Newbie questions on moving past initial setup

[chris2112]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a used working K2 CNC machine to cut guitar bodies and necks. The package included everything to get going along with some custom programs ready to go. I can go through the steps to run it for certain pre-made G-code items, but need some help on how to make mods. I'm not a big CAD guy, but one of the vendors I work with at my day job is and offered some help there. So I had a few basic categories of questions.

1. Is there an easy way to view G-Code on a machine other than the shop machine? I have used 20 or so programs, but there are thousands of variations with murky file names. I thought I'd load a trial of Mach3 on a notebook, then go though them, but I have two problems. One is that there is no display view on the notebook Mach 3. On the Mach2 installed on the shop machine, a little window shows me generally what the program will cut. The notebook install also gives an error in one of the first lines. I have not installed any K2 info on the notebook yet. Is what I'm trying to do possible without a controller connected?

2. Is there an easy way to modify a G-code program? I want to start simple. One program is set up to make a specific cavity a little deeper. It would be nice to have one modified to make that same cavity a bit wider (say from 55mm to 57mm wide). I don't have the original CAD files, but have downloaded a G-code to DXF converter. If I have a CAD guy widen the cut, I don't see how I get it back to G-code.

I have more questions, but help here would get me started. I'm pretty good with a computer and naming files in a manageable way and stuff like that. The whole CNC thing is all new though.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Chris

[cr2]

Check out CNC g-code editor It's a very useful program for altering g-code. For viewing your toolpath in Mach 3, you just click on the "Toolpath" tab on the mach screen. That should show you a window with a 3d outline of your cut.

[chris2112]

Check out CNC g-code editor It's a very useful program for altering g-code. For viewing your toolpath in Mach 3, you just click on the "Toolpath" tab on the mach screen. That should show you a window with a 3d outline of your cut.

Thanks for the link. I think that will be the perfect program to tweak the code I already have.

I have a toolpath screen in Mach3, but it only shows a little blob in the corner. It doesn't like line 5 that says "N60 T2 M6" That line runs fine on the mach2 in the shop.

[cr2]

That blob in the corner might be your model. Try using the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in on it. Use the right mouse button to drag it to center. If you think a line of code is interfering with the toolpath view, make a copy of the file, delete that line, and then try viewing the copy. I'm no expert, but I've been using Mach 3 for about 4 years and am happy to share information. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[chris2112]

Thanks. I guess whatever tool was used to create the code left a bunch of lines after every comment that Mach 3 won't ignore. Once those are edited out, I can see the model. It takes about 5 minutes per file to fix them up. I think I can figure out some sort of macro. Thanks.

That blob in the corner might be your model. Try using the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in on it. Use the right mouse button to drag it to center. If you think a line of code is interfering with the toolpath view, make a copy of the file, delete that line, and then try viewing the copy. I'm no expert, but I've been using Mach 3 for about 4 years and am happy to share information. Let me know if you have any more questions.