Topics

1

LazyCam (Beta) / Zero radius arc Block=N135 G3 X1.0719 Y2.5396?

« on: February 07, 2015, 03:23:18 PM »

I purchased the licensed LazyCam, and I'm trying to test it out for making a little speaker baffle with a driver recess.

I imported a DXF file, and everything looks pretty good in LazyCam.

But when I post the file and open it in Mach3, I'm getting the error above ("Zero radius arc Block=N135 G3 X1.0719 Y2.5396").

I've posted the LazyCam file here, could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Also, when I try to post, LazyCam says "No Mach3 found running."  I've checked both my Mach3 and LazyCam license files, they're in place.  And in those apps, I've tried Help/About and it shows the apps are licensed to me.  I wonder if this is related to Mach3 not liking the file.  I suppose I should have posted something more simple, didn't think of that.

2

LazyCam (Beta) / Which LazyCAM is newer?

« on: February 07, 2015, 11:05:43 AM »

Which LazyCAM is newer, the one that comes with the Mach3 download, or the separate LazyCAM beta download?

I installed both, with the LazyCAM beta download installed in its own folder.

When I check the Help/About screens, the one bundled with Mach3 says 3.00.2.

The separate download says it is 3.00.

And in Control Panel/Apps, the one Mach3 installed says it is 3.00.2, and the separate download says it is 3.01.

The actual EXE file on the one that comes w/ Mach3 is dated 1/3/2008, and is 5,476,352 bytes.

The actual EXE that comes with the separate download is dated 12/27/2007 and is 5,365,760 bytes.

So not sure which one I should concentrate on.

Any enlightenment would be welcome.

Thanks!

(I did buy a license, BTW, I'm committed to using this).

3

LazyCam (Beta) / Outside offset rounds the corners?

« on: December 14, 2014, 01:01:19 AM »

I did some googling but didn't really find an answer, but did I find the reason in the manual.

When I do an inside offset, I see sharp corners in the drawing and I know I'll get rounded corners because the big is round.

However, I do an outside offset, I actually see rounded corners in the drawing, and no way to get rid of them?  You can cut a sharp corner with a round router bit so I don't know why LazyCam would be making rounded corners.

Any ideas?

4

VB and the development of wizards / Hello world example?

« on: December 06, 2014, 08:13:08 AM »

I'm beginning to look at macro/programming options available in Mach3.

Is there more than one programming "interface" available?  I hear/see terms like Macro, BAISC, Cypress BASIC, etc., not sure what options are available.

As a start I thought I'd convert my LazyCam Z-Optimizer (removes redundant Z up/down created by LazyCam) and I've found the Cypress manual it seems like it would have everything I need.

If there was a page where it shows how to get Mach3 to run some very simply code to display "Hello world" or something on the screen or anything, that would be helpful to get me started.

5

LazyCam (Beta) / My LazyCam Z-Optimizer (LCZO)

« on: December 01, 2014, 09:26:00 PM »

I wrote a little webpage about my LazyCam Z-Optimizer:

http://www.jpthien.com/lczo.htm

6

LazyCam (Beta) / Reducing pocketing work

« on: November 30, 2014, 11:21:09 AM »

I'm trying to familiarize myself with the LazyCam (Beta) offsetting and pocketing.

I'd like to flush mount a small speaker driver into a baffle.

I've included a drawing of the basic shape.

The inner circle is the cutout for the frame/magnet.  It would go through the entire baffle.

The outer shape is the shape of an imaginary driver.  It would be cut about .125" into the baffle so the frame of the driver would be flush with the baffle.

So I created a .25" D bit, and used the offset feature with the inner circle.

I then used that same .25" D bit to create a pocket for the outer frame shape.  When I did this LazyCam wants to profile the entire inside of that shape, not accounting for the inner circle I'd be removing.

This would take a lot of time and be unnecessary machining.  My question is, can I somehow set this up so LazyCam only pockets the material remaining after I remove that inner circle?

7

LazyCam (Beta) / LazyCam post processor?

« on: September 18, 2014, 10:39:29 PM »

I saw in the setup screen for LazyCam a post-processor option which allows you to select a PST file.

I'm now to Mach3/LazyCam but I do have a little app that will remove the unnecessary Z raise before further plunge.

I was wondering if it is possible in a PST file to somehow tell LazyCam to call an executable (and maybe pass parameters) so my app could be called each time I generate new gcode via the POST feature.

8

General Mach Discussion / Calibrating machine?

« on: September 10, 2014, 11:55:50 AM »

I found some instructions for calibrating machines that said to use a movement gauge and I don't have one

I do have a cheapie digital calipers, though.

I was thinking, if I have 10-15 parts in the 4" or 6" square range and they are all consistently undersized, and I calculate the difference in the size I actually got, and the size I anticipated, couldn't I just compute an adjustment to the "steps per" unit for that axis?

I realize this wouldn't be ideal, as I'm including any error in the spindle and the bit I'm using, but the parts I'm getting are pretty consistently undersized by approx. .01" per 4" using two different routers and two different bits now.

Any other suggestions?

9

General Mach Discussion / "Ref All Home" is supposed to do what?

« on: September 09, 2014, 11:29:33 PM »

New install, default Mill profile, what would I use "Ref All Home" for?  I know the button can be customized with scripts and stuff, but I'm not sure what the default use for this button would be.

10

LazyCam (Beta) / I sort of like LazyCam

« on: September 07, 2014, 10:13:23 AM »

I've been using the LazyCam that comes with Mach3 (the registered version).  When I have asked questions about it, I frequently get responses like "few of us use LazyCam" or "try xyz."  The thing is, LazyCam seems to be working fairly decently.

I suppose I may progress to wanting something more sophisticated at some point.

One thing I really like about LazyCam is, I use an old notebook w/ parallel port to drive my small table-top CNC, it isn't very powerful and Mach3, LazyCam, and AutoSketch run just fine on it.

Anyone else out there using LazyCam with success?