Solidcam newbie

[mattpatt]

Hi all,

I've been lurkingaround on this forum for a while now, but just wanted to say a global thanks to just about everyone here as it seems that the knowledge is endless.

We very recently got a Fadal 3016 with fanuc0i control and I've already 'stolen' a few of your tips to help me with some of the settings. It's our first machine.

I'm using Solidworks for design and have been trying Solidcam for the last week or so. It's a steep learning curve for me but it's fun!

No doubt I'll have several question in the near future. Mostly about toolpath generation and post processor mods I think, but I'm sure that none of them will be particularly taxing to the pros on this forum.

I've had a bit of a play, and I guess that I'd like to throw one question out there right away. I modified the .gpp file to give block numbering, but it only numbers the first few lines Anyway, no major issue, but it would be useful if I could sort this one out.

Carry on the good work and I'll be back soon.

Matt.

[Brakeman Bob]

Hello Matt,

It is nice to hear from you. Regarding block numbering, this is handled in the GPP file by the word "nb" as opposed to the word "nl" at the start of an output line.
For example

{nl,'X'xpos' Y'ypos' Z'zpos'} outputs a line with a block number whereas

{nb,'X'xpos' Y'ypos' Z'zpos'} outputs a line with the block number incremented by what ever value you have set in the MAC file.

Do you have the GPP Users Manual in PDF format? If not, you can download it from the SolidCAM website.

All the best.

Bob

[mattpatt]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply. Just to give you an example of what I mean. This is what I have:

%
O5000 (FACE.TAP)
( MCV-OP ) (18-JUL-2008)
N100 (SUBROUTINES: O1 .. O0)
N102 G90 G17
N104 G80 G49 G40
N106 G54
N108 G91 G28 Z0
N110 G90
N112 M01
N114 M6 T1
(TOOL -1- MILL DIA 100.0 R0. MM )
G90 G00 G40 G54
G43 H1 D31 G0 X238.773 Y-17. Z49.5 S5000 M3
M8
(----------------)
(FACE#1 - PROFILE)
(----------------)
X238.773 Y-17. Z10.
Z2.
G1 Z-0.4 F1250
X183.773 F2000
X0.183
X-54.817
G0 Z9.5
X238.773
Z1.6
G1 Z-0.5 F1250
X183.773 F2000
X0.183
X-54.817
G0 Z10.
G91 G28 Z0.
M99
%


As soon as it gets to the positioning the block numbers disappear.

I have the GPP manual. I'll take a more in depth look. Thanks.

Matt.

[mattpatt]

Well, I'm a happy camper.

Found this in the @tool_change section:

blknum_gen = true
{nb, 'M6 T'tool_number}
blknum_gen = false

Changed it to:

blknum_gen = true
{nb, 'M6 T'tool_number}
blknum_gen = true

Job done......

That's at least one little issue out the way.

No doubt I'll have lots more soon