Mastercam to Bandit control

[jjclear]

A few months ago I picked up a Lagun CNC mill with a Bandit controller. The original plan was to strip out the electronics and run it with Mach 3. Before I did though, I plugged it in and found out that it worked. So now, the new plan is to see if I can get the machine to work with a cable connection to my PC. A programmer friend at work has tried to help me modify a Mastercam post, but he is having a problem with the different way that the Bandit works with arcs. I've searched for as much info as I could find. This post by Chris64 explained quite a bit, but I'm still not sure how to proceed.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...=bandit&page=3

Is it possible to use this controller with Mastercam? I don't want to waste my friends time if this wont work.

J.

[HuFlungDung]

Yes, Bandit will do arcs in somewhat normal fashion but has limitations:
1. 90 degrees maximum arc per command (stopping at the quadrant lines)
2. In absolute mode, the arc center coordinates must also be absolute.
3. Format of arc commands is X Y /X /Y. No Gcode is used with the command syntax, and is not required to determine direction with 90 degree arcs because there is no ambiguity possible. The arc centers are the latter two coordinates /X and /Y. Some editors will translate I and J to /X and /Y, I cannot remember if the Bandit will convert that on receiving a file over RS232.

The Bandit does have some special syntax available for arcs that begin and end on the quadrants, or for full circles, but these are outside the scope of normal ISO cam output, because the rules are a bit weird. I suppose the advantage of using some of the special syntax would be to help you squeeze more moves into that 1000 word memory

[jjclear]

HuFlungDung
Thanks for the reply. I understand some of what you said . I'm still learning.
The code I'm getting after posting from Mastercam is using the I & J for the arcs. If my cable works and I get the drip feed figured out I'll see if it gets converted. If not, I'll try editing it myself. It will help me to understand whats going on a little better.

J.