G-code assistance

[jlsmithseven]

Is this a good place to ask for G-code assistance? We are required to write our own G-code and I just got my first assignment. Can anyone here check it over for me or where would be a good place to get help?

 

[Bill Gruby]

I am moving this to the CNC forum. They will give you the help you need,
"Billy G"

 

[Wreck™Wreck]

Post the basic requirements and someone may help, the code encompasses a wide array of commands.

 

[Boswell]

I am sure if you post what you have along with a description of what you are trying to do you can get some feedback.

 

[T Bredehoft]

I'll be watching this, it's been 17 years, but I used to G-code on the fly, punching in programs standing at the pendant.

 

[JimDawson]

We'll be happy to help you learn how to do it.

 

[Bill Gruby]

Where did he go ????? Hasn't been here since Wednesday.

 

[jlsmithseven]

A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.



I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.



Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544

 

[JimDawson]

Anyways my biggest issue is just moving it up and down and making sure it touches. Like I have z1.0 at the start, then -1.0 but how do I know how far it goes down, etc? Can someone explain that. Thanks guys you are all awesome here!

You have to tell the machine where part (paper) zero is relative to the tool height. So the first thing you have to do is tell the machine how long the tool is. This is normally done on the machine by bringing the tool down until it just touches the work, then you enter that value into the tool table. In this case, you have a tool height offset of 1.0 (N30 G00 Z1.0 G43 H01) so we can assume that when the tool is just touching the part, the height is 1.0 absolute. To put a bit of pressure on the tool, then it would be 1.0 - 0.002 0r 0.998 absolute. The DRO on the machine should be reading -0.002 at this point.

I hope this makes sense.

We'll work on the lifting and dropping the tool a bit later, that's the easy part after the tool zero is working.

 

[jlsmithseven]

OK, so. The N30 line says Z1.0. That means that the machine is now 1 inch above the absolute coordinate I sent it to ( The bottom left of my J which is the start point where I want to touch down.) Correct? What is the next line N35 code doing then when I say Z .1. Does that move it back up .100 thousandths? Sorry I was just kind of copying code from our manual and trying to integrate it. Thank you for clarifying the tool offset a bit better, I'm kind of getting it but I'm still not completely there.

Could you possibly start at line N20 and work down from there and help me know what it's doing? I understand everything above that. Thanks!