POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

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Gary Campbell
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:32 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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CNC Control System Serial Number: Acorn 238
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CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Marquette, MI
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Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Gary Campbell »

Charlie...
OF course there are differences between CAM programs, but for the most part they work pretty much the same.

What CAD/CAM program do you use now?

For example, I use Vectric products. I edited my post processor to have a pause after the spindle starts. In the postP after the "T# M6" you can add "G4 P3" (without quotes) where the 3 is seconds that it will pause, adjust to your liking.
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Charlie.G
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Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,
I Am using artcam 2008 I see that there are newer versions of artcam but autodesk is no longer
supporting it. it looks like I can get free versions of it dont know if they are legal, but...
since I am reconfiguring the machine, and changing everything, I thought I would ask to see
if there is something better, my brother uses sheetcam for his plasma cutter,
I thought I might give that a try they have an output for centroid,
and I mainly do 2.5d machining. I am open for suggestions don't want to dump a ton of dough
into a program. as far as editing the post processor that is some of my next questions
my artcam has a delay in it for the spindle for mach 3 but it must be different than the centroid
I noticed that it did not work when I ran a test file, looks like the rest of the file worked ok.
I didn't try doing any tool changes or anything. I had a friend of mine set me up with this 7-8 years
ago or so, he helped me with the post processor (he was running a machine just like mine)
so I helped him with the build of the machine he helped me with the software.
so I just used it and it worked didn't need to know anything, but mach 3 was having issues
so I wanted to migrate to something better and that had support my brother went to linux
cnc that was modified by a reseller I didn't want to go that route wanted to stay with windows.
that is when I ran across the acorn the rest is history as they say.
I would also add that I use a cam program (signlab used for my sign business) to draw my parts and import them as dxf files into artcam
to apply the machining information I would like to keep doing it that way if I can.
if you have any suggestions I will check them out.
Gary thank you for your help,
Charlie
Gary Campbell
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:32 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: Acorn 238
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Marquette, MI
Contact:

Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Gary Campbell »

Charlie...
ArtCAM 2008 has an editable postP. they will be in the post or postP folder. You can open it with notepad or any text editor. Open the one you used with Mach and the Centroid version side by side. make the changes that you need.

As an alternative, you can add the G4 line to your M3 macro

I use Vectric products. You can get VCarve Pro for around $700. It may be lacking in number of machining options compared to Artcam. Dont know if you need them, but there are substantially less. You can download a demo version online.
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Charlie.G
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:46 pm
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Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,

I will look into the v carve pro
and look at making the changes to the post.

thank you I am sure I will have a few more questions,
Charlie
Charlie.G
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:46 pm
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Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: 38D2693D0BD1-0105180478MPU12
DC3IOB: No
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,
I have a few more questions.....
so instead of acquiring a new post processor software
I can just modify my existing post processor file to fit my needs.
this seems like the way I would like to go, I already know the software
and won't cost me anything but some time...and some dumb questions??
so here it goes...
the file I used for Mach and for centroid were the same output,
the one I am using is Mach toolchange (inch)*.tap (this is in the drop down menu for exporting the file)
when I go to the post p file there is a list of output types
but none of them are the same as the name in the drop down menu.
so is there a directory or file where this will be?

thanks,
Charlie
Gary Campbell
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:32 pm
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Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Gary Campbell »

Charlie..
Open the postP folder. Are there any files there that have "Centroid" in the name?
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Charlie.G
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:46 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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DC3IOB: No
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Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,
no there is not.


Charlie
Gary Campbell
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:32 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: Acorn 238
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Marquette, MI
Contact:

Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Gary Campbell »

Then, unless you're good at modifying one from scratch, going to your reseller is the only way.

That is unless you are one of thousands that have the hacked version of ArtCAM 2008, then you will find very few, including myself that will assist. You may want to get something that is not 10 years old and has post processors for current machines.
GCnC Control
CNC Control & Retrofits
https://www.youtube.com/user/Islaww1/videos
Charlie.G
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:46 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: 38D2693D0BD1-0105180478MPU12
DC3IOB: No
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,
thank you,
I will pursue an alternative,
I will see what is out there...

thanks again,
Charlie
Charlie.G
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:46 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: 38D2693D0BD1-0105180478MPU12
DC3IOB: No
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: POST PROCESSOR QUESTIONS

Post by Charlie.G »

Gary,
I just purchased V Carve pro,
thanks for the recommendation,
it is very similar to using artcam
I selected the centroid inch post processor.
I will need to test with my machine, to see if it works correctly
any suggestions on changes before I test this out...
I see that there is a pause built into the post for 2 seconds.
might need to make that a bit longer but want to try it out the
way it is first.

Charlie
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