EMC and CamBam

[helpmeout]

Does any one use Cambam 2.5D with EMC. and if so are there any special setup in either one. I have been using EMC in Simulation mode to try learning my way around. and have used cambam to convert some circles and boxs.to g-code but before they will run in the EMC i have to edit the file and remove the header and some other lines. but these are very small files. getting ready to hookup the EMC to my cnc router.

[cyclestart]

And EMC was selected as the post instead of the generic default ?
The Cambam developer may not be aware of the problem, letting him know would be a good thing.

[CaptainVee]

I use the older free version of cambam and the only thing I so far have had to do was change the extension of the outputfile from .NC to .NGC every time I save a file.

From what I hear the newer paid version is a lot easier and better than the free one.

[helpmeout]

That might be all I will need to do after I hookup the computer, to the cnc router. I might not have to add or remove any thing but change the output from the nc to the ngc. hoping thats all ill have to do. Im taking a crash course in both emc and cambam. My biggest problem in cambam and emc is the scaling, And I would like to be able to pick a part of a drawing from a full drawing and just run that. Is that possible,say you had a file that was too big for you x,y table but you wanted that size any way so you wanted to just run a small piece from that drawing at a time then go to next piece. how is that done.has any one done that.

[Lexx0001]

Hello Folks,

I have EMC and run CamBam as well. I'm hardly an expert on either, lets say I make a lot of "practice parts". The saying "To err is human" proves that I'm about as human as anyone and quite possibly more so.

I haven't used the free version for awhile, but I think it's only limited to the number of times you can start the program, and after that a limit on the number of g-code lines.

I don't know why the files have to be edited at all, what sort of error messages are happening? I know that EMC doesn't like nested parenthesis, but I don't know that it happens with CamBam.

It is possible to change the extension type for g-code. Select "tools" then "options" and it's about halfway down.

You should be able to select whatever part of the drawing you want, assign a MOP and specify a different origin for the part. Is that what you want to do?

Regards,

Bill K.

[CaptainVee]

The older version of cambam is totally free, no limit on number of lines exported.

[helpmeout]

Got the x,y,z axis moving last night, done some motor tuning but they are still a few thou. off. Will change the micro step no.s around a bit and see if that helps. supposed to be 200 (motor steps per rev.) times the TPI of my acme threads times the micro step of the controllers. But the reason i want to break up a drawing is to have it come out the size it is but the parts grouped on the drawing are larger than my cnc table. and yes your right you can pick out the part you want from the group the do the mop of just that one selection then save it after you convert it to a g-code. now you can just run that part by its self.found out how to do that too. yesturday. im getting exicted now.

[Lexx0001]

CaptainVee - That's totally true, and that version is still available on the website too.

But, it's also 5 years old. There have been a number of added features and bug fixes since then. Most noticeable was the graphics improvement and it seems to build the code faster and more intelligently with far less jumping around. As I recall anyway.

I don't want to be a cheerleader here, if it works for you and you're happy with it, that's great, nothing will get better then that. Right?

I was just wondering why he had to edit the g-code header to get it to work. And you should be able to change the file name extension from NC to NGC. If it doesn't, try putting a dot before NGC (.NGC)

Again, My Regards,

Bill K.

[helpmeout]

To answer the question why i had to edit the header to get it to work or not, I dont know and it might be that it would load and run with it left there, but when you are desperate trying different things and you do some thing and it works. you keep doing it till you get to know more about the software and the machine to be able to change things around a bit. I am having problems with setting up the motors in EMC2 they are not turning at all yet, reading the doc. to see what im doing wrong. using the mach2 for checking out my machine. Got to replace a coupling on the y axis, twisted it while trying to setup the limit switches, Darn should have disconnected from the shafts till i had the switches setup. But im still having fun...