Problems Post Processing

[L2A3]

I created one program making two cuts, a rectangle & a circle, using the CAM built-ins. Both run perfectly fine during the CAM simulation but after post processing to MACH 3, the circle hugely increases in size while the rectangle stays he same. I post processed again for MACH2 and loaded it into MACH3, with the same results. How can this be fixed? Seems to be fine in Dolphin Cam
Rick

[Dolphin USA]

Which Version of Partmaster do you have? 1? 2? 3?

[metalworkz]

Hi Rick,
It may be the settings in Mach3. Select the config tab and then select General Config. The settings in the Startup Modals section for the IJ Mode may need to be changed to the other setting(Absolute or Incremental) and you will probably see a difference right away when the file is loaded into Mach3. When the setting coresponds to the software the part will be drawn in the display view correctly. Usually if the IJ Mode is wrong it will create full circles instead of arcs etc., but this is easy to check and if the display still does not look right you can tick the original setting easily enough. I had a similar problem and this is what I ended up changing to correct it. I hope this helps you out.

[Dolphin USA]

That would be my suggestion unless you are offsetting the circle.

[L2A3]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them tomorrow and let you know. The version I have is 10.0
Rick

[L2A3]

Hi Wes,
Changing the Modal to absolute seems to work, but I'm still not sure. The circle is much smaller, but appears too far away from the rectangle. I ran the program to find the actual cuts are MUCH smaller than what my drawings called for. The two shapes blended into each other, both way smaller than they should have been.Programming was done in DCam, drawn with scaling intended 1.8= 1.8". After posting in Mach 3, the control point doesn't move 1.8", but more like .18"!
The M3 DRO is a multiple of 10 different than my programming. Should I re-write to match the DRO scale of 10.000= 1.0" of control point travel? Is it always going to be like this? As you can tell, I am new to this and appreciate any help. Thanks
Rick

[metalworkz]

Hi Rick,
This problem may be related to the difference in metric and inch units of measure? I had a problem where I loaded a .dxf and finished my work and did not realize the units of measure was set to metric until I tried to use the CAM to genreate the toolpath and got an error that the tool was too big etc. I come to find out the units was metric and I was needing inches. I recommend you look at all options for units of measure and make sure they are all set to the same type. There is a Preview User Preferences button in the opening window that you can check, and then when opened select the View tab and look thru the Properties, Preferences, and Defaults menus to make sure everything is set to the same unit of measure you will be using. Somehow the PartMaster programs tend to default to the metric setting but once you get them all set the same it will eliminate this possiblity. I hope this solves the minor problem you are experiencing, an it is a fairly simple fix.