Topics

1

CamBam help (General usage) / Convert Polylines to arcs

« on: October 19, 2017, 20:06:33 pm »

Somewhere I seem to recall that there is a function to take your polylines and convert them en masse to arcs.. Can't for the life of me find it.. I am SURE that CAMBAM can do this.. I just need a roadmap pointing me in the right direction. Thanks

2

CamBam Shop Feedback / Is CAMBAM development over?

« on: August 03, 2016, 21:43:42 pm »

I am a long time CAMBAM user and for what it does, it can't be beat. However, I notice that there has been no further development of the product since about 2011. Does this indicate that CAMBAM is no longer being developed?

I think it would be a shame if CAMBAM fell by the wayside due to lack of improvement. I know it is never going to compete with the high end packages and that is not what it's designed to do, but some development on perhaps a 4th axis would go a long way to extend the lifespan of this great product.

3

CamBam help (General usage) / IS CAMBAM Still being developed?

« on: September 01, 2015, 15:59:20 pm »

I am a great supporter of CAMBAM, but I'm a bit concerned that there hasn't been an update in 2 years or so. Can we assume that CAMBAM is as developed as it ever is going to be? I can imagine that it's very hard to keep up on a project that may not be delivering the financial benefit vs. time invested (which is a shame because CAMBAM is literally one of our favorite "GO TO" packages for quick work.)

Just wondering if this is as good as it gets for this package.

4

CamBam help (General usage) / Cant delete or commetn out g28

« on: December 01, 2014, 07:24:59 am »

I have a problem with my post processor including a g28 in the beginning of each tool change

G28 ; GO TO MACHINE RETURN POSITION

I have it commented out in the footer selection in the post processor (CENTROID) but it isn't reading that entry.

Any ideas as to how to prevent the G28 command from getting into my code? I can't seem to find any other references to it in the Post Processor so I'm at a loss.

5

Post Processors (*.cbpp) / Remove the initial Z.125 move

« on: June 21, 2014, 00:08:10 am »

I'm fairly certain that I saw this once, but I can't find it anywhere. I am using 9,8N wiht the Centroid Post Processor. At the beginnning of every G-Code, I get an initial move of Z.125. Is there someway to eliminate that?

Here's a snippet that illustrates my problem;
....
M1  ; OPTIONAL STOP
G28 ; GO TO MACHINE RETURN POSITION
T34 M6
G0 X3.0001 Y0.6765
G43 H34
G0 Z0.125 <---I'd like to have this line eliminated.

Yes, I can do this with a quick edit, but it would be nice to have it done automatically.

Thanks in advance.

6

Feature Requests / tab tab through selection

« on: December 27, 2013, 06:02:05 am »

It would be most helpful if you could tab through selection when setting up a procedure.  Fill in the blank and tab to the next selection.

7

Feature Requests / Snap to Points

« on: October 27, 2013, 17:54:50 pm »

I don't know if I am missing something and aren't looking in the right place, but I just ran into a problem (minor) that I'd like to see implemented.

I imported a .DXF file that had circles that were polylines. Selecting CTRL/A selects all the entities and with a CTRL/J I can join them all up nicely (rather than their individual polyline parts). Now when I select one of these circles, I see the center point, however, if I want to put a circle concentric with that point, there is no way (that I have found) that allows me to snap to the exact center of that 'polyline circle'. Instead, I have to zoom the drawing and attempt to place the point as accurately as possible manually. Any advice or suggestions are more than welcome and if this isn't possible, I nominate it as a new feature in upcoming releases.

Thanks in advance.

Jim

8

CamBam help (General usage) / Tangent from PLUGINS Error

« on: August 12, 2013, 22:45:53 pm »

When I choose TANGENT from the Plugins Menu (PLUGINS>CAD EXTRA>DRAW>TANGENT) I immediately get an unhandled Exception and it blows up the program losing any work to that point.

9

CamBam plus feedback / Just a Thank You

« on: June 20, 2013, 23:22:32 pm »

It's been quite a while since I posted anything here, but I just wanted to stop in and say "THANK YOU" to not only Andy for the Program, but to all the other users who have rendered their assistance in the past and continue to do so. We run a large shop and have all the latest "High End" software to program the machines, yet, I am continually going back to CAMBAM to knock out a job here or a prototype there. It's just amazing how versatile it is. I truly hope that Andy will continue to develop the program as it really has a place in any shop regardless of size.

