Well it's been quite the learning curve! But final after staring at the postprocessor file that I opened in Visual studio code for several hours, I was able to figure out how to get the postprocessor in Fusion 360 changed to have it automatically add a line after every G53 with a G90.
I used the stock Mach3mill postprocessor file and modified it and renamed it. Now I can get back to making parts again.
Glen
Just stumbled or should I say crashed into another fusion 360 made code that this controller doesn't like to work nice with. It's G17
for some reason fusion while post processing added a G17 after doing a ramping tool path at the end. then when the program went to go do a slotting run, for what ever reason the controller was now in incremental ( relative mode) instead of Absolute mode. so the fix will be to rework the fusion Mach postprocessor to either not put the G17 in or at the least to have it put a G90 in directly after a G17.
The G17 is used to tell the machine that you are working in the X,Y axis, which is as far as I can see an unnecessary bit of code for a homemade 3 axis machine. I never left the X,Y axis!!
Glen
I have about 3 hours of run time on the SMC and it’s working well. The key to using this controller is to learn what G code it doesn’t like and to avoid using said code LOL. Kind of sucks but it is workable and it’s quite nice to get away from a PC and Mach3.
Glen
This is a very timely thread for me! Thanks. I am a new member working on converting an Emco Compact 8 to cnc. I have 35 years manual and cnc machining.
I want to do this build for the experience.
These Chinese controllers are interesting. Do they have a lathe package? I have no interest in Linux or anything that requires computer skills or working on extensive electronics engineering. Plug and play is best for me, Acorn from Centroid looks good but expensive.
Following this thread.
Phil
Hi Phil thanks for joining the conversation!
I now have about 30 plus hours on my new SMC5 controller and it is working great! I have an additional 4-6 hours using it with a 5.5 watt blue diode laser module fastened to the front of my spindle. lots of fun with the laser.
As for the lathe package there is no separate setups that I'm aware of. There is just the one screen set as far as I know. Its not like Mach or centroid being based off of computer PC software interface. But maybe it could be used for a lathe. You would of course need the appropriate Gcode for lathe. Sorry I'm not overly familiar with CNC lathes.
Hopefully someone experienced in CNC lathes and this until will chime in.
Glen
Here are some photos of some laser etching I've done so far.
Glen
Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice in this thread. Finally got the controller to do what I wanted using Fusion 360.
Hi Phil,
You might want to consider XC609T or CW20T controller for your lathe. I have the former one (cheaper than CW20T but with Chinese front panel...), and they seem to have most functions needed for a CNC lathe, including spindle encoder and threading along either axis or both axes. The user manual for XC609T seems to be quite comprehensive, but it is available in Chinese only. The CW20T English manual is not quite as good, but still useful. I've been trying to translate key parts of the XC609T manual with Google translator, which has actually gotten quite good in translating technical Chinese to English during the last couple of years...
I suppose the bug reports of the SMC5-5-N-N controller and wishes for more functionalities (more G codes, added handwheel function for manual running of G code, some functions for the unused buttons, etc.) could be also sent to support-at-chinaplccenter-dot-com, sometimes they seem to respond to firmware update requests within a few hours. They also sent me a current firmware for my small SMC4-4-16A16B controller. But honestly I don't know if they are the actual developers of these controllers...
Due to english manual discrepancy, so you recommend CW20T. Do you think it has capability the same as XC609T ? What post processor to use if using fusion 360 ? the same as mach3 or fanuc or ... ?You might want to consider XC609T or CW20T controller for your lathe.
Hi, let's continue here about the XC609T / CW20T lathe controllers: https://www.cnczone.com/forums/contr...cnc-forum.html
The available English user manual for the SMC5-5-N-N controller seems to be dated 2017-12-11, so it is rather old and doesn't explain very much of the 5-axis RTCP functionality.
I've found a bit more recent manual dated 2019-5-23 from the Chinese shop.cdle.net site and it seems to explain the 5-axis milling functionality a bit better. Unfortunately, it is in Chinese, so it requires some extra work to get translated into English. For those interested, I've uploaded this manual here. Please share your findings.
//Corhoin
G54,G55,G56,G57,G58,G59 are work coordinates, lets say you mill a dice on rotary axis trunnion table, you can make 5 of the 6 faces a work coordinate. In the industry its known as a 'wpc' work piece coordinate. G53 would cancel any of those wpc, infact i recall you should cancel before calling another wpc. G17, G18 and G19 should be placed before the wpc code if desired, this enables tapping, drilling, boring, etc to be used in a different plane. A good example is a huron milling head, if you rotate 90 degrees in any direction you can then used 'canned cycles' such as drilling in your new plane. Always remember to apply a cancelling code after enabling otherwise the machines 'ready state' will have a different plane or wpc active, a crash will occur when restarted.
Wisdom results from foolishness!
Hi Glen
Yes I had to put a G90 after very G17 command. I also had to disable the Z soft limit. When I get more time I will try and experiment with it.
Fusion put a G90 in after every G28. Apart from that it has been accurate and easy to use though I have worked out the draw g code yet.
Today I decided to have a look if there were any recent updates for the SMC4 or SMC5 controller support files at shop.cdle.net site and yes. In the (very slowly downloadable) SMC.RAR or SMC.ZIP file I found a bit newer manual in Chinese, v.3.8.8 dated 2020-2-12. My previous post included a link to an older manual, v.3.6.9 but you can ignore it as outdated.
This one has a bit more details explained, although not yet quite all. I've uploaded this manual v.3.8.8 here.
//Corhoin
I just uploaded a "cleaner" version of this manual without the annoying watermark, link here.
//Corhoin
Hello,
I hope everyone's doing great!
I am in the process of designing a cnc milling machine, and would like to use the SMC5-5 controller.
However, the machine will have an ATC spindle ( JGL-110/4.2R24-30 ) , and I have no idea if the controller is made to support/use toolchangers.
Does anyone know if it is possible to program toolchanges in this controller? Ideally how, would also be awesome to know!
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, since I couldn't find any reference to this functionality in the manuals or forums.
Thanks!
Kind regards,
Max