Messages

1491

General Mach Discussion / Re: Softlimits

« on: December 06, 2006, 05:42:35 PM »

Hi Guys:

  I knew adding those DRO's would show me something. The problem trurned out to be in a section I wasnt in. It IS fixed for the next version, it should be
out in th emorning, Im pretty sure we can consider it dead.. I now get proper readings in all areas in the test file..

Thanks
Art

1492

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Z fails if hit 2nd time

« on: December 05, 2006, 09:04:23 PM »

Hi:

 Nope, still cant repeat this one.. DO me a favour and switch to machine coordinates , where does it go to? Does it count to zero (at which point it hits the switch? What ahppens if Safe_z is set to .25 or something (which woudl set it .25 down from the switch..?

Thanks
Art

1493

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Z fails if hit 2nd time

« on: December 05, 2006, 08:55:41 PM »

Nope, I just needed to know where I forgot the sysnc.. Ill fix it up..

Thanks
Art

1494

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Z fails if hit 2nd time

« on: December 05, 2006, 07:56:49 PM »

Ahh, OK, one final question, how are you selectin gyour G56, MDI Gcode or a button?

Thanks
Art

1495

General Mach Discussion / Re: Softlimits

« on: December 05, 2006, 06:53:46 PM »

Hi Chris:

 Actually, there is a difference, sorry I meant  to get back to you. On the diags page are three new DRO's that show the abs mins and maxs computed. Tell me what they say whgen you get the error. Also , resend me the file you were using, I have lost the original. I need to know how the min and max numbers shown relate to your machien coordinates.. IT seems to only happen in G43 moves, but Im stiull unclear exactly which ones..

Thanks
Art

1496

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: New LazyCam has lots of problems

« on: December 04, 2006, 09:24:59 AM »

Hi :

 Anew LazyCam is online that will load the current file from Mach3, and the optimise button may be unchecked.

Art

1497

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: New LazyCam has lots of problems

« on: December 04, 2006, 08:10:15 AM »

Hi Bill:

   >>I downloaded the file you suggested. It says it is the same version.

  Yes, I dont update version numbers when I do the quick fixes, that will get updated soon.

  >>The Optimise Drawing check box cannot be unchecked.

  Hmm, yup, just fixed that for next verison. LCAm does have some strange ones in it due to the rewrite recently to remove all the layer dialogs..

 >> If I do not check the box "Relayer" and I press either Optimise or Autoclean, I get a blank work screen (scary).

  Yup, another bug, Ill fix that up this morning..

 >> If I then check the "Relayer" option, the two buttons do work (and the lost image recovers too), and they do seem to produce reasonable clean chaining results. If I do autoclean once, it finds 4 of the five outside edges (squeezes 5 layers down to 4 layers), If I click a second time, it finds all 5 (and squeezes out another layer).

  It is a kind of AI algorithm, so it can, but usually doesnt, squeeze downwards in terms of Layers and chains. It seeks minimums that are reasonable.

>>   but I suspect it should be wary of merging layers, because there is usually a good reason for using multiple layers.

  Youd think , wouldnt ya. But its not the case. The more DXF's we get, the more bad dxfs we see. That assumption may work for you, but for most, the number of layers, or their use has little to do with original intent.

>>I am at a loss as to who your target average EasyCam user is. The files I am trying to convert to G Code are basically flat AutoCAD 2.5D drawings. as far as I can tell, they are nothing fancy. I convert all the lines to actual tool paths in AutoCAD (a somewhat painful process). I haven't used any complex shapes, and nothing 3 dimensional, where X, Y, & Z are all changing at once. The image I sent you was of some simple clock parts. The parts have through holes, milled surfaces (two different depths), and outside cuts (thus 4 layers).

   You should be using CAM. The average LCam user has profiles he wants done, he wants to import the DXF, because he has no idea how to use CAM, and he isnt separating into layers (that he knows of). I underatsnd this can be frustrating for you, but untill the layers dialog was removed, LCam was not very usefull to many people, since the recent changes, it is being hailed in letters from all over as the solution for those poeple that needed it. In fact we havent seen that kind of responce for LCAm before. OEM inquiries and variosu delaers want it separated as a chargable program. It amazing the responce lately. Unfortunatley, you fall on the other side, you use multiple layers, have inside and outside contopurs and as as areas you want milled. This puts you squarely in the CAM camp, the exact peopel who shouldnt be using LCam. WE will be trying to make it easier for you as well, but the target remains the 80% of users who have no clue what a layer is, or what order entities are in. Even your drawing is a horrible example of an import problem for a DXF importer. Look what it looks like as you import it. All the lines and arcs' are reversed to one another, chains do not connect.. yet, LCam does a pretty good job of cleaning it up. Its your requirement for separate layers, and the fact you want it all on one drawing thats killing you. ( I will try to make that easier though..)

