# Profile Milling with Acu-Rite MillPWR G2 3-Axis



## Mercedes107 (Mar 28, 2020)

I have access to a Bridgeport style mill equipt with Acu-Rite MillPWR G2 3-Axis. The part Shown in the picture was made on this machine. It is a custom manifold for an automotive AC compressor. All of the machining on this part was performed using CNC except the one small corner shown in the picture. That part was done by lets call it a crude CNC where I increased the radius and moved down manually in 2mm increments, while using the CNC to move the quill in an ark.

I cant figure out how to program the system to do this automatically. I believe since it is a 3 axis system it should be able to do this. There seems to be nothing available on the caned programming tools but I'm wondering if I could get it to work if I imported a gcode program. And since I don't know gcode where is a good place to start.


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## matthewsx (Mar 28, 2020)

Very nice, I saw what you were trying to do in the other thread and it's great to see the results. I'm trying to learn FreeCad which can produce g-code files but I'm sure others will have better input.

Cheers,

John


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## hwelecrepair (Mar 28, 2020)

I dont think that you could do that programming just from the controller.  The G2 will run .NC and .G files, and can perform the simoultaneous 3 axis contouring.  You will need to write the program on some offline software and translate it to NC or G to be able to do that.

Jon


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## Mercedes107 (Mar 28, 2020)

hwelecrepair said:


> I dont think that you could do that programming just from the controller.  The G2 will run .NC and .G files, and can perform the simoultaneous 3 axis contouring.  You will need to write the program on some offline software and translate it to NC or G to be able to do that.
> 
> Jon



Thanks for the input.

Sound like I need a program like Mastercam. Cha Ching $4000. Any home grown alternatives??

I found this. I explains the G code. It looks like something I can write in a text editor. I might try making this part in plastic and then move on to 3D profiles. I still will need a lot of research especially in setting tool heights.


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## JimDawson (Mar 28, 2020)

Fusion 360 is still free to hobbyists.  Titan has a good online course.

For that cut, using the trace function might make the most sense.


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## matthewsx (Mar 28, 2020)

LinuxCNC is FOSS - Free and open source software


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## Mercedes107 (Mar 28, 2020)

JimDawson said:


> Fusion 360 is still free to hobbyists.  Titan has a good online course.
> 
> For that cut, using the trace function might make the most sense.



Thanks

I just down loaded it. I will try it out for the moment. I will be looking into getting a student version of Solid Works, hopefully that will have it as well. I generally like to stay away from subscription software, but I think its going to be the way of the future.


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## Mercedes107 (Mar 28, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> LinuxCNC is FOSS - Free and open source software



Thanks
I only saw a Linux version at the web sight is there a windows version?


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## matthewsx (Mar 28, 2020)

Mercedes107 said:


> Thanks
> I only saw a Linux version at the web sight is there a windows version?



Sorry, I'm using LinuxCNC as a machine controller which I don't think you need. For design and converting to g-code you can use FreeCad which does have a Windows version.






						FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler
					

FreeCAD, the open source 3D parametric modeler




					www.freecadweb.org
				




Although why people are still using Windows is beyond me 

John


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## Mercedes107 (Mar 28, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> Sorry, I'm using LinuxCNC as a machine controller which I don't think you need. For design and converting to g-code you can use FreeCad which does have a Windows version.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For the machine I have access to, I wont need a controller, just a good means to write the G-Code.
I use Windows mostly because industry uses windows. I dabbled in Linux and OS2. There great but I found bringing work home was never quite seamless. And then when your wife wants to use your computer?

If I ever go down the path of converting my manual mill to CNC, I may dabble in Linux again. It would be great as a dedicated controller.

Free Cad was another one I was looking to try.

Thanks John


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## matthewsx (Mar 28, 2020)

I've been in the IT business since before the web so I've supported just about everything out there. My first Linux machine was in 1993 but mostly I've used Macs and Windows as productivity machines because of the reasons you stated. But now things are changing. 

Windows 10 is almost 5 years old and when I boot my PC into it I have to allow at least an hour for it to update. If you haven't checked Linux out lately I can highly recommend the Ubuntu distro, it can be run from a USB stick to try it out and it plays nicely in a dual boot configuration on every PC I've tried.

With almost everyone using Google Docs for making and sharing all the regular productivity apps, and Libre Office which reads and writes in MS Office format, there's almost nothing I need the PC for besides my Quickbooks bookkeeping stuff. Besides some specialty apps MS Exchange is about the only thing requiring Windows these days. 

Of course if I get another admin job I'll be managing Windows Active Directory domain controllers just because that's what most corporations still use. But the days of open source being something only for nerds and scientists are long gone my friend.

John


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## hwelecrepair (Mar 29, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> Windows 10 is almost 5 years old and when I boot my PC into it I have to allow at least an hour for it to update.



What?  I shut my computer at work down at least 3 times a week and even with the big updates it does every few weeks, that maybe takes 10 minutes to do the update on reboot.  

Not at all saying anything about the system or experience, but an hour every time you turn it on?

Jon


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## Boswell (Mar 29, 2020)

I keep my shop windows 10 system off most of the time. I have updates set to manual so it only updates the system, when I tell it to. takes 5-10 minutes when it does.


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## matthewsx (Mar 29, 2020)

Well, you guys are lucky I guess. Either that or Windows doesn't like sharing the drives on my systems with Linux.

But probably it's because I manually run all the updates available and only do it every month or two. I could set it to do less but don't want to risk it in case something major comes along. If I was still running an active directory domain controller on my network I could manage updates better, but that would mean leaving my systems booted into Windows all the time. Most users just let the updates download and run in the background but I find that too frustrating so I force it while I do other things on a different system.

I was born in Cupertino and my dad had the very first IBM PC with DOS 1.1, I started with Macs in 1984 and became a systems administrator in the mid 1990's so I do have a little experience with computers. If what you have is working good then no reason to mess with it, but Linux is a viable alternative now that does everything Windows and Macs can do, will run faster on your old hardware, and is licensed under open source so nobody can mess with you.

It's not a religious thing for me, my job is supporting whatever systems my clients are using. I have to objectively evaluate all types of software so I can make good recommendations for them.

If you just want to try it out and see what I'm talking about download Ubuntu and create a bootable USB, it won't mess your system up but will give you a chance to try a great desktop Linux distribution.









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Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.




					ubuntu.com
				




If you're wanting to learn more and dive into command line administration here's a free training program I worked on updating last year.





__





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I love this place because I get to learn new stuff every day. 


Cheers,

John


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