Restarting NC-Studio at finish pass

[wizzardworks]

Just when you think you have screwed up every possible way a new one appears. Today I sprayed some moly dry lube on the ballscrew under my J-cut 6090A and must have touched a limit switch. Execution stopped and would only restart from the beginning of the file. There is a resume button on the operation menu but it was grayed out. I tried scrolling down the G-code and selecting start but it went back to the beginning. Selections like advanced start were also grayed out. So I air cut for 5 hours to get back to where I screwed up.
Occasionally, I see that I could skip one of the three finish passes if I could just skip ahead down the code. Does anyone know if this is possible or how to do it?
wizzardworks

[Butterknife]

Wizzardworks,

Can't you just break the file into seperate parts? I do it all the time. If you know the line number you'd like to start on, it really isn't that tough.

WinCNC has a Restart function. If I stop cutting during a file, I can click the Restart button and it will show me the line I stopped on. I can choose that line or give it a line number. I usually back it up a little for the restart. Example: it stops on line 1000, I restart on about line 980. It gives a smooth lead-in to the rest of the file.

Butterknife

[wizzardworks]

Originally Posted by Butterknife Wizzardworks, Can't you just break the file into seperate parts? I do it all the time. If you know the line number you'd like to start on, it really isn't that tough. WinCNC has a Restart function. If I stop cutting during a file, I can click the Restart button and it will show me the line I stopped on. I can choose that line or give it a line number. I usually back it up a little for the restart. Example: it stops on line 1000, I restart on about line 980. It gives a smooth lead-in to the rest of the file. Butterknife

Butterknife, I could make separate files or edit in pause commands. Generally after the roughing pass is vaccumed up I let it run overnight on the three finish passes. With separate files or pause commands It would stop and wait for input. Today I managed to shut off the surge protector for the computers and had to cut 5 hours of air. The surge protector is not wired off the 220 for the rest of the 6090A because if it looks like an electrical storm I pause the execution and turn off the 220. The program stays powered on and when the 220 is back on it picks up where it left off.
I could also rewrite the G-code leaving out the X direction finish passes after the waterline finish then do the Y direction finish pass. The roughing pass is in the X direction and the code measures back from the finish dimensions for each pass. This occasionally leaves very little for the X finish pass to remove.
The NC-studio operates the machine very well and the english version of the manual from saleCNC.com has got me running. I just think that if I knew what the advance start and MDI menu items did or how to use them I might be able to start at a particular line number.
wizzardworks

[robbec]

Hi, this may be of use to you, although you may already know how to use this feature.

To find a start point nearer to where your file stopped use the SIMULATION MODE, once this has run through to the end don't uncheck SIMULATION MODE just open the ADVANCED START option. Select LINE NUMBER at the top of this menu, on the left side select POSITION, below that enter a line number to start from, on the right menu select POSITION & enter a line number to stop at then click OK. The software will show a cut simulation of the selected section of code you specified. Repeat this untill you have found a point near to where you want to restart the code from.

Once you have found a line number to start from, uncheck SIMULATION MODE then select the ADVANCED START option, select LINE NUMBER at the top of this menu, on the left side select POSITION, below that enter the line number which you are wanting to start from, on the right menu select END so that the file will run untill finished, then select OK to restart the file.

This should make it easier than running the entire file from start to finish (if you are not able to resume automatically).

If you stop the machine in the middle of a cut for any reason, you can restart automatically from the stop point by opening ADVANCED START, then the line number which the code was stopped at should already be shown in the start from box, select OK & it will restart from that point.

This feature also lets you break up large files of code into smaller blocks so you can run them at different times (without actually editing the code file), you just need to remember the start & finish line numbers you have used so you can resume from that point.

Hope this makes sense & helps, let me know.

Rob

[wizzardworks]

Originally Posted by robbec Hi, this may be of use to you, although you may already know how to use this feature. To find a start point nearer to where your file stopped use the SIMULATION MODE, once this has run through to the end don't uncheck SIMULATION MODE just open the ADVANCED START option. Select LINE NUMBER at the top of this menu, on the left side select POSITION, below that enter a line number to start from, on the right menu select POSITION & enter a line number to stop at then click OK. The software will show a cut simulation of the selected section of code you specified. Repeat this untill you have found a point near to where you want to restart the code from. Once you have found a line number to start from, uncheck SIMULATION MODE then select the ADVANCED START option, select LINE NUMBER at the top of this menu, on the left side select POSITION, below that enter the line number which you are wanting to start from, on the right menu select END so that the file will run untill finished, then select OK to restart the file. This should make it easier than running the entire file from start to finish (if you are not able to resume automatically). If you stop the machine in the middle of a cut for any reason, you can restart automatically from the stop point by opening ADVANCED START, then the line number which the code was stopped at should already be shown in the start from box, select OK & it will restart from that point. This feature also lets you break up large files of code into smaller blocks so you can run them at different times (without actually editing the code file), you just need to remember the start & finish line numbers you have used so you can resume from that point. Hope this makes sense & helps, let me know. Rob

Rob, that's exactly what I needed to know. Sometime this week I can run a few thousand lines of code and try this out. I havent had the display line number checkbox selected because I am runnuing on a 733Mhz computer and didn't know if adding to the display would slow down the processing or hang something up. I slowed down the feed rate to 900 mm/min a couple of parts ago from the previous 1200 mm/min. Everything was running fine at the higher speed so there is apparently some processing overhead available. I can locate the change point of the finish passes by scrolling down and watching for the change in what coordinates are incrementing (x,y x,z y,z) and read off the line number. Thanks for the information.
wizzardworks