of say .250. The wizard is assuming a diam of .250 but Mach will call the tool #6 which could be .500?
Catch22(;-)



*****You could add a label along with the TOOLDESC function to display the description of the selected tool,, also did not ART add a new command to retreive the string for use in VB???

The note I saw only lists the numeric tool table values. I will look a bit deeper. The TOOLDESC would allow me to display the description AFTER it was selected, but not in a way I can pick it up for the list box.

#### AT least when the tool WAS selected the description would show up and you could verify it was the one you really wanted.(;-)

##### I have always wondered why the tool tables were setup and used(description) the way they are. To know a tool diam is useless without the description. It could be one of 10 types of tool bit configurations(;-) As it is I have to keep an updated CATALOG of the tool table to know what is what. SEEMS conterproductive to me(;-)


****I have 52 tools and the display only shows 6, and there is NO scroll bar and the up/down buttons scroll but only through 1-6. THat is ALL that displays

Do you have a gap in your list- an unused tool at #7 maybe. The code reads the tool table params unti it gets a null. There is no way to tell how many tools there are.

###### AH I see that you are using the diam field as the identifier. NOT good, My problem was the tool# 7 is a drill. we do not assign a diameter to a drill to prevent it from having comp applied accidentally in a program, we do however use the height to comp(;-). If you are going to use the tool table you have to show ALLl the table as SOME people have some tools that are set in certain ranges for a reason. Using your method there will be gaps and will not display the entire tool table

I was warned the tool table would be a can of worms !

#####NOT really a can of Worms just can be complex. If you treat the tool table as a whole and don't take any shortcuts it is easy to deal with. THat way no matter how someone can invent a new way to use it, it can be used.(;-)

(;-) TP
 
 
 

HEY RON I just noticed that the NFW will now assemble a group of programs together as a single Gcode file.

EXCELLANT JOB. You now have the makings of a WORLD CLASS converstional interface to MACH3. Just clean up a few little things to make it consistant and you will sell a million copies of this one once everyone finds out about it.. A GOOD manual will be neccasary as well. (;-) BUt once you get to understand the principle it is VERY easy to understand.

I just assembled a very complex duplexed part that normally requires several hours to create. USING NFW It took about 15minutes(;-) and NO CAM NEEDED

We were also able to create both halves of the assembly. These parts even had drill patterns and tapping( slight of hand trick here, used a drill pattern and edited in the G84 tapping cycle instead of the drill cycle(;-) ) IT had a spot cycle , drill cycle, and a tapping cycle at each hole location.

Just a couple of notes::

The TOM (Top of material) setting is absolutley a must for this to work correctly. Each component of the program may require a different setting.

At the end of each segment Mach needs to return to a safe Z  that will be consitant with all segments to prevent crashes due to different material heights and clamps, etc.

Could you add in the line numbers??? It would make it so easy to redit if needed. Sometimes tough to find the line to edit if there are hundreds of lines of code.

In the drill pattern wizards could you allow the G84 tapping cycle along with the drill cycles. It works SO NICE. We use the G95 feed per rev and set the thread pitch as the feed ( 1/TPI=F rate) and the G84 cycle to tap with. Does an awsome job. Just have to remember to cancel out the G95 and the tapping cycle when done.

NOW I am going to have to create a NEW training project. The old one just became obsolete as it is now TOO easy to do with the NFW.

ONCE again GREAT JOB

(;-) TP