Messages

1

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: G code issues

« on: February 28, 2014, 05:29:48 PM »

What diameter tool are you using? It's having trouble with the 1/8" move for the second pass. If you make the tool diameter .125, it works correctly.

Tool Diameter is .500"... I don't want to use a .125" end mill

I want to get away from center of tool programing so I can adjust for cutter wear.

2

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: G code issues

« on: February 27, 2014, 06:40:14 PM »

O0046

( PROGRAM TO CUT CIRCLE AND BOLT HOLE PATTERN)
( FEB 24 2014)
(G54 X0 Y0 Z0 IS CENTER OF CIRCLE)

G17 G20  G40 G54 G80 G90
T01 M6
G90
G0 X5.75 Y6.875
M3 S500
G43 H1 Z.5
G1 Z-.7 F20
G41 D1
G1 X3.25
G3 X3.25 Y6.875 I2.50 J0
G1 X3.125
G3 X3.125 Y6.875 I2.624 J0
G3 X5.75 Y4.251 R2.624
G0 Z1.0
G1 G40 X0 Y0
M5
T02 M6
G91 G28 Z0
G90
G0 X9.1752 Y6.875
M3 S500
G43 H2 Z.5
G83 Z-.7 R.05 Q.5 F40
X8.172 Y9.297
X5.70 Y10.30
X3.328 Y9.297
X2.3248 Y6.875
X3.328 Y4.453
X5.75 Y3.4498
X8.172 Y4.453
G80 M5
G91 G28 Z0
G90
M30

3

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / G code issues

« on: February 27, 2014, 12:23:48 PM »

Hello All.

I am trying to invoke a G41 radius compensation in conjunction with a G3 circular interpolation. The coordinates should cut a circle but instead I am getting a scroll.
If I turn off the G41 the circle cuts correctly but is oversize. I am trying to avoid center of tool programing for the particular program.
 
What a I doing wrong?

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Finish issue cutting round parts

« on: September 16, 2013, 09:29:20 PM »

My biggest issue at the moment is I am a CAD guy stuck doing programming that I have never been trained at... My CAM only seems to work in ATP mode so I have been using all the XYZ moves and copy pasting G code into it before sending to the machine... no post processor. I should look into setting up my CAM package properly but I am not familiar with all the options.

5

General Mach Discussion / Finish issue cutting round parts

« on: September 16, 2013, 08:57:40 PM »

After playing around with our new machine cutting simple profiles in plates I have graduated to cutting some 3D stuff. One issue I am having is the finish on circular cuts... it seems to be cutting "facets" almost
like its cutting straight point to point with no smoothing.

The program I am using spits out XY points (Catia NC) and for the most part I was using G1 for profiles... I tried using G2/3 depending on direction but it gave a IJ error and even substituted G12/13 but it did not make a bit of difference. I don't want to resort to using IJ mode unless I have to... I thought there would be a easier way to get a smooth finish without manually writing code.

Is there a way to smooth out the XY path I have?

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: need some help with a programming question

« on: May 24, 2013, 09:19:38 PM »

Thanks for the advice... all taken into consideration - I have not done any of this since 1990 so I am a little rusty. The Catia spits out APT and because I am not using a post processor I am manually converting to G code via copy/paste... not the best solution but its all I got right now.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: need some help with a programming question

« on: May 24, 2013, 05:37:51 PM »

Thanks... I will try that - the G code list I have does not even list that one... I will search for a more complete list.

8

General Mach Discussion / need some help with a programming question

« on: May 24, 2013, 04:57:32 PM »

So I have my new mill up and running... I wanted to cut some test plates out of wood and I noticed the program I wrote
was dwelling ever so slightly between points when following a arc in the set program - cutting wood so dwelling is not that critical
but it could lead to burning.

I notice this when testing the program in the air... I could here the dwell in the stepper motors.

My question is am I missing some G code that will smooth out the transitions between points on a arc?

Here is some background - I modeled the plates in Catia V5 and did the NC paths in Catia then edited them in a custom text clean
up program my son wrote for me.

