I been playing with bobcad 23 and mach 3 I am very new to this is there any one will to share g code for inlays and or maybe point me in the right direction
Thanks
Dale
Thanks
Dale
g code
- Thread starter BuchananCues
- Start date
Willeecue gave a link a while back to some of his cad drawings. The link is still active. There may be some G-code in there, too.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=178719
http://www.willeecue.com/CNC/
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=178719
http://www.willeecue.com/CNC/
Good stuff, I'm about to order our first machine, probably going to use a rotary table for 4th axis as well, but may start out with a manual indexer at first. I'm going to get mach3 to control It, but wondering if anyone can steer me in the right direction for a good CAD software that's user friendly, and meshes well for our uses. I have an old copy of Bobcad17, but looks as If that may be well outdated now. Is Bobcad23 the latest version? Just wondering what everyone else is using for cue work, and where I can get the best deal to buy the license for It? I really don't want to be hounded By sales reps or have to haggle over the price, therefore the reasoning for that question.
RBC
Deceased
I would be very careful about just using someone else's code. Not all machines are even close to the same as far as direction of travels, amounts of travels, speeds etc. Also, if you don't know exactly how the program was created, like the types and sizes of the tools used, it will cause all sorts of issues and could ruin some parts and or your machine.
For anyone getting started, I strongly suggest you get the mach3 manuals and read them. More than just a few times. You will get knowledge about machines and how they work as well as how Mach3 will control that machine. Once you've done that, you should be able to create some small simple movements in G code and make your machine move. You should be able to play with rapids, and feed moves to see what your machine is capable of. You'll need to know if your machine uses home and/or limit switches. Most of the hobby type machines don't, but some do. Using homing and their coordinates is another level of things to wrap your brain around.
As for a CAD program, BobCad is really the best choice for a cuemaker getting started in CNC inlays. They have great tutorials and videos. Most of it, you won't use, but it's still worth it to go through it all anyway. Version 24 is still pretty common, but there are newer ones out there. You're going to have to negotiate with them. That's just the way it is.
Last but not least, you should find someone in your area doing similar things and see if they can show you a few things. CNC is pretty much everywhere so finding someone running Mach3 shouldn't be to hard.
I wish you the best of luck. It's going to be a long hard journey, but it's also very rewarding.
Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
For anyone getting started, I strongly suggest you get the mach3 manuals and read them. More than just a few times. You will get knowledge about machines and how they work as well as how Mach3 will control that machine. Once you've done that, you should be able to create some small simple movements in G code and make your machine move. You should be able to play with rapids, and feed moves to see what your machine is capable of. You'll need to know if your machine uses home and/or limit switches. Most of the hobby type machines don't, but some do. Using homing and their coordinates is another level of things to wrap your brain around.
As for a CAD program, BobCad is really the best choice for a cuemaker getting started in CNC inlays. They have great tutorials and videos. Most of it, you won't use, but it's still worth it to go through it all anyway. Version 24 is still pretty common, but there are newer ones out there. You're going to have to negotiate with them. That's just the way it is.
Last but not least, you should find someone in your area doing similar things and see if they can show you a few things. CNC is pretty much everywhere so finding someone running Mach3 shouldn't be to hard.
I wish you the best of luck. It's going to be a long hard journey, but it's also very rewarding.
Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
Royce nailed it....
There's some really good info here, as well: http://www.thinktink.com/stack/volumes/voliii/tutorials/woodtutorials.asp
Buy your cutters from Ron, his tools are the nuts.
There's some really good info here, as well: http://www.thinktink.com/stack/volumes/voliii/tutorials/woodtutorials.asp
Buy your cutters from Ron, his tools are the nuts.
Bob Cad is most likely the best choice. It is not very intuitive like a microsoft product. Someone can show you how to use it more in 1 hour than you can learn on your own in a week.
Then you must practice drawing shapes and inlays to get really good at it.
Then you must learn how to get the inlay parts to fit in the inlay pockets....
Remember that Mach 3 will NOT run a cnc machine using windows 7.... you must use XP.
etc....
Kim
Then you must practice drawing shapes and inlays to get really good at it.
Then you must learn how to get the inlay parts to fit in the inlay pockets....
Remember that Mach 3 will NOT run a cnc machine using windows 7.... you must use XP.
etc....
