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  1. #21
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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    ajarn al

    All very strange. I just started up my Windows 7 machine and search for *.txt and specific files that I know are there.
    From the start menu try "Search Programs and files" Result = No items match your search ???
    From the start menu, select Computer, this should bring up Windows Explorer.
    Pick drive and directory in the navigation pane on the left hand side, in my case C:\Mach3. Result is a list of all my files as expected.

    I cannot say I ever use the Search Programs and Files except to bring up odd programs such as Debug.exe, I always use Windows explorer (Computer or whatever it is called), and never loose a file.

    I hope this is your issue, as I cannot think what else to try, as clearly the files are saving and loading correctly from Ezilathe.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Another question.
    I have a DXF file which the cad program says is a continuous polyline.

    When I import the file into Ezilathe it is split up into line segments.
    There are 201 segments and my eyes are not good enough to pick them in sequence (Arcs especially)

    I have tried to drag a box around them but no result.
    Is there a way to select all lines ?

    Am I doing something wrong or am I missing something ?



  3. #23
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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    ajarn al
    I suspect that what you have is a "Spline" and not a polyline. If you go back to the original drawing (.dwg) and list the item, it should come up as a spline. If you read the dxf it is as you say a multi-segment polyline. Ezilathe cannot process "Splines" or sequences generated from them for the reasons you just found.
    Often, if you export from a 3D program like Solidworks you will sometimes get splines for no apparent reason. this can be improved by exporting section views.
    Once you have a Spline, it cannot be exploded or edited into something useful (as far as I can tell). The only way that works for me is to draw lines/arc or polylines over the splines(on a different layer, so you can delete the splines). Usually not difficult as all the snaps etc work on a spline, and it can quickly be replaced if the geometry is valid (basic lines / arcs).



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Thank you Stutank.
    I redrew the profile on another layer with another colour.
    There was only 35 items to pick.
    G code created.
    Off to my lathe now.



  5. #25
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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    ajarn a.l
    Glad that worked out ok.
    Still 35 items, I might have to look at allowing for selecting a complete polyline instead of segment by segment. My record is 16 items (and I often have to as part of the debugging)
    Possibly in the next update I will look at this, and possibly allow better insertion of segments if you miss one.

    Planned to be on the lathe today, but too cold out there today, but a months supply of programs done.



  6. #26

    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stutank View Post
    ajarn al
    I suspect that what you have is a "Spline" and not a polyline. If you go back to the original drawing (.dwg) and list the item, it should come up as a spline. If you read the dxf it is as you say a multi-segment polyline. Ezilathe cannot process "Splines" or sequences generated from them for the reasons you just found.
    Often, if you export from a 3D program like Solidworks you will sometimes get splines for no apparent reason. this can be improved by exporting section views.
    Once you have a Spline, it cannot be exploded or edited into something useful (as far as I can tell). The only way that works for me is to draw lines/arc or polylines over the splines(on a different layer, so you can delete the splines). Usually not difficult as all the snaps etc work on a spline, and it can quickly be replaced if the geometry is valid (basic lines / arcs).
    That will probably be true for most CAD software, but in some software you may be able to do a "remove arcs" or "remove lines" operation that will leave you with a polyline that is an approximation of the spline.

    Bob La Londe
    http://www.YumaBassMan.com


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Stutank
    I like the sound of being able to select complete polylines, especially if you can remove the odd segment that is not required. I hope you do it soon, as I am constantly in the range of 20 to 40 segments.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    I have looked at allowing for selecting complete polylines - Currently trying a simple method that works well for open polylines (closed - work depending on where it starts and ends).
    I could just upload a quick update to allow for this soon, rather than wait for a "bullet proof version". It just means some closed polylines will need to be rebuilt (Close the line away from the required section) to work well.

    Even the simple method automatically rejects invalid segments, and will reverse the polyline if required for turning. The polyline is left in the selection box as individual segments for manual adjustment if required.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Appreciate all the effort Stutank.
    Take your time.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Nice idea Stutank, and very generous of you to share it. I have just started to read the pdf and learn it.

    Looks like the Software has differculties with the decimal comma used in German. In the feed/Speed tab, if I enter 40mm Diameter, 1mm depth of cut it works out the Parameters (and Shows all calculated values with decimal commas, as is Standard in my Windows Settings). If I enter a 0,5mm depth of cut it doesn't calculate it. If i try to 0.5mm depth of cut, it refuses the decimal Point entry, and gives me 05mm depth of cut. (5mm).