Here is the program -

(TEST PLATE 1)
(CLOCKWISE ROUGHING PATH WITH 1/2 DIA END MILL)
N1 G90
N2 G0
N3 X5.87059Y13.72017Z.5
N4 Z-.375
N5 X6.23805Y13.88958
N6 X6.61636Y14.03317
N7 X7.00369Y14.15023
N8 X7.39820Y14.24021
N9 X7.79798Y14.30269
N10 X8.20113Y14.33735
N11 X8.60571Y14.34404
N12 X9.00978Y14.32273
N13 X9.41142Y14.27350
N14 X9.80868Y14.19661
N15 X10.19967Y14.09242
N16 X10.58252Y13.96142
N17 X10.95538Y13.80426
N18 X11.31648Y13.62167
N19 X11.66408Y13.41453
N20 X11.99652Y13.18385
N21 X12.31219Y12.93071
N22 X12.39367Y12.87234
N23 X12.48417Y12.82928
N24 X12.58086Y12.80289
N25 X12.68070Y12.79400
N26 X14.15800Y12.79400
N27 X14.30426Y12.80840
N28 X14.44490Y12.85104
N29 X14.57452Y12.92029
N30 X14.68815Y13.01349
N31 X14.78143Y13.12706
N32 X14.85077Y13.25664
N33 X14.89350Y13.39725
N34 X14.90800Y13.54350
N35 X14.92244Y13.68919
N36 X14.96503Y13.82927
N37 X15.03412Y13.95835
N38 X15.12706Y14.07147
N39 X15.24027Y14.16430
N40 X15.36942Y14.23326
N41 X15.50954Y14.27570
N42 X15.65525Y14.29000
N43 X15.80095Y14.27560
N44 X15.94104Y14.23307
N45 X16.07014Y14.16402
N46 X16.18330Y14.07112
N47 X16.27616Y13.95793
N48 X16.34516Y13.82881
N49 X16.38765Y13.68870
N50 X16.40200Y13.54300
N51 X16.40200Y3.81100
N52 X16.38697Y3.62962
N53 X16.34229Y3.45318
N54 X16.26918Y3.28651
N55 X16.16963Y3.13414
N56 X16.04636Y3.00023
N57 X15.90274Y2.88844
N58 X15.74267Y2.80182
N59 X15.57053Y2.74272
N60 X15.39100Y2.71276
N61 X15.20900Y2.71276
N62 X15.02947Y2.74272
N63 X14.85733Y2.80182
N64 X14.69726Y2.88844
N65 X14.55364Y3.00023
N66 X14.43037Y3.13414
N67 X14.33082Y3.28651
N68 X14.25771Y3.45318
N69 X14.21303Y3.62962
N70 X14.19800Y3.81100
N71 X14.19800Y4.13293
N72 X14.18498Y4.25024
N73 X14.14655Y4.36185
N74 X14.08459Y4.46231
N75 X13.71914Y4.93006
N76 X13.64982Y4.99830
N77 X13.56527Y5.04641
N78 X13.47119Y5.07116
N79 X13.37392Y5.07087
N80 X13.27999Y5.04558
N81 X13.19572Y4.99698
N82 X13.12679Y4.92833
N83 X12.85738Y4.60420
N84 X12.56531Y4.30033
N85 X12.25211Y4.01829
N86 X11.91939Y3.75956
N87 X11.56889Y3.52547
N88 X11.20243Y3.31725
N89 X10.82193Y3.13598
N90 X10.42935Y2.98261
N91 X10.02673Y2.85792
N92 X9.61618Y2.76257
N93 X9.19983Y2.69705
N94 X8.77983Y2.66170
N95 X8.35839Y2.65672
N96 X7.93767Y2.68211
N97 X7.51988Y2.73776
N98 X7.10719Y2.82337
N99 X6.70174Y2.93850
N100 X6.30564Y3.08255
N101 X5.92095Y3.25476
N102 X5.80524Y3.29735
N103 X5.68322Y3.31504
N104 X5.56018Y3.30708
N105 X5.44146Y3.27380
N106 X5.33221Y3.21665
N107 X5.23717Y3.13811
N108 X5.16045Y3.04159
N109 X4.93512Y2.68789
N110 X4.58574Y2.91761
N111 X4.25112Y3.16833
N112 X3.93252Y3.43912
N113 X3.63113Y3.72895
N114 X3.34810Y4.03674
N115 X3.08450Y4.36131
N116 X2.84131Y4.70144
N117 X3.16383Y5.05964
N118 X3.25050Y5.17771
N119 X3.31204Y5.31063
N120 X3.34601Y5.45311
N121 X3.35104Y5.59950
N122 X3.32695Y5.74398
N123 X3.27469Y5.88081
N124 X3.10184Y6.25859
N125 X2.95627Y6.64769
N126 X2.83870Y7.04615
N127 X2.74973Y7.45195
N128 X2.68981Y7.86305
N129 X2.65924Y8.27737
N130 X2.65818Y8.69281
N131 X2.68663Y9.10727
N132 X2.74445Y9.51867
N133 X2.83135Y9.92493
N134 X2.94688Y10.32398
N135 X3.09047Y10.71382
N136 X3.26138Y11.09248
N137 X3.30515Y11.21439
N138 X3.32000Y11.34307
N139 X3.32000Y12.95457
N140 X4.00543Y13.64000
N141 X5.57749Y13.64000
N142 X5.66628Y13.64702
N143 X5.75286Y13.66791
N144 X5.83509Y13.70214
N145 X5.87059Y13.72017