Kim
My Brother is helping me with this. He is new to cnc as well, but pretty good with computers. He basically builds all My PC's for me, and He already has an old pc in good condition with a printer port that looks like It should fit the bill. It's not a P4, but I gave him a link to a site for compatibility, and It does have the amd processor that is suppose to be compatible. We were planning on running XP, in fact the system has the original OS sticker on It, and I think It was for XP. I already have a flat screen I could use for It, and just bought a new mouse & keyboard for It tonight. Still need to get a separate video card to plug into It. I want to go ahead and buy Bobcad and Mach3 for It, just not sure which version of Bobcad I should be looking to obtain.
For the guys that use Bobcad,how many of the G and M codes that the software and machine uses are UNIVERSAL,and how many of them are machine-specific?
I ask this because I only have experience using 2 types of machines,those being Emco desktop CNC (lathe and mill),and Haas. Both types ran on universal codes,but both also had a few in the list that only applied to a particular machine.
I still have a .pdf that has the entire list of codes and explanations that is in the Haas manuals if that will help
. Tommy D.
I ask this because I only have experience using 2 types of machines,those being Emco desktop CNC (lathe and mill),and Haas. Both types ran on universal codes,but both also had a few in the list that only applied to a particular machine.
I still have a .pdf that has the entire list of codes and explanations that is in the Haas manuals if that will help
. Tommy D.
Your software writes the g code for you in seconds after it automatically creates the tool path. It matches your geometry and since you draw the geometry you will know the orientation of the start point.
Bobcad offers classes and they travel around the country. It is something that will put you in the right direction.
Good Luck
Bobcad offers classes and they travel around the country. It is something that will put you in the right direction.
Good Luck
For the guys that use Bobcad,how many of the G and M codes that the software and machine uses are UNIVERSAL,and how many of them are machine-specific?
I ask this because I only have experience using 2 types of machines,those being Emco desktop CNC (lathe and mill),and Haas. Both types ran on universal codes,but both also had a few in the list that only applied to a particular machine.
I still have a .pdf that has the entire list of codes and explanations that is in the Haas manuals if that will help
I edited my post processor to remove all the unnecessary functions. I took out all the canned cycles, the fixture offsets, the tool offsets, and others. It makes clean G code that uses only the things you need. It works with Bob Cad 24 and I run a Cue Monster.
You can easily read the G code that is produced.
Kim
RBC
Deceased
Kim
A little clarification for the original poster.
First, the videos that BobCad offers can have you creating geometry in a very short time. I don't think that any of the 3D stuff is very useful, but the knowledge of seeing how it's done just adds to the viewer's knowledge of how to move around in BobCad. Sure, if you can sit down with someone who is familiar with it then that's certainly a good idea. But, even if you can do that, I strongly recommend watching the videos. I have them and keep them as a reference.
Also, Mach3 will work in Windows 7. I recommend using XP for it because you can get an XP Pro equipped box for under $100 on ebay. There are tons of old Dell machines out there. Here's a link to the Mach website about the PC requirements.
http://www.machsupport.com/software/mach3/
Good luck!
Royce
RBC
Deceased
For the guys that use Bobcad,how many of the G and M codes that the software and machine uses are UNIVERSAL,and how many of them are machine-specific?
I ask this because I only have experience using 2 types of machines,those being Emco desktop CNC (lathe and mill),and Haas. Both types ran on universal codes,but both also had a few in the list that only applied to a particular machine.
I still have a .pdf that has the entire list of codes and explanations that is in the Haas manuals if that will help
For the most part, G code is pretty universal. But, not all machines use all G codes.
This is why I strongly recommend the Mach3 Manual. It will tell you all the G codes it uses and how they work. It gives you proper syntax and everything.
Once you know what G code you'll be using, you'll know which post processor to use in BobCad. Trust me, you want to be able to choose a post processor and be done with it. It get's pretty complicated when you need to modify or build a post processor. It's the post processor that tells BobCad how to create the G code to match your machine. If you don't choose the right one, your machine may not even accept the code that BobCad creates.
Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
RBC
Deceased
Oh, I'm sorry. I must have misunderstood.
Something about
"Mach 3 will NOT run a cnc machine using windows 7.... you must use XP"
that I didn't understand.
Royce