[TheBilletGuy]

Hi there, first time posting.

Got a Bridgeport vmc 760/22 at my work, and currently we’re running off of an ancient laptop with windows millennium and mastercam v9 for doing cad and tool paths, but it’s been decided that we can upgrade our system. Now I do a lot of cad/cam at home for my own stuff, but recently I’ve found with some of the toolpaths fusion 360 produce well exceed the limit of what the 760 can handle... which is quite a problem if we decide to use fusion 360 in the workshop... so the question is, can the memory size be increased, and if so, where does one look in the control cabinet?

Sean

[TheBilletGuy]

Just to add, it has a Siemens simodrive 611, and a LE 370 Heidenhain control box. There’s quite a few numbers on it but I’ll post them,
NCS - Nr 280 600 08
PCS - Nr 278 215 03

[forhire]

Can you DNC? My TC-3 has a 256k file limit from the control but can drip any size.

Also, make sure you are using Smoothing in Fusion 360 to ensure the post processor is using arcs rather than line segments when posted. This should bring your file size back into reality.

Not sure about your machine specifically but upgrading memory on these old machines can be a pain. Often super expensive, if it can be done at all. I have put Calmotion USBCNC units on two old Fanuc controls (0T and 15M) and love them. Much easier than using DNC from a laptop. Pop in the USB thump drive and let it drip. USB to CNC - Calmotion

[TheBilletGuy]

I believe you can drip feed the machine, I’ve yet to try it though! And I’ll also tick the smoothing box on my tool paths and see what it does.

[TheBilletGuy]

Just ticked the smoothing box for all the tool paths and reduced the lines from 6152, down to 2852!! And what unit would be ok for me because I see there's quite a few options for different control systems I take it?

[forhire]

They have an internally mounted version and an external unit. The external unit is handy if your loading multiple machines. I've always mounted the internal version as we are using them to DNC (Tape Mode) on Fanuc controls. USBCNC-INT - Calmotion All you need is power and serial. On the Fanuc controls we can power the whole unit using the special serial cable. I'd suggest you call or email them as they have experience fitting a lot of machines.