[wimbley]

Hello people. I'm working with SprutCam and trying to export to a Shopbot. The only available postprocessor I can find doesn't output anything the machine can use. But I've heard good things about feeding the shopbot software plain gcode and letting it do the dirty work. Problem is, I can't figure out how to export the plain gcode from sprutcam. Any advice?

[MichaelHenry]

Hello people. I'm working with SprutCam and trying to export to a Shopbot. The only available postprocessor I can find doesn't output anything the machine can use. But I've heard good things about feeding the shopbot software plain gcode and letting it do the dirty work. Problem is, I can't figure out how to export the plain gcode from sprutcam. Any advice?

There's a ShopBot post for SprutCAM available here:

Index of ./download/sprutcam/PostProcessors/

Have you tried that yet?

[wimbley]

Tried that. It produced a bunch of obscure errors, none of which I could find any information on.

[MichaelHenry]

Try contacting Sprut or your local reseller - one of them should be able to help you with the correct post.

Mike

[dailafing]

I can't figure out how to export the plain gcode from sprutcam. Any advice?

This is a really fair question, and I know I'm grave digging, but this is where I'm at searching for the answer to this very question...

I've made a simple 3dprinter with Arduino & ramps, (simply, it accepts gcode for xyz g1 movement).... So how do I get my SprutCam 7 to export these tool paths generated by each job?

Please don't hate for grave digging, this should have been answered 3 years ago

[MichaelHenry]

Don't the commonly available slicers like Kura generate G-code for open source printers?

I don't that think that SprutCAM has a post for any sort of 3D printer.

[dailafing]

Don't the commonly available slicers like Kura generate G-code for open source printers?

I don't that think that SprutCAM has a post for any sort of 3D printer.

Hi there, Cura would generate code that controls xyz movements approrreate for extruded filament, with behaviours relevant to 3d printers.
However, I intend to take advantage of the tool paths generated by SprutCAM such as cutting positions on the tip of the drill bit, the spiralistic movements of the waterline operations, and such.

If a "post" doesn't already exist, there should most certainly be a way to make one, surly?

By "basic gcode", I quite literally mean I just need the movements in G0/G1 style movements.... I don't need any tool activations (coolant, spindle speed).

So I simply need SprutCAM/Post to output:

G28 X0 Y0 Z0 'Home all specified
G0 X50 Y50 F20 'Move to centre of bed
G0 Z-10 F5 'Drill a hole slowly
G0 Z10 F20 'Retract from created hole.
G28 'Return to home points

In theory, this must be very easy to achieve?

[adamvs]

Got a couple of options:
1) use a very basic mill, eg, the Tormach. Generate your gcode, then edit out, manually all the M codes, S codes, and Gcodes that don't apply. I would imagine there would be only a few, becuase I would think in 3D printing there is basically one op : extrude!
2) take a copy of the Tormach post processor, and modify it yourself. You need some software writing skills, as the PP generator uses a form of the Basic language. Even at that it's daunting at first getting into the Sprut mind set, and data structures. But after you get productive with that tool you can do some cool things.

[MichaelHenry]

How do you drill a hole with a 3D printer?

[adamvs]

I had some coffee and re-read your post. The problem is a little more complicated because you basically want to take a model and machine it ( mill it ) in reverse. Ie, the last gcode moves become the first and visa vera. You would select a tiny ( the diameter of your extruded blob of plastic ) end mill that is as 'long' as the Z travel on your bed, and machine your model to dust. Or, you need to create a negative of the model, like a mold and machine that. Not sure if SprutCAM would allow the first case, and you would be limited in the second case, because the subtractive approach to making something has limitations over the additive approach. I think open source software is the way to go here.