Intercon wish list.

[Scary]

Hi all,
I was wondering if there was a way to implement a few changes to the intercon pages (lathe) either through settings I don't know about or possibly a development upgrade. None of these items are hugely important but would be a nice option to have.

Firstly, it would be nice if you could scroll up or down through the current loaded file directly on the main page rather than having to open edit or even have the code displayed in a section on the run page with the ability to scroll and maybe even a "run from here" button rather than having to use the search function.

Second, in the top data set where the feed rate and selected tool are displayed, after the tool number have the tool description displayed so one can double check the correct tooling.

Third, have a "casting" option to allow a profile to be designed but be able to choose an offset and only run finish passes and not the roughing cycles for when working on rough cast items or irregular stock shapes. As a workaround I am making the "stock to leave" option but it means I have to skip the roughing cuts each time I run rather than just a cycle start.

If these are able to be configured somehow I'd love to know!
Thanks for your help

[centroidsupport]

Thanks for your input!

I'm not at my computer at the moment but I'll answer as best I can and check in the morning.

"Casting" I'm pretty you achieve what you're looking for by programming a profile, use a different tool number for the finish pass(es) and then use smart search to run from the finish tool number. This has been ask for before and should be relatively easy to implement. I'll pass it along again

"Display tool description" Good idea, I'll pass this along. In the meantime, I have some ideas on how this can be implemented. I'll investigate and get back to you.

"Run from here" Again, I'll pass this along. In the meantime, I have some ideas on how this can be implemented. I'll investigate and get back to you. How many lines of gcode were you hoping to be displayed?

[Scary]

Wow, thanks for the great response, very timely.

I was thinking if the code was displayed in the "run" page the same (but slightly smaller font) as the main page and have 2-3 lines each side of the center highlight would be good as you should be able to get a fair idea of where you are in the program by seeing 1/2 dozen lines in total.

With the castings, I am basically doing what you suggested but without the different tools for rough and finish. Maybe that's one way to implement the desired result is if you could choose a "void" tool so the gcode just skips that tool selection and continues when the next tool is selected allowing you to run the code normally without searching.

[Scary]

Hi Centroid,
Ate there any updates to this as yet?

[Muzzer]

I'm guessing you haven't been watching the recent discussion about "Intercon feature requests". It's a sticky, so it's the very first item at the top of this forum page.
https://centroidcncforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=6742

[tblough]

Can we get a "displayed" tool diameter in the tool table for graphing? I use tool wear compensation strategy so my tool diameters are all in the +-0.001 range and therefore don't show up when graphing.

[cnckeith]

hey guys, thanks for the suggestions, i am logging them.
at some point in 2023 we hope to start a complete rewrite of Intercon, all your suggestions will be part of that project! so keep them coming.

[carbuthn]

Keith, one thing that I think would be helpful is the ability to make gears. I am building a small hit and miss engine from bar stock. I need to make two gears with a diametral pitch of 48, one with 24 teeth and one with 48 teeth. It would be nice to have intercon generate the g-code to rotate the rotary table and to move the x axis back and forth between changes of the rotary table. One input would be the pitch and the number of teeth. It can calculate the degrees between each tooth.

[cnckeith]

Keith, one thing that I think would be helpful is the ability to make gears. I am building a small hit and miss engine from bar stock. I need to make two gears with a diametral pitch of 48, one with 24 teeth and one with 48 teeth. It would be nice to have intercon generate the g-code to rotate the rotary table and to move the x axis back and forth between changes of the rotary table. One input would be the pitch and the number of teeth. It can calculate the degrees between each tooth.

thanks, probably would not be implemented in Intercon. i suggest stand alone program to gen the g code to do this.
tech support for hobbing and gear making this is HUGE. we can't afford to dive into this arena in the low cost DIY software world.
sounds like opportunity for someone to create a stand alone app for gear making. we provide all the "tools" to do this at no charge.

[Cahark]

hey guys, thanks for the suggestions, i am logging them.
at some point in 2023 we hope to start a complete rewrite of Intercon, all your suggestions will be part of that project! so keep them coming.

Kieth,

Thanks for being open to input. My suggestion is the addition of Intercon stick lettering, or bonus points for stick lettering & TrueType fonts. It would be nice to engrave text along a line, or wrapped around a radius. It would also be helpful to be able to edit character height, width, and spacing independently.

Even without, intercon is great!