Messages

256

CamBam help (General usage) / does pick order affect tool paths?

« on: April 12, 2013, 06:30:33 am »

if i am joining, say, a rectangular hole with filleted corners, does it matter that i pick them sequentially end to end?  this latest part i selected all of them using a dashed rectangle and it generated a tool path on the outside, despite my using the "inside" parameter.  when i went back and picked them sequentially, then it worked as asked.
i wondered if the pick order affects the tool path configuration in any way?  if i use a selection box and then eliminate what's not wanted, is that the same as picking one at a time?  can i pick in any order and still get the same tool paths?

257

CamBam help (General usage) / copying geometry into new layer

« on: April 12, 2013, 06:22:20 am »

when i'm milling a part edge i need to use the geometry twice.  since the pocket operation wants it's boundary joined i need to make a copy of those lines for use in the final profile cut.  what is annoying is that despite setting the new layer as active, my screen picks [from the geometry displayed] picks lines from the original layer, not my copied ones.  it seems i need to pick from the drawing tree, rather than from the displayed geometry in order to grab the correct entities.  am i missing something?

258

CamBam help (General usage) / Re: why am i getting an initial move that doesn't show until MACH3?

« on: April 06, 2013, 01:56:37 am »

sorry, the bulk of my first post was lost because of .BMP error.

your modified .cb file worked well.  I placed the spindle near the machining origin and it moved to the first hole, as expected.  I am not sure what that white line represents.  it appears to not be what the router is actually doing.  I assumed it was, and so my concerns.  I will continue to play with this and try to make sense of it.

tell me what the little red circle designates in your mod file.  I have never seen this symbol before.  it appears at the mouth of the slot.

my mach3 is running in MM mode.  I have not messed with any abs circle centers(?)  parts are coming out correct sizes.

thank you for your replies.  posts to CNC forum go unanswered :-(

259

CamBam help (General usage) / Re: why am i getting an initial move that doesn't show until MACH3?

« on: April 05, 2013, 22:33:21 pm »

it didn't like my .bmp file, so here is the .jpg

260

CamBam help (General usage) / Re: "must first generate gcode file" ???

« on: April 05, 2013, 02:03:34 am »

i am figuring this out.  if i use "save as" initially, no gcode file is created.  i think i need to use "save" initially, then subsequent iterations of gen tool path, gen gcode, edit gcode will work.  i may still be wrong.  seems only the "save as" ever realizes that a prior file already exists and asks if i want to replace it.

261

CamBam help (General usage) / why am i getting an initial move that doesn't show until MACH3?

« on: April 05, 2013, 01:58:28 am »

this is driving me nuts.  i put a start machining point right beside the lower left corner.  tool paths look fine.  then in mach3 i see this giant, random move.  where is that coming from?  should i not move a part towards the displayed origin in CAMBAM?  why should it matter if i move the geometry and then regen the toolpaths?

262

CamBam help (General usage) / "must first generate gcode file" ???

« on: April 04, 2013, 22:39:20 pm »

i have yet to figure out how to get the files created in the proper order.  i have been saving them to a thumb drive.

1. i create my part/MOP
2. save the geometry as .cb file
3. generate tool paths
4. generate gcode
5. go to edit gcode and get "must first generate the gcode file"  ARRRRR!!!!!!

i have gotten parts to work, bit keep missing some point.
the documentation for this product is challenging at best.