That was Greek to me. Is this something I do in Mach3, Cut2D, or by editing the G-code after it's been processed by Cut2D?Originally Posted by james mcgrew
[OP]
Member
That was Greek to me. Is this something I do in Mach3, Cut2D, or by editing the G-code after it's been processed by Cut2D?
Friend of the Creek
untill we can see the file or get online and show you the program we are a bit powerless on this,
please save the cut 2d file email it to someone who is familiar with this and we can check it out, at this point and after this long read thread i am gonna ask robert alexander or any of the others to chime in and explain the value of a crossloop session on this stuff,
sometime ago i was asked to help a fellow who was having trouble getting his cnc going, when i called him (most had given up on him) as soon as i got on the phone with him he started %*#$ mouthing the cnc company, the software company and most of his words were final negative's kinda like practicing contempt prior to investigation, after he finished i told him if he mentioned these people or software again i would hang up the phone as he was just distracting himself from finding his solution.
i then found he had virtually no "computr" experience and getting him to find or save a file was a real feat of indurance, he had developed the one button or "majic button" machining syndrome that guy will point out does not exist. he was (i could tell) a good cabinetmaker and i was able to gain his confidence that we spoke that language together, everyonce in a while he would start that doggone mouthing again and i would caution him on the fact that i would hang up and we would get back on track. it took a couple of months and his cnc is an integrated part of his shop he is one of my dearest friends in this and only helped me to sharpen my skills, i probably benefited more than he did from this.
most all successful cnc'ers i keep up with learn and are exposed by teaching other's, whether one wants to learn the hard or simple way is still the students choice (i cannot tell you i made that decision well when i was in school!) cut 2d is a wonderful product and there is another forum for it on vectric where there are about 3000 fellows and gals just waiting to help! or you can email one of us the file!
jim
Last edited by james mcgrew; 12-11-2009 at 6:46 AM.
Member
Bryan,
It means that you can change the area on the vector (pattern/curve/line/ that is the starting point. On a closed vector such as a circle, this will also be the end point. You can do this in your CAD program, such as Rhino, the command Change Curve Start will allow you to selct the point and move it to a location on the vector. This point is where your bit will enter when you produce the CAM file. For programs like Parts Wizard and Aspire which seem to be based on ArtCam, you Change the Starting Node. This is usally a node that is represented by a color that is different from all the other nodes when all nodes are open. When not in Node Edit, it is the little square block or point that appears on your vector. You can move this node to the center of a straight line. If the line falls on an angle, the X and Y will still move in a linear mode but the code is not as complicated as if the start point was on a radius.
Ideal situation is for the node to be on a Y or X straight line that is at least as long as your Ramp or longer. This will only have the appropriate axis and the Z axis working at the same time while the other axis remains locked.
Technically it should make no difference. The machine should at the very least be able to cut 3D without stalling on any axis. If it is stalling then very likely your Mach 3 settings are not where they should be. My ShopBot and 10 Spindle machine is frequently used for cutting small complex 3D objects which do not have any straight lines.
What appears to be a stutter is the machine trying to hit every coordinate on a line before moving to the next location. Unfortunately, this is not always possible because of the speed of the cut.
Try to visualize your code to the second decimal. .01 through .09 will be achieved by the machine much faster then .0100 to .0900.
Visual Mill allows me to select a tolerance based on this. If my Intol and Outol are set to .01 the code generted smooths the transition between number by .01. If I select .0001 for my Intol and Outol, the code generated will account for less smoothing and more accuracy causing the machine to essentialy stop at everyone of those locations to make a cut.
This also affects the size of the program. Code based on .01 will be shorter then code based on .0001.
Since I do not run Mach 3 I am guessing that your smoothing and your angle settings in the machine are playing a strong part in this.