  Im not busting your balls here, Im just pointing out we had a partiucular target audience with LCAm, and if you ever used the old DXF import dialog, youd know how far ahead you are with LCAm vs the old importer. To say this is complex is an understatement, look at your original drawing uncleaned, imagine trying to clean it.. Thats what most peopel faced , at least 80% have no idea what is in the DXF< they have hundreds of clip arts and such that they need toi import, they are now able to do so with an amazing level of success, that was the target audience.. It was inevitable that people like your self who know a bit mnore get frustrated with it, hence the name .. LazyCam, your doing so much work here that Lazyness doesnt enter into it, you shoudl be using CAM, you just havent made that jump yet..

  Loading a current MAch3 file works here, or did at last test, but it isnt importing GCode, its importing Mach3's movement table, (which is a bit different from Gcode..). Ill run some tests and see where that screwed up as well.

  Climb Mill is selected on a perchain basis by double clicking the leadin and selecting Climb for that chain. We're still firming up that interface. (Hugely complex when importing from a DXF. The tool number shoudl have been put out to match the tool you enetered for that layer. We'll check that as well..

Thanks
Art

1498

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: New LazyCam has lots of problems

« on: December 03, 2006, 10:07:08 PM »

All that having been said, redownload LCam from the downloads page, not mach3, just lcam. It will now load your file untouched, and nothign shoudl disappear or crash..

Art

1499

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: New LazyCam has lots of problems

« on: December 03, 2006, 09:19:58 PM »

Hi Bill:

Hi,
The new lazy cam is really badly broken.

>> Actually, its getting rave reviews from most. It depends alot on what the drawing is and what you expect.


I have a file with 5 layers, and it merged all five layers into one (no matter what I tried to tell Autoclean to do or not do). Seems that Autoclean is permanently ON. Then it named 3 of the 5 layers with the same name.

>> Yes, that does seem broken, if uncleaned, it should retain its layer information, we'll look into that..


Please let us control the layering. I use them to control DOC and Option select. The least you can do is ask if it is OK to tamper with the layers.

>>  We'll give a certain amount, but only as it pertains to what we're doing to clean it up. Lazycam is not a CAM program, its meant for a specific purpose, if a users files
generally cannot be used, then he needs a real CAM program, Lazycam is intended to make three of 4 clicks import a DXF, and give the variety of DXF's out there, its
not a simple thing, the complex users will ineveitably get pissed at times.

The top layer is usually my reference layer (non cutting) and I always turn it off. It now has everything stored in it. Bummer.
The three other layers weren't supposed to be empty, but they are now. All of the cuts will need to be sorted out again. (one of the cuts is very small and will be hard to select it to move it)
Up until now the dimension layer had been ignored, now it is proudly presented in the list even though it was empty in the first place.

  >> This one does seem a bug, we'll see what can be done about loading it in untouched.. (But cleaning it may remove the layer information again...

Most interesting, the optimized routing is not following a chain as a single cut. It broke all of the chains, and cuts most segments (primitives) separately. It almost seems to be maximizing the movement of the tool without cutting.

>> Interestinggly, it cleans here and looks good. Optimises just fine. But untouched , it is a mess, and all on one layer.. that can be fixed I think..

Just clicked on "relayer" and it did some intersting sorting... got most of the outsides right, but grouped the insides somewhat randomly. It looks to be a better place to start my end of the sorting, I guess. (I want my layers back)

Origin is not automatically minimized.

>>Nope, if you want it minimized, youd have to tell it to do so..

Whatever you do, Do not press the "Optimise" button! It will erase all of your sorting work and leave you with an empty screen. Mega bummer! I get to start ALL over again.

Lazy cam needs to be able to pull in a G Code file from the disk. So I can do frequent saves while trying to get it right.

>>Not going to happen. Its a importer, not a Gcode interpreter...

Note the three g code submissions; the first ....B file is from the old LC program (took only a minute to set up correctly) and the ....X2 file is from the new LC program. The second took much longer to get to this point and it is almost useless, because I can't find a way to make a chain as one uninterrupted cut, nor am I sure I have all of the layers sorted properly. The third is the DXF source.

The new program is now click intensive, far too many clicks to do a single task. Perhaps the list boxes should pop up open.  The data table was nice for this reason.

Guys, you were doing so good! What happened?

Just found multi select... nice.
"Set Layer Depth" command crashes the program. Please disable it or fix it, and the others that crash.
Enough complaining for now. Switching back to an older version.

  >> I suggest you keep that old version, the newer versions may never follow your work flow, you may be better off getting sheetcam, or mastercam, or dolphin cam..etc..
       We really are aiming at simplicity, whiel you have pointed out a layering bug here, the rest looks like its either related to that bug, or that your workflow on DXF's will
       not match LCam for a bit.  Most dont even begin to understand the complexity of whats being done.. for those I suggest real CAM programs.. :-)

Art

 

1500

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Z fails if hit 2nd time

« on: December 03, 2006, 06:32:29 PM »

David:

 What do you have selected in the config/Safe_z dialog..?

Art