    Regards,
    Mark


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Got time to play with it some more Stutank. Maybe it would be a good idea to include one sample G-Code file in the download. Something like your chess peice in the pdf, so a new user has something to load and Play with straight away.

    In Simulator mode on my computor, "STOP AUTO" is ignored, dispaying "Not responding" in the Window Headerm, but it keeps running along the Simulation. I can only stop it in the pause between repeats of the Simulation.

    I am a LinuxCNC user. I think most of the G-Code is similar, but the convertion for the G76 Parameter naming is different. For example R is X Start in Mach, but is depth Regression in LINUXCNC. K is also also different. I see that G76 is extremely control specific (Fanuc does something completely different). Probably hoping for too much for some customisation ability there?

    Do you know if anyone has tried running this program und the WINE simulated Windows Environment of Linux?

    Comma separated files like the LATHETDAT dont work under german configured Windows. The first time you open them they look normal, but when you change anything the dots convert automatically to comma's and the tool format is screwed up. It Looks like you have a mix of Windows conventions and EZILATHE defined conventions there.

    Regards,
    Mark


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.

    German decimal comma - For the most part, this should be handled automatically, as evident from you being able to enter , and not . in the edit boxes. Why it will not calculate 0,5mm depth of cut is strange. I will have to look into this.

    Comma-separated values (.CSV files) are commonly used by many programs such as Excel, not just Ezilathe. What is used in german, I can easily override the default comma and use TAB or something else if needed.
    There might be other instances within the program that will show-up an issue. I assume the output Gcode also uses commas.

    G76 as output is a Mach3 macro, G32 (later versions of Ezilathe can output this) is more generic.

    I will be posting a new version soon, that includes selecting polylines + a few other fixes. I can look at your comma issue a bit and fix the obvious issues.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    I have had a number of Private messages about Ezilathe and I have replied to all, However I notice that my Sent Items folder remains empty !!! I hope the messages have all got through. Possibly I am pushing the wrong buttons???

    I new version of Ezilathe is just undergoing final testing now and should (Hopefully) be uploaded during Feb if I do not find anything drastic.

    Ezilathe is at a point where (currently) it does all that I want, Any Suggestions.

    Had 1 in a PM - Unlock cutting Left to Right. Anyone else.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    I have just uploaded the new version of Ezilathe. Many improvements and updates included.
    The DXF processor now processes up to 400 entities, should be enough I hope.



  15. #35

    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    I still have not finished my CNC lathe conversion, but I am hopeful. I've been following the Ezilathe thread for a while and played with the software a few times. Thank you for creating this resource.

    Bob La Londe
    http://www.YumaBassMan.com


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Hi Stutank, first I want to say thank you for making this great program. I am trying to make my first part file from it and having some issues. I am hoping you can possibly help. If there is somewhere else for this, please let me know and it can be moved.

    The part file is fairly simple. It is created as a .dwg file and then saved as a .dxf. The curve is created as an Ellipse. When saved to an R12 . dxf I can import it but there is a section missing every time. When saving to a 2010 .dxf I can import and the rest is there. The issue is that I need to follow the profile. It is pulling in all the sections of the pline as "vertex". I cannot select multiple to follow the entire profile. Even selecting one section, the code generated looks far different than it should and will not simulate. I get floating point argument and it crashes. otherwise it just draws a straight angled line on the simulation screen.

    The intent is to follow this profile very slowly with the finishing path. These get sanded with 180 grit and anodized so I want to make it as smooth as possible to sand.

    Any help is greatly appreciated.

    17-043-A-2010dxf.dxf17-043-A-R12dxf.dxf


    As a further update, I was not able to get it to work with the current file I am using. I am not sure what I am doing different. It just now worked. However, it is not creating multiple tool paths, only a roughing and finishing path.

    Depth of cut under Feeds / Speeds is set to .030". Rough cut depth is also set to .030" and finish to .020" in the dxf processing window.

    As one final update, I also set the Default Tool Cutting Depth to .030" as well. The gcode still calculates the same.

