Cutter Comp

[Farmers Machine]

on my Milltronics mill using cutter comp, a 4x4 square with X&Y in the center with 1/2 endmill will show 2.25 on the screen when moving around the part.

my attempt to use cutter comp with .09 kerf on oxyfuel torch did not display 0.045 over on straight cuts but the part was within 32nd of right.
program went as
G0 X-.3Y-.3
M00
G42 G1 F20.
T1
X0Y0
X5.
Y5.
X4.50
X0Y.5
Y0
G40
M00
M30


M00 was to turn on and off oxygen,
on the tool page I entered 0.09 in the size box of the tool page but no other entries. I am wondering if comp took effect or not? the part was closer to size than parts prevously torched without G42 line. does there need to be more info programmed to make it work or does it not display the offset?
Thank You
The Farmer
PS: the more you learn the less you really know.

[Karl_T]

Not positve on this but you involked comp without a tool so you get 0 offset. move your T1 ahead of your G42.

Karl

[Karl_T]

Originally Posted by Karl_T Not positve on this but you involked comp without a tool so you get 0 offset. move your T1 ahead of your G42. Karl

This isn't it. I quickly tried G41 and G42 on my machine. They don't appear to work. Don't have time to figure it out today. let me know what you find.

Karl

[camsoft]

We tried the program and it worked good. We can see the original part and the offset path in the graphical wireframe mode as it's cuttings.

Karl is right, about the T1 line needing to come prior to the G42.

3 prices of advice to make it better:

(1) While it's okay to lead in a corner at 45 degrees it would better to follow the guide lines for proper lead on and lead off on pages 8-43 thru 8-46. There are some examples there too.

(2) Make sure you have .09 as the tool size for tool 1 entered in the tool parameter screen and T1 comes on the line above G42

(3) If it doesn't work at all it must be something simple. Check if the LOADING command has skipped over these G codes or if the RULES files are left to the default settings.

Tech Support
CamSoft Corp.
support@camsoftcorp.com
PH 951-674-8100
Fax 951-674-3110
www.cnccontrols.com

[Farmers Machine]

Thank You all for your help and response.

What is the loading command and where do I access it?

What should the rules setting be?

Thank You
The Farmer.

[Karl_T]

Rules is found in CNCsetup. Click on the rules Icon and button on the cutter comp button. You need to leave this at default settings. if you haven't touched it, that is most likely what you have.

LOADING only is used in CNCpro. It is easily the most confusing command in Camsoft. In Pro, your Gcode program is loaded into memory and preprocessed. It in effect runs the gcode once in memory. This is done to allow high performace cutting especially on something like a mold program with 1000s of lines of very small code segments. It has a downside though, your code is read and all macros run and variables used are changed. it leaves no trace in the Logfile so you can get very confusing results. To prevent this use this line in nearly all of your macros in CNCpro:

LOADING \55:IF\55=0THENEXIT

You need to NOT use this in most of your Gcodes. I have found it necessary for the canned cycle Gcodes. This results in the preprosed canned cycle moves not showing in the graphics display. And it would disable all the high speed possiblities if you used these codes in a high speed program.

Camsoft is telling you use of LOADING in cutter comp Gcodes would foul things up.




I use the tool parameters all the time on my lathes but not on my mill. (The cam program takes care of different tool sizes) A quick one minute test of your Gcode showed G41 and G42 don't work on my machine either. I quickly verified TOOLSIZE had been read but had no time to go farther. I'm sure RULES and LOADING aren't the issue on my mill. Low priority for me but I'd like to get cutter comp working on my machine as well.

On my lathe, tool parameters are implemented explicitly in the M6 comand with a four digit T word. The first digits inform the turret where to re position and the second two digits read the tool parameters. Here's a lathe M6:



' Calculates tool number and offset
' T0203 tool 2 offset 3
' Must give 2 digits for tool number and offset
\127=t
:LOOP
\127={\127-100}
IF\127=>100THEN GOTO :LOOP '\127 is the t value for tool offset table
\126={INT(t/100)} '\126 is the turret index location
IF\126>0THENt=\126 'tool number
IF\127=0THENEXIT

IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . Index to Turret \126
\806=2 '\806=2 tells [turret index] to read \805 from M6 (here) not panel
\801=\126 'set \801 for [turret index] to value read in M6
\142=0 'set flag for index NOT complete
[TURRETINDEX] 'Index the turret
IF \142=0 THEN EOP:MESSAGE Program abort index failure:EXIT

TOOLNUMBER \127 'force the tool number need this???????
DISPLAY1 \127 'Display current toolnumber
t=\127
TOOLSIZE\127 \128;USEREAD
TOOLVERT\127 \129;USEREAD
DISPLAY2 \129 'Display current toolvert
TOOLHORZ\127 \130;USEREAD
DISPLAY3 \130 'Display current toolhorz
TOOLHEIGHT\127 \131;USEREAD
IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . tool offset \127
IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . TOOLSIZE 128 IS \128
IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . TOOLVERT 129 IS \129
IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . TOOLHORZ 130 IS \130
IF \140=1 THEN MESSAGE . TOOLHEIGHT 131 IS \131
-----M6

[camsoft]

RESTORE the Default.CBK and run your part in Wire Frame mode.

This is a complete working example of a generic 3 axis mill / router. If you
have the current version it's called the New Default.CBK with slightly different bitmaps.

Tech Support
CamSoft Corp.
support@camsoftcorp.com
PH 951-674-8100
Fax 951-674-3110
www.cnccontrols.com