Eric touched on WINCNC earlier in this thread, It is a good program for these machines but is a little complicated for the hobbyist user. Both Eric and I worked on our settings, myself especially because my machine does so many different types of cutting that there is no one generic setting that works for me. You can see more on this at CAMheads.org under the thread WINCNC Settings. I now have 4 sets of INI files that tell my machine what to do and how to do it for the jobs I am cutting. ShopBot has a Wizard that lets you adjust similar settings right on screen, you can even do it while the machine is running by using the Insert Command prompt. I asked aboout this last year for WINCNC and have not seen it yet. I will probaby have to learn VB or something like that and make the damn wizard myself.
Now that you are really confused, bottomline, try moving the cut start positon node in you CAD software and then generate a new file. Also see if you can change the tolerances for cutting on your tool paths. If that does not work, the Mach 3 guys are going to have to chime in and talk about how to change the accel and decel, smoothing, radius and angle tolerances within Mach 3 itself. Your other option will be to wait for me to finish building my new machine before I start to work with Mach 3 but I am guessing that you want to resume cutting today.
Guy
Last edited by Guy Mathews; 12-11-2009 at 6:36 AM.
Thinking outside the box is one thing, being able to accomplish what you think of, is another.
Software Rhino 3.0 & 4.0, Corel 12, Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, Parts Wizard, Visual Mill 5.0 & 6.0, Rhino CAM/Art, Claytools, Microsoft Word, Notepad.
Access to Hardware CAMaster 510 ATC w/4th Axis 8' Lathe, Kitako 10 Spindle CNC 4th Axis Carving Machine, Polhemus FastScan and LDI Surveyor 3500 Laser Scanners, Sensable Haptics.
Friend of the Creek
in cut 2d
first save file under a different name so you keep an original,
then select "node editing" - then select you vector - the little green square is your start node, a black one id a node point and a blue one is a smooth node (preferable to a curve) each line betwwen a node is a line of code.
lets start here
Last edited by james mcgrew; 12-11-2009 at 7:01 AM.
Member
Jim
You could have saved me a lot of time by providing that example with your original post of moving the start node rather then assuming that Bryan was going to know what you were talking about.
Yes I am up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!
Guy
Software Rhino 3.0 & 4.0, Corel 12, Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, Parts Wizard, Visual Mill 5.0 & 6.0, Rhino CAM/Art, Claytools, Microsoft Word, Notepad.
Access to Hardware CAMaster 510 ATC w/4th Axis 8' Lathe, Kitako 10 Spindle CNC 4th Axis Carving Machine, Polhemus FastScan and LDI Surveyor 3500 Laser Scanners, Sensable Haptics.
Friend of the Creek
guy is spot on and the cool thing is i am starting to understand him!!!
i try to avoid any curves in ramping (unless it is part of the finished work) and do 3d in as few axis changes as possible while it is minor on most cases on a large 3d file it can increase cut time significantly!!
lots of nodes lots of code!!
Friend of the Creek
good morning to ya!! and i will not take back the part about starting to understand ya!!!
lol
jim
Friend of the Creek
to change a node move the mouse pointer onto the node and right click.
to change a startpoint creat a node then make start point
whil this still may not reduce your "stutter" it is good info!!
Friend of the Creek
Jim
You could have saved me a lot of time by providing that example with your original post of moving the start node rather then assuming that Bryan was going to know what you were talking about.
Yes I am up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!
Guy
my hope in this is he will accept some online training instead of this between lunch approach
PS: get back in bed and get up on the other side, there are a lot of people still to face today and i am yet to know who they are, i got "raided" by "OSHA" yesterday so i am reading up on all my in house programs, we passed initial but sometimes that just pisses them off that we really do try to know our business
they are coming back monday!!
cut 2d forum is here just scroll down
http://www.vectric.com/forum/
jim
Last edited by james mcgrew; 12-11-2009 at 7:35 AM.
Member
I want to be as polite as needed and still make my point. But I lived in Chicago most of my life and my approach usually comes off as a little to blunt for the rest of the world.
Posting on a third party forum for help on your new machine seems to be a poor way to receive said help.