    The diameter of the straight section of the part is 1.950". In line 12 it is going to 1.99. Line 13 it moves left to 1.91" diameter though, smaller than the part should be. Line14 moves back to the right at that same diameter. Even with the radius of the cutter figured in, it should not be going in that far. The finishing pass is correct, but for some reason the roughing pass is not leaving extra material but cutting extra away. Is there an offset value somewhere that is not correct?



    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.-17-043-dxf-jpg   Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.-17-043-simulator-jpg  
    Last edited by stryke23x; 02-18-2016 at 01:51 AM.


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Stryke23x

    Your settings under Ezilathe all appear correct, However your DXF is causing the issue. If you increase your stock diameter to say 2.2" you will get the initial roughing cuts, but only in the parallel section. Being a closed polyline, the start/finish point of the sequence is in an unfortunate position for Ezilathe (Never seen this one before). This confused everything even to the roughing cut being inboard of the finishing cut.

    Easy fixed however. I exploded your polyline, removed all unused segments (1 will do, say the chuck end vertical line). Pedit back into a continuous polyline again (open sequence).

    This now processes correctly.

    Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.-capture-jpg

    Last edited by Stutank; 02-18-2016 at 05:37 PM. Reason: Looks better


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Stryke23x

    Processing of complete polylines now changed to avoid this issue, and is included in the next update. Thank you for your input.

    In the meantime, please reprocess polylines as above if this issue comes up (should not be required often).

    P.S. your first segment (to the Right) should not cross X0 to the X- area as this will result in a flatspot (or similar depending on the tool used) on the nose of your component (Visible if you zoom in close in the simulator)

    Last edited by Stutank; 02-19-2016 at 01:48 AM. Reason: Additional information


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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Hello Stutank,

    Thank you for the help on this. I was able to get it to work now. I am very new to this so learning as I go. One of the things I realized is that I was selecting the lines from the left to right instead of the opposite way. This caused me an issue but when selecting the other order, things worked.

    I was able to generate code as needed. Now to make it work with Turnmaster Pro for the Microkinetics lathe may be difficult. MicroKinetics TurnMaster Pro for Windows - CNC Turning software for Lathes. It is their software that came with the lathe and I am seeing some issues that I need to work around. This may be something that can be corrected on either end. I am not sure.

    1) Anything used in parenthesis such as (Rough #1) has to be modified or deleted and they use a single / for comment instead. Parenthesis is used for other things to define variables so keeping the parenthesis in causes it to error. This is easy enough to modify myself. Is this an issue with any other systems?

    2) The simulation is correct in Ezilathe. When running the simulation in TurnmasterPro, I get a part that is 2x the diameter it should be. Everything in X appears to be scaled by a factor of 2.

    Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.-turnmaster-17-043-jpg

    3) TurnmasterPro is showing currently a run time of 40min 33 sec to complete the part file. This is with F30. Not what I expected. Looking at the summary in EziLathe, it shows 3:24 which is more what I'd expect. Somehow it seems to not getting speeds correct. The F30 is not picking up correctly. They show feeds/speeds in steps/sec rather than in/min which may be the issue. Even changing the F value to 700 (the maximum allowable unramped steps/sec) shows the part being over 9min to create. I am somewhat at a loss here on what to do to get this working correctly.



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    Default Re: Ezilathe, a useful aid to lathe programming.

    Stryke23x

    Glad you got it working, even with a few simple issues.

    1) Comments are not vital, they can be deleted, better to do a global search / replace in Ezilathe or other text editor to replace ( with /. Should be all that's required.

    2) I assume your Ezilathe is setup for Diameter mode, and Turnmaster set for Radius mode. This mode must match in both, and that will correct the Double size in X. In Ezilathe, Pick Options from the top menu and tick Radius mode. Should be similar in Turnmaster if you want to go that way instead.

    3) In Ezilathe feeds are expected to be in inches/min or mm/min. I assume you are working in Inches, so F30 seems a bit fast, that could upset Ezilathes times. Ezilathe does not use feeds in anyway other than for times, so you can "Lie" to it. Take care not to put in something too fast into Turnmaster. Steps/sec seem to be strange way to specify feed, You need to get this right before putting a job in the lathe.

    The simulation you show looks good, so you do not have any major issues other than the above. You should review what setup / exit & toolchange code is required by your system. This can then be entered into Ezilathe (Under the Speeds / Feeds tab in the Lathe setup - See init strings etc).

    Your System can generate G code programs, so you should be able to use the setup code from these to setup Ezilathe.

    Hope this Helps.



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