[lesthegringo]

Guys, I have made a CNC engraver that I plan to use to produce fascia panels in MDF for some homemade gaming rigs, plus later use in conjuction with a 25w laser to cut MDF panels for some bits for construction of consoles etc. It works great, I'm using Universal G-Code sender and with some test gcode files I downloaded from the internet have checked it out and calibrated it.

My problem comes when I try and port my own designs to it. I have Autosketch, where I can produce exactly what I want and eport to a .dxf file. I have Qcad, which allows me to convert that to a .svg file. Using Inkscape I then convert that to g-code. Or at least that's the theory.#

in practice the conversion to g-code simply doesn't work. It always comes up with errors, and if it saves the file at all (50% of the time max), the G-code is not useable and it fails to work on the CNC engraver. To test which bit of it was the problem, I opened a new document in Inkscape, drew 1 single circle on it, then followed the process where you convert objects to paths, and finally converted it to g-code - but it comes back with errors. With one simple geometrical shape.

The files I want to engrave are not extravagant and I am so close but the failure of this last step has completely stymied me. For the sake of the last percent, all the rest is worthless.

I've attached (or at least I think I have!) a .dxf file that I was trying to use as a test. You can't see the .svg file produced from it as it's not an allowed file type. When I tried to save it as g-code this was the error I got 'Drawing out of range: [5.000000054166666, -10.00000009774999] [125.00000003124998, 89.99999992725] No points.'

At least, that was the error that time.....

I need a reliable way to turn my files to g-code otherwise my whole lot of work is a waste, so if anyone can help me I would be eternally grateful!

Thanks

Les

[Jim Dawson]

Try CamBam to create the G code CamBam CNC Software

CamBam reads the DXF file directly and creates the G code

[RoverJ1530]

Try CamBam to create the G code CamBam CNC Software

CamBam reads the DXF file directly and creates the G code

I use CamBam also. The PP was tweaked from (M3Cutviewer) in order to work on my Biesse Rover J (7ATC). For a simple CAD/CAM program, the control options for machining are plentiful.

[lesthegringo]

Ok, thanks - I wonder why my setup got its drawers in a twist over the units? I will have to try and stick to one or the other, and in Autosketch (used for the original dxf files) I could switch between the two easily, so the electronics were done with that.

Qcad looks like a modern alternative, not as easy to use to be sure but I'll have to get over that

Thanks again for the help

Les

[lesthegringo]

Sorry, guys, next step in the 'help me' saga

I'm trying to use the machine to drill the PCB holes on my trial job, so the holes are all 0.5 mm, I'm using a 0,5mm drill, and I am getting a weird result. I used the 'drill' setting from the machining menu, set the feed at 50mm/min, stock depth 3mm, drill depth 2mm, set tool diameter to 0.5mm drill, clearance plane 11mm

Have a look at the gcode file, it has no bearing on the dxf or CamBam files

I imagined that the drilling code would actually be simpler, evidently not!

Cheers

Les

[lesthegringo]

Guys, I have been adding circles as my drill points in Qcad, whereas I think that what I should have been doing is adding a point, but I'm struggling on how to do that - any ideas?

Cheers

Les

[he1957]

Tested your DXF file with SimpyCam from MR-Soft Nc Software Tools and it generates G-Code just fine for my Mach-3 Postprocessor settings.

Successfully created a sample file using my defaults (metric) to produce a drawing of 4 x 3 mm (so I gather this should be in inches?) :-)

I won't post it here but can e-mail. Send me an address via PM if you would like to test it. I can try inches if you like.

[Jim Dawson]

I created the attached G code file from your DXF, it is in Imperial units. I can convert to metric if needed.

[lesthegringo]

strange, all the curves have become irregular polygons, at least once on UGS

Something on my PC maybe?

Les

[lesthegringo]

Strange, take a look at the screenshot that the gcode file looks like for me on UGS

Cheers

Les

[he1957]

As a curiosity I compared the code Jim posted to the code generated by SimplyCam.

Jim's CamBam code is about 4900 lines. SimplyCam code (including additional comments for before and after feed moves) is about 450 lines.

Interesting :-)

[Jim Dawson]

As a curiosity I compared the code Jim posted to the code generated by SimplyCam.

Jim's CamBam code is about 4900 lines. SimplyCam code (including additional comments for before and after feed moves) is about 450 lines.

