Messages

771

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Newbie questions about circle pocket cutting

« on: October 15, 2008, 07:10:10 PM »

The wizards are a quick way to machine common tasks. When you specify a tool in the wizard, it calculates the diameter of the tool into the code. Notice there is no tool offset commands in the code (G42-G43,G40). There may be some wizards that work differently, I haven't looked at them all. If you need a smaller hole, you will haft to re-enter the wizard and change your numbers. That's the way I understand it, anyways. If you have a CAM package, most likely you will have the option to change your hole diameter by changing the tool number or diameter in Mach3. You could also do a wizard for roughing out the pocket, then write a simple circle path manually with tool comp, for the finish pass. This would allow you to make changes to the diameter.

Secondly, once this is perfect I want to stick it in a subroutine.  I'm going to want to cut many of these parts out of a single sheet of Plexiglas, so I figure I can have a main program that's just "move to location, call routine to cut part, move to next location, call routine, etc."  But the wizard spits out absolute coordinates, how can I convert them to relative coordinates so they can go in a subroutine?   Or is there a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do?

There are many ways to accomplish this, and it basically boils down to personal preference on the methods you choose. Chapter 7.7, and Chapter 10 of the manual may deserve a good reading. I'm not the village expert on subs and G-code, so I will not go into detail.

772

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: A BIG mistake.

« on: October 13, 2008, 07:26:09 PM »

Hehe....Photoshop is fun, isn't it!!!

773

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Lithopane

« on: October 11, 2008, 01:57:17 PM »

A source of corian might be a place that makes Kitchen or bathroom counter tops. You could prolly get it without much effort there. Corian is also great for making 3D stuff too. Check out Scotts post here. http://vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=821. I would love to get some nice thick slabs of it myself. I bet you could make some nice turnings with it. The litho's  look awesome, by the way.

774

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Some new toys for my Taig

« on: October 08, 2008, 07:59:51 PM »

I have no idea what the brand is, or even the name of the material. I don't purchase it, but I certainly do recognize it. It is a common job that comes up where I work. I do have a few sites, but none show anything I sell. Loose lips sink ships as the old saying goes. Paranoia, greed, whatever.  Lots of pics from my army friends, and maybe a few cnc and hobby pics, but that's about it. http://sinistersam.com/gallery2/main.php I have been planning on making a guitar body, but its still in the design phase. These things take time ya know. It's only been over a year from concept. Don't rush me. I'm letting the wood acclimate to the shop environment. Yeah, that's it.

775

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Some new toys for my Taig

« on: October 08, 2008, 07:15:00 PM »

I mill quiet a bit of that same plastic material. The static cling on that stuff is unreal, isn't it! I usually end up still getting chips of it in my end of the day cleanings for a couple weeks after the job is done.

776

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Some new toys for my Taig

« on: October 08, 2008, 07:08:11 PM »

It seems we have a guitar enthusiast among us.

exhibit "A"

Looks like a truss rod cover.  --TP

And yes, you're quite right, Tim, but you knew that already, didn't you -

exhibit "B" is a photo with the ESP logo on it. Have you made any guitar bodies Dave?

777

Feature Requests / Re: Download Options

« on: October 08, 2008, 06:58:28 PM »

Got to get a post in to prevent relegation.

Only users that had very few post were subject to banishment. You would not have been included in the exile.

I find it tedious to get rid of the green markers

Me too. I simply placed a bookmark to "all unread topics" to my shortcut bar, and it displays all the unread post nicely in a list so that I may choose which of are interest. When done, I simply click "mark as read" at the bottom so they don't show up next time.
I never get any email notifications, unless there is a reply to a post that I have participated in. This is a setting in your profile.

778

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Probably a REALLY basic question....

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:03:54 AM »

how does the program know what it is starting with?

Short answer.....It doesn't know.
You have to tell it where to cut. It does not know, or even care, if the cuts are in a pipe, a solid rod, a square piece of wax, or a human finger.
To put it in basic terms, what you normally do is determine a point on your tube to reference everything else to. Lets say the far left end of the pipe, bar, block, is X axis zero. the center of the part is Y axis zero, and the top of the part is Z axis zero. All of your features would be referenced from these points. You can input the proper G-code manually, or you can take your cad drawing, and import it into a cam program to make tool paths. Most cam programs have basic cad functions, and sometimes its just easier to do the cad portion in the cam program. Anyhow.....you, or a cam program has to tell the machine where to cut, because it has no idea without instructions. You might think of it like instructing a blind person how to navigate an obstacle course. They don't know what the obstacles are, or even care, there just going to step where you tell them to.

don't I have to tell the program the starting dimensions of the block so it knows what has to be cut away

nope. You have to tell the cam program the dimensions of the block so that IT can make a proper tool path to instruct Mach what to cut.

If all your wanting is simple slots and holes, the wizards that come with mach should suffice just fine. No need for an expensive cam program. You could even program them in manually without much effort. If you get that A axis, and start doing complex cuts, your most likely going to need some cam software.

P.S.   we are all dumb newbs at some point.

779

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: Lithopane

« on: October 07, 2008, 10:13:39 PM »

Everybody needs a chuckle now and again. Glad to be of service. Ain't nothin' in life free though. That will be $1.57 please.

780

General Mach Discussion / Re: We must give thanks to the spammers

« on: October 07, 2008, 10:03:09 PM »

Yep, we broke some forum records today. Most users online, for one, and a darn good stab at most posts/month. Hood has a strong lead with over 4300 post. That lead should shrink by a huge margin when Brett removes all of the spam post count from the PHP database, though.