Would you post here for help on your new grizzly band saw or your new Stopsaw or even your Jet jointer? I think not. You would have visited the manufactures web site or called them directly. This would be the proper way to get the help you need on your new machine. At the least, you should have posted there and called as well as having requested help here.
From reading the posts and what slowly came out over several days, It would appear that you do not fully understand how to set parameters in, or completely understand how to use your software. Your settings are off and you are putting unnecessary strain on your machine that resulted in mechanical failure.
The fact that Camaster is willing to handle this on a third party forum to help you with your problem is a testament to their willingness to service their customers. Most manufactures would not even consider answering a request for help not placed through proper channels.
Best Regards
Jim J.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Camaster Cobra 408 working table size 48 x 98
Wincnc,AspireII,PhotoVcarve,Cut3D
HX6090SE 60Wworking table 23”X36”
LaserCut 5.3
Coreldraw X3, photograV 3.0, Photozoom3
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Bryan,
take a look at this video.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=.../8/ZU3wpInO9LM
This sold me on the Camaster. You do not need the web cam. just the computer. I have had years of experience doing CNC, but I still needed help.(I'm going to do another Croosloop session with Jim on my 2nd tool setup)It saved me alot of frustration. Jim and Joey of Camaster have tons of knowledge, and it's free for the asking.
Camaster CR410 & Epilog Helix
Prosperity, is something that business people create.......for politicians to take the credit for.
Member
Jim,
I was not able to get back to bed and am not doing much better. A business aquaintance and good friend passed away last week and I have to finish another urn today.
I swear, I am becoming the Dr. Death of Woodworking, this being my 3rd urn in the last 3 months!
Anyway, sorry if I seemed out of sorts this morning Jim. Just needed to vent and unfortunately you were the one I vented to. Lets call it a bad CNC Day and move on.
Anyhow, as Jim J said, Bryan, you are tackling this in kind of the wrong way, however, the folks here are happy to help, when we can.
The attached photos of the urn I am working on will give you and idea of tolerances. The inlays are offset .005 from the area clear portions on the letters. There is no filler, The letters are glued in place and seated with a board and a gentle tap from a dead blow hammer. The CAMaster will perform quite well, but there are many, many factors that come into play with CNC.
If Jim is offering online classes though Cross Loop, Yugma or Go to my PC, I strongly recommend you take the classes.
On the flip, side, I have been doing Custom CNC for a while now, and just learned a new trick this morning for profile cutting using V-bits to create the needed angles on the sides of the piece. I knew it could be done, I just did not know how to do it until now.
Don't even get me going on 4th axis work!
In the meantime, here are some urn/memory box photos to take a gander at. Lacquer this afternoon to make the walnut and curly maple pop!
Guy
Last edited by Guy Mathews; 12-11-2009 at 11:32 AM.
Software Rhino 3.0 & 4.0, Corel 12, Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, Parts Wizard, Visual Mill 5.0 & 6.0, Rhino CAM/Art, Claytools, Microsoft Word, Notepad.
Access to Hardware CAMaster 510 ATC w/4th Axis 8' Lathe, Kitako 10 Spindle CNC 4th Axis Carving Machine, Polhemus FastScan and LDI Surveyor 3500 Laser Scanners, Sensable Haptics.
Friend of the Creek
guy, i have told you before and i will tell you again:
you are a friend of mine and there is nothing you can do about that!!
sorry to hear of your friend, we have had a passing as well and i am waiting on deminsions for the ash box as they want it incorporated.
jim
[OP]
Member
If Jim wants to do a Crossloop session after 7-8pm on the weekdays, I'm game. Remember, this isn't my day job. I don't have the luxury of spending 9 hours each day in front of the CNC or the computer running it. I have to learn everything in small steps day by day.
Jim,
I just sent you an email with the .crv file.
Member
I'd love to see how those parts are cut on the CNC. Is that all 3 axis cutting? How do you do the cutting around the edges?
A beautiful box, and sorry to hear about the passing of your friend.
CAMaster CR-408 Cobra X3
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