N146 Z-.770
N147 X6.23805Y13.88958
N148 X6.61636Y14.03317
N149 X7.00369Y14.15023
N150 X7.39820Y14.24021
N151 X7.79798Y14.30269
N152 X8.20113Y14.33735
N153 X8.60571Y14.34404
N154 X9.00978Y14.32273
N155 X9.41142Y14.27350
N156 X9.80868Y14.19661
N157 X10.19967Y14.09242
N158 X10.58252Y13.96142
N159 X10.95538Y13.80426
N160 X11.31648Y13.62167
N161 X11.66408Y13.41453
N162 X11.99652Y13.18385
N163 X12.31219Y12.93071
N164 X12.39367Y12.87234
N165 X12.48417Y12.82928
N166 X12.58086Y12.80289
N167 X12.68070Y12.79400
N168 X14.15800Y12.79400
N169 X14.30426Y12.80840
N170 X14.44490Y12.85104
N171 X14.57452Y12.92029
N172 X14.68815Y13.01349
N173 X14.78143Y13.12706
N174 X14.85077Y13.25664
N175 X14.89350Y13.39725
N176 X14.90800Y13.54350
N177 X14.92244Y13.68919
N178 X14.96503Y13.82927
N179 X15.03412Y13.95835
N180 X15.12706Y14.07147
N181 X15.24027Y14.16430
N182 X15.36942Y14.23326
N183 X15.50954Y14.27570
N184 X15.65525Y14.29000
N185 X15.80095Y14.27560
N186 X15.94104Y14.23307
N187 X16.07014Y14.16402
N188 X16.18330Y14.07112
N189 X16.27616Y13.95793
N190 X16.34516Y13.82881
N191 X16.38765Y13.68870
N192 X16.40200Y13.54300
N193 X16.40200Y3.81100
N194 X16.38697Y3.62962
N195 X16.34229Y3.45318
N196 X16.26918Y3.28651
N197 X16.16963Y3.13414
N198 X16.04636Y3.00023
N199 X15.90274Y2.88844
N200 X15.74267Y2.80182
N201 X15.57053Y2.74272
N202 X15.39100Y2.71276
N203 X15.20900Y2.71276
N204 X15.02947Y2.74272
N205 X14.85733Y2.80182
N206 X14.69726Y2.88844
N207 X14.55364Y3.00023
N208 X14.43037Y3.13414
N209 X14.33082Y3.28651
N210 X14.25771Y3.45318
N211 X14.21303Y3.62962
N212 X14.19800Y3.81100
N213 X14.19800Y4.13293
N214 X14.18498Y4.25024
N215 X14.14655Y4.36185
N216 X14.08459Y4.46231
N217 X13.71914Y4.93006
N218 X13.64982Y4.99830
N219 X13.56527Y5.04641
N220 X13.47119Y5.07116
N221 X13.37392Y5.07087
N222 X13.27999Y5.04558
N223 X13.19572Y4.99698
N224 X13.12679Y4.92833
N225 X12.85738Y4.60420
N226 X12.56531Y4.30033
N227 X12.25211Y4.01829
N228 X11.91939Y3.75956
N229 X11.56889Y3.52547
N230 X11.20243Y3.31725
N231 X10.82193Y3.13598
N232 X10.42935Y2.98261
N233 X10.02673Y2.85792
N234 X9.61618Y2.76257
N235 X9.19983Y2.69705
N236 X8.77983Y2.66170
N237 X8.35839Y2.65672
N238 X7.93767Y2.68211
N239 X7.51988Y2.73776
N240 X7.10719Y2.82337
N241 X6.70174Y2.93850
N242 X6.30564Y3.08255
N243 X5.92095Y3.25476
N244 X5.80524Y3.29735
N245 X5.68322Y3.31504
N246 X5.56018Y3.30708
N247 X5.44146Y3.27380
N248 X5.33221Y3.21665
N249 X5.23717Y3.13811
N250 X5.16045Y3.04159
N251 X4.93512Y2.68789
N252 X4.58574Y2.91761
N253 X4.25112Y3.16833
N254 X3.93252Y3.43912
N255 X3.63113Y3.72895
N256 X3.34810Y4.03674
N257 X3.08450Y4.36131
N258 X2.84131Y4.70144
N259 X3.16383Y5.05964
N260 X3.25050Y5.17771
N261 X3.31204Y5.31063
N262 X3.34601Y5.45311
N263 X3.35104Y5.59950
N264 X3.32695Y5.74398
N265 X3.27469Y5.88081
N266 X3.10184Y6.25859
N267 X2.95627Y6.64769
N268 X2.83870Y7.04615
N269 X2.74973Y7.45195
N270 X2.68981Y7.86305
N271 X2.65924Y8.27737
N272 X2.65818Y8.69281
N273 X2.68663Y9.10727
N274 X2.74445Y9.51867
N275 X2.83135Y9.92493
N276 X2.94688Y10.32398
N277 X3.09047Y10.71382
N278 X3.26138Y11.09248
N279 X3.30515Y11.21439
N280 X3.32000Y11.34307
N281 X3.32000Y12.95457
N282 X4.00543Y13.64000
N283 X5.57749Y13.64000
N284 X5.66628Y13.64702
N285 X5.75286Y13.66791
N286 X5.83509Y13.70214
N287 X5.87059Y13.72017
N288 Z.5
N289 X0.0Y0.0
N290 M30

