what is a normal program size?

[poster]

The reason i ask is we are looking at the floppy drive to usb adapter that milltronics sells. With this you are limited to 1.44MB. This would be easier for us then networking, but using CAM software will 1.44MB be a limiting factor? Its a 4 axis RH

[txcncman]

There is no "normal" size for a program. Usually program size is limited by your machine's available memory. Many modern machines can handle programs in excess of 1000kb (1 mb). Unless you are making extremely complicated parts with 3D surfacing, having programs in excess of 1000kb is rare. In this case, a 1.44mb (1.38mb usable) floppy drive would work fine. But, thinking for the future, floppy drives are not as reliable. What happens if you get into making parts with a lot of 3D surfacing? Why limit yourself now and have to change later?

[poster]

Originally Posted by txcncman There is no "normal" size for a program. Usually program size is limited by your machine's available memory. Many modern machines can handle programs in excess of 1000kb (1 mb). Unless you are making extremely complicated parts with 3D surfacing, having programs in excess of 1000kb is rare. In this case, a 1.44mb (1.38mb usable) floppy drive would work fine. But, thinking for the future, floppy drives are not as reliable. What happens if you get into making parts with a lot of 3D surfacing? Why limit yourself now and have to change later?

I realize floppys aren't reliable and also hard to source but what i meant is the floppy drive that is already there would be taken out and a drive put back in its place that uses a usb stick. The only issue is you need to format the flash drive to some spec, then the max capacity is only 1.44MB for the flash drive. The unit is around $500, but its plug and play. For me to network i would be at least 100' away and it could get complicated. If 1KB can hold a lot of information then this could be an easy solution for us. I just had no idea what a typical CNC program size is, but now i do.

[txcncman]

Ok. I guess I misunderstood and gave too much information. Now that I understand better, I will warn you that some machines equipped with external memory devices are limited on what they will read. For example, so Haas machines will only read usb drives with 512 mb or less. Some machines with Fanuc controls will only read 2 gb or less.

[moldcore]

My guess is that your computer doesn’t have a floppy and you’re looking at a way to get from the computer to the machine other than networking? Just get a USB external floppy drive for the computer for less than $30. If the limit is only going to be 1.44 MB then I would just stay with the floppy if the machine already has one. We do 3D molds and 95% of the files are under 1.44MB. If they get bigger we either break them up or DNC. I would upgrade the controller before spending $500 on the floppy to USB converter. Most (99%) 2D programs are under 100K that we generate with Surfcam.

[poster]

My computer does have a floppy drive (special order now a days), its just getting to the point where the floppy disks themselves are hard to find and 10% of them don't work out of the box. Also we use floppys on our plasma table. The disks get mixed up and the ones from the welding side can get dirty pretty easily. I have gone through a few drives over the years. Magnets, fine steel particles and electronics don't mix very well it seems. I thought the removal of moving parts of the floppy and going to a flash drive would be nice, but maybe I'll get the costs of networking figured out first.

[underthetire]

We just ran a 28 mb program, lots of surfacing. We just bought wireless network adapters for the newer machines, wireless rs232 for the older stuff, havnt hooked it up yet. We are fortunate on the new machines, since they have 1gb memory storage.

[jpawelk]

You are able to check the existing file sizes on the Milltronics control. When you are in the program menu, press F6(TOGGLE). This will show you the file sizes. A conversational program typically is small in size. A cam generated program is much larger in size. A 1mb program is very small, I have seen 60-80MB programs.
A side note, what control does your machine have? Milltronics offers a mulit-format card reader option that does NOT restric you on file size.

[poster]

its a centurion 7. You mean like a SD card type reader?

[moldcore]

I would think with a Centurion 7 you could replace the floppy drive with one of these without a problem for less than $20:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RCR-IC002 74-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate

[franchcnc]

I know several Milltronics users that use this USb-Floppy emulator.

Floppy to USB disk drive upgrade

[jpawelk]

Originally Posted by poster its a centurion 7. You mean like a SD card type reader?

Exactly! The multi-format card reader gives you the ability to use a SD card, mini-SD card, memory stick, and compact flash card. Your choice with no limitations on file size. The installation of the card reader would be super easy. This would not replace the floppy, it would be an addition.