Interesting :-)

Oops, you are correct, wrong post processor, has Arcs to Lines turned on. You'll note that there are no G2 or G3 moves in the code I generated. For some stuff I do it that way.

[lesthegringo]

got it, thanks. I'm using Universal Gcode Sender at the moment, but I'm open to any suggestions if there is better out there. I tried GRBL Candle, which worked once, then never worked again, plus a couple of others that seemed to be finecky to set up for my application and hardware, but UGS seemed to be pretty good so I stuck with it

Cheers

Les

[Jim Dawson]

got it, thanks. I'm using Universal Gcode Sender at the moment, but I'm open to any suggestions if there is better out there. I tried GRBL Candle, which worked once, then never worked again, plus a couple of others that seemed to be finecky to set up for my application and hardware, but UGS seemed to be pretty good so I stuck with it

Cheers

Les

Sorry, can't help you there. I either use my local network, a USB stick, or the cloud to transfer the files to my machines. All of my machines also have CAD and CAM right on the machine computer so I can create, edit, and post files directly to a folder then from there open the NC file in the CNC program.

[lesthegringo]

Thanks guys, so it must be something to do with the Inkscape plugin for Gcode. I'm having a play with CamBam and first thoughts are that it is good, just want to check if it works for me before buying it. One curiosity that I have already discovered is that I have three text boxes on the DXF file, yet on this .nc gcode file, one of the text boxes (upper left) disappears - is that due to the restrictions of the trial version?

Cheers

Les

[Jim Dawson]

Thanks guys, so it must be something to do with the Inkscape plugin for Gcode. I'm having a play with CamBam and first thoughts are that it is good, just want to check if it works for me before buying it. One curiosity that I have already discovered is that I have three text boxes on the DXF file, yet on this .nc gcode file, one of the text boxes (upper left) disappears - is that due to the restrictions of the trial version?

Cheers

Les

Could you post the DXF file? Or are you using the same file as above?

[lesthegringo]

It was actually an initial trial file to help set up my cnc router and get me familiarised with the whole process, and it was basically a superimposition of a PCB diagram that I want to engrave that goes behind a fascia panel with the engraved lettering. The later one is with the text included because my first attempts with another program would crash when the lettering was added. After I started using Qcad I could reinstate the lettering

I was asked to start with the CB file and then in the lower left pane click Machining, and go to the Arc Center Mode and select default, I need to do that tonight after work to see if that helps.

Cheers for all the assistance guys

[lesthegringo]

Even more bizarre now, despite the image showing the correct size in millimeters in the viewing pane, sometimes the Universal Gcode Sender outputs the file as if it was reading the imperial units as the millimetric value, and then the next time it doesn't. I managed to resolve one of the reasons for the router not wanting to work, the z travel limit had somehow reset to zero, and the only way to recover it was to edit the firmware settings file. However the random switching between unit types has me stumped. When you go to open a file it also tries looking for some bizarre location in the PC, even though that location doesn't exist, so it comes up with a dialog box saying it can't find it, which you clear and immediately pops back up again. Clearing it a second time gets rid of it until you try to change the path you want to open, then repeats before finally showing you where you want to see

I'm totally confused, and am close to throwing in the towel. Even CamBam doesn't seem to like me, despite repeated attempts with CamBam, I cannot get the third bit of text to show up on a gcode file where it shows up on the dxf and CamBam files.

I'm uninstalling it all and will do a laptop brainwash and try again, but this is seriously frustrating especially as what I want to do is relatively simple....

*sigh*

Les

[lesthegringo]

here is the CadBam file I used to generate the gcode appended to have a .txt extension (the only way I could get it to attach). You will have to rename it as a .cb file for it to work of course, but you will see that it has three items of text

Thanks for the help

Le

[lesthegringo]

So I have been having a play around, basically going back to basics to try and iron out any errors creeping in by using a new file and being rigorous with drawing units, plus only introducing text in Qcad.

All looks better, and the CamBam file shows the four boxes of text I've put in, but for some reason when I open the gcode file in Universal gcode sender, one set of text is missing plus a load of other bits and pieces. Is it possible that the trial version of CamBam is cutting out some of the entities due to it not being the full version?

Can you guys take a look and see if the gcode file works?

Cheers

Les