The test plate is 3/4" thick... the program is in inches and there are 2 steps down.
This rough cut drops out a big slab in the middle. Speeds and feeds are set on the fly.

I just wondered how this sounded on other mills and if anybody can see any glaring mistakes.
Maybe if somebody has some time they can load it up and run it in the air and tell me if I am crazy or not!

Thanks, Alex.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Possible new project pending feedback on LazyCam software

« on: March 16, 2013, 10:19:03 AM »

Neat work so far, may I ask if you have a build thread on your R8 spindle that goes up to 9000 RPM's?

Do you possibly have a picture of it in pieces and showing/naming what bearings you used?

Thanks, and great work you have done-
Dave

No build thread for it... the spindle I bought online, I can't remember the bearings numbers off hand, they are Metric Japanese (30/40MM) and my supplier said they are capable to 14K, a high speed roller bearing - I do know from being a motorcycle guy that the same type of bearings are in the Kawasaki 900/1000 crankshafts and they can spin up to 12K, 10K sustained for a hour in the Daytona speed trials they did 40 years ago... they use a low pressure splash oiling system.
9K is TBD at this point, my main concern is the cast aluminum V pulleys up top... not concerned about the spindle build and that cogged belt pulley setup down below - that should be able to take that type of RPM, but I think those V pulleys are the weak spot - I may have to machine some pulleys out of billet to cope with higher RPMs... realistically I also don't know how rigid this setup will be untill I fire it up... its a bit of a gamble.
I am planning to put grease/oil ports at every bearing when I tear it apart, it will make it easier to service... I am also going to gang all the ports for the square axis bearings to a single feed cup on each side of the gantry and the spindle head.
I am also planning to put another pinch clamp on the bottom of the spindle housing to attach a router motor.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Possible new project pending feedback on LazyCam software

« on: March 15, 2013, 06:28:21 PM »

Been busy with "real" work so it has been on that back burner as of late... only going to paint the steel parts.