10

Installation Help / Corrupt Tool file

« on: March 08, 2013, 15:14:06 pm »

Went to start CAMBAM this AM and got the following error messages;
On first start;

ERROR: Duplicate name 0.063" 4 Dlute Ball Nose in library

and when I clicked OK, this was displayed;

ERROR READING FILE: C:\ProgramData\CamBam plus 0.9.8\tools\Default-in.xml

I'd rather not have to restructure the tool file, but if that's the only solution, I''ll bit the bullet. Any ideas?

Thank you

11

Feature Requests / Editable Tool Crib

« on: February 26, 2013, 19:53:40 pm »

While adding tools to the tool crib in CAMBAM is a simple affair, one of the more frustrating problems is its inability to add tools that don't fit the 'canned' list. I'd like to be able to add tools such as Corner Rounding End Mills, Deburr tools, Specialty tools such as EZ Burrs, Roll Taps etc.

I would think that this wouldn't be a difficult addition, but then again, I'm not writing the code. It would certainly be helpful, however.

12

CamBam help (General usage) / My Pecker isnt' working

« on: February 23, 2013, 18:44:04 pm »

I figured that with that title, at least you'll all get a laugh.
Attached is the .cb file and g-code that I made to illustrate a problem that I suddenly have.

I want to peck drill several holes  in a part. Up until today, I haven't had a single problem generating the peck cycle but all of a sudden, ...well, my pecker isn't working
I want to peck to a depth of -.375 in increments of .125. As you can see by the g-code, the drill cycle just goes directly to -.375 no peck. Any ideas where I may have gone wrong?

Thanks as always.

13

CamBam help (General usage) / Profile - Inside/Outside Issues

« on: February 19, 2013, 21:13:09 pm »

I just noticed that I have a problem with my profiles on a particular file. I am attaching two jpg's that illustrate the problem.
I have a shape that I need to cut out of a piece of aluminum. I choose the profile and proceed to fill in the information on cutter, feeds/speeds etc. I choose OUTSIDE from the menu, but the toolpath falls to the INSIDE of the profile. If I swap it to INSIDE, the profile toolpath is correct. The pictures will describe the problem clearly. The odd thing to me is that I have used the PROFILE function on other parts and it works perfectly. This part seems to have a mind of its own.
Any ideas would be helpful
Thanks

14

Post Processors (*.cbpp) / Make X and Y priority moves THEN Z

« on: February 15, 2013, 20:01:50 pm »

I posted elsewhere as to how to prevent Z from going to clearance height before machining and got the fix (Located in Resources), but what I really need is how to make the machine move in X and Y BEFORE moving in Z. I assume that this is a setting in the PP, but would need a little 'pointing in the right direction' to get it sorted.

Thanks

15

CamBam files (*.cb) / Remove Initial Z Movement

« on: February 14, 2013, 19:05:22 pm »

Here is a snippet of code generated by CAMBAM using a Centroid PP;


%
:
; CAMBAM
; ENCLOSURE PLATEN 2/14/2013 2:26:05 PM
; T1 DIA 0.25
; T29 DIA 0.125
; CUTVIEWER
; FROM/0,0,5
; SELECT DUMMY TOOL TO AVOID WARNINGS
; TOOL/MILL,1,0,20.0,0
; STOCK/BLOCK,4.25,7.0,0.1,0.0,0.0,0.1
N100 G20
N110 G0 G17 G40 G80 G90
; T1 : 0.25
; TOOL/MILL,0.25,0.0,1.25,0
N120 M9  ; COOLANT OFF
N130 M5  ; SPINDLE OFF
N140 M25
N150 M1  ; OPTIONAL STOP
N160 G28 ; GO TO MACHINE RETURN POSITION
N170 T1 M6
N180 G43 H1
N190 G0 Z0.125
; DRILL3
N200 M3 S5000
N210 G0 X0.505 Y0.945
N220 G99

My question is, is there a method whereby I can eliminate that initial Z movement (Shown in Red Above)? Currently, I have to manually edit out the initial Z movement (going to clearance plane) in order to eliminate the possibility of a crash into clamps or other parts of the fixture. If I could have the tool locate over the X/Y coordinate BEFORE going to Z Clearance, it would simplify and eliminate some problems.

Thanks in advance.