Machsupport Forum
G-Code, CAD, and CAM => LazyCam (Beta) => Topic started by: rayzsurfer on May 03, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
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Hello all, I finally have my DIY plasma table working well now I just need to figure out the software side of it. I am having trouble converting my drawings into Gcode. I am able to do simple shapes but I can't seem to get all the steps correct for slightly more complex drawings. I am attaching a drawing that I am struggling with it is 5 letters that I created. I am also attaching the gcode file that I created. I am using LazyCam and Mach3. If someone can give me the step by step instructions they used to get the entire image to show up in Mach3 I could probably learn from that. HELP!!!
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You don't say what you want to do with the letters.
You will find a users manual for Lazycam in Members Docs and strongly suggest you have a read and not hack at the program.
RICH
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I want to use it on my plasma machine. I have looked through the manual and since it's geared towards mill operations it is difficult to coorelate it with the plasma. I figured someone with LC experience could do this quickly. When I load in Mach it does not show the complete drawing.
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The manual dosen't cover plasma. The reason is simple. I don't have or use a plasma machine and in that light would not know what quirks to look for in the program. Anybody out there is free to write a section on LazyCam Plasma and post it. There is no documentation for LazyCam other than the numerous hours I spent hacking it to death for the lathe and mill. So the only support I tend to offer is for the mill part of LazyCam ( consider the Lathe module dead as it is now replaced by LazyTurn).
RICH
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RAYSURFER,
Tried your dx in both LC mill and Plasma. No problem in mill. Trying LC Plasma I only got two letters also the first time I tried posting the code. BUT...... Went out of LC, reloaded LC , and posted again and the complete code was posted.
Do you have a licensed copy of MACH and do you have the Pro license of LC ?
There is a line limit in LC if you don't have a licensed for MACH and LC also restricts the different LC Modes if it is not the
Pro Version.
RICH
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In fact I have not purchased a license yet. I am trying to figure out which CAM software to purchase. A lot of them will package Mach3 with their software. If I purchase the Mach license from Artsoft does it come with an unrestricted version of LazyCam? Do you know?
Thanks for loading it, I wanted to make sure it was something I was doing wrong.
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Lazycam will still be restrictive even if you purchase Mach. See page 4 of 123 in the manual which can be found in
Member's Docs which provides more information. There is no documention on Plasma in the manual and your on your owne.
RICH
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i have never needed anything but lazycam for plasma.i find that arcs can be a pain so after drawing shape , i explode all and then join polylines. i use turbocad vers 10. i then offset to the inside or outside the width of the plasma kerf and delete the original lines. save as r14 or earlier dxf. open in lazycam , relayer opimize, reset origin, cset the leadins
and direction form the popup dialog box. set the speeds and feeds in the dialog box , post and save.i know that everyone says that sheetcam is better and i have played around with it but, i can go from importing a dxf into lazycam and be cutting in less than 1 minute. i also have customized the plasma post processor so that it auto inserts the safe z, start z, and plunge speed z . been using it for 4 years now.
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Thanks tripleblack for the feedback. I am trying out the sheetcam. I think my issue with LC might have been that I was using an unlicensed version. I am reluctant though to sink the $75 for the software when it's dead though. So I might go with the sheetcam since it's still active.
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For Plasma work SheetCam all the way, No comparison.
Just a thought, (;-) TP
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this is the version that comes with your mach3 lic. i do not use the pro.