Getting Started Basic Cnc Software

[grepper]

I'll check into SS too. Hopefully I didn't goof up thinking it was a motion controller. I'll be interested to hear about 360.

2:00am here. Time for me to call it a night too.

 

[jumps4]

I have been using D2NC for years and It works well for most of my needs.
Most of the parts I make are one off runs and D2NC is great for that.
I probably have less than $300 invested in software, Mach3 d2nc and I use Emachineshop cad program to produce my dxf files.
with your coding experience you will quickly see how you can edit the code for special needs
I have posted how I'm making parts and the software I'm using here
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/cnc-from-sketch-to-part-the-way-i-do-it.19633/
the first videos are poor , they get better after I purchased better video software.
also there is the section on parts people have made
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pictures-of-things-made-in-home-shop-cnc.32571/
Steve

 

[grepper]

Thanks Steve! Emachineshop appears to be exactly the type of thing I'm looking for. Good pricing on it to. Thanks for making those videos. I'll check them out too!

I'm just getting started and I'm not going to pay $1500 or more for software, nor do I want to subscribe to cloud apps and have to pay $N$ every year for a subscription. Your suggestion is just what I had in mind.

I'm also checking out Fusion 360, but for a variety of reasons I'm leery of cloud apps.

Thanks!

 

[grepper]

Briefly looking through the SmoothStepper web site, it looks like all of the motion control is done on the PC rather than onboard the SmoothStepper

Jim- From the SS FAQ:

"The SmoothStepper is a high-performance external motion controller that interfaces between your PC and your CNC equipment. It is a 6-axis motion control device that accepts commands from a trajectory planner (i.e. Mach3 or Mach4) and produces a very high quality pulse train to drive stepper and servo motor drivers."
http://warp9td.com/index.php/gettingstarted/what-is-a-smoothstepper

It works with Mach:
http://blog.cnccookbook.com/2011/12...-from-hobby-class-to-industrial-grade-part-2/
"The Smoothstepper’s 4 MHz rate means it can handle that with 100,000 / 4,000,000 or 2.5% accuracy"

I'm a poor, suffering noob..., so I'll ask, this is saying what I think it is, correct?

 

[Jim_Hbar]

Mark -

CAD packages have a VERY steep learning curve, and if you think selecting stepper hardware sent you into the abyss, the CAD question is several orders of magnitude deeper...

If the emachine app (that Jumps shows above) will do what you need, go with that. I played with it a bit, and is way quicker to get something reasonable on the screen than a novice attempting to draw in 2d CAD.
I would advise you not to head down the 2d CAD or 3d modeling path until you absolutely need that functionality.

If you really want to peak at a real 2d CAD package, get DraftSight here. There is a free version on that download page.
It is the 2d compliment to Solidworks - which is arguably the "standard" in 3d modeling - And it pretty much runs the same as the later flavors of ACAD. (And I suspect it's release is what caused AutoDesk to offer Fusion360 free to none commercial users. )

 

[JimDawson]

I think it is a matter of semantics. In my opinion, a motion controller does the trajectory planning. You tell it where you want it to go, give it speed and acceleration, and tell it to go. That puts all of the heavy lifting onto the motion controller. Maybe something like that is actually happening with the SS. It does look like it has a microprocessor on board.

I really need to understand the command inputs to the SS to be able to tell what it actually does. So far, I've not seen any documentation on that. If you have the time, see if you can find some documentation.

Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to dig into it, there is a pile of chips waiting to be made in the shop.

 

[Jim_Hbar]

I think it is a matter of semantics. In my opinion, a motion controller does the trajectory planning. You tell it where you want it to go, give it speed and acceleration, and tell it to go. That puts all of the heavy lifting onto the motion controller.

:+1:

But many of the terms used on this hobby side of things aren't technically correct - Can you imagine my confusion when I first read about a "charge pump" output???
Now, I KNOW what a real charge pump is, what it does, how to size it, and what accessory devices are required in the circuit to use it effectively... And I even have one on a tracked machine I own...
But WHERE on a hobby CNC set-up would it be used?? (So I googled it - and fortunately, some people call it a watchdog!)

And don't get me started on "pulleys"!!! Wikipedia can't even get the correct term for them correct

 

[grepper]

Jim H. - Yea, I totally get it re: CAD software, hence my original question. At this point I'm not looking for big, complicated and expensive. For getting started I'm looking for easy and inexpensive. Just simple, getting started stuff.

Interesting that Emachineshop is basically a sales assistance tool. I've seen those types of apps on a few different sites. I never thought of just using them as a stand-alone for personal use. I always figured they output some proprietary format that would only be useful for the particular company.

At least at this point I've done enough research and learned enough to know for certain that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[grepper]

Jim W.-

Thanks for the clarification on motion controllers. I wonder... In the real world, for this hobby size stuff, does it matter? I mean, for the most part people are using a parallel port! Truly a Conestoga wagon of an interface.

There is the USB option which I'd like to avoid due to my shop (basement) layout. I don't want to have to have hubs and repeaters, or do whatever USB over Ethernet involves.

Regardless, there are the USB options. CNCdrive who makes the UC100 and UC300 is more specific:

http://cncdrive.com/UC100.html
http://cncdrive.com/MC/UC100 datasheet/UC100 users guide.pdf
"... it implements linear and arc interpolation routines with trajectory planner,
communication routines, limits and homing functions handling and it has nearly all the
functions (with some limitations) as what Mach3 supports with the LPT port driver."

I read somewhere that one of their reps said the UC300 also does trajectory planning, but it does not say so here:
http://cncdrive.com/UC300.html
http://cncdrive.com/MC/UC300 datasheet/UC300 users guide.pdf
"The UC300 motion controller overcomes these problems with removing all time critical
tasks from the control computer and Windows and executing all these tasks on inside it's
own high speed DSP control chip outside the PC."

But I wonder- In the real world, does it really matter? Both the SS and the UC stuff would seem to be improvements over parallel which works more or less (I guess). Since I have not used any of this stuff, I hope I'm not just babbling.

 

[Jim_Hbar]

Mark:

Like you, I have an aversion to doing the Linux thing - I want a CNCed mill to make things - not a hobby of CNCing a mill..
I'm probably wrong, and just irritated a bunch of people, but that's my perception.

Just so long as the gear all works together, I don't think it makes a big difference to most end users where the trajectory math is done.
All combinations will do something better than the others - it's just a matter of where you wish to compromise..
If you didn't want a compromise, you'd be buying a Mazak or Haas.. (but compromising your financial health and/or marriage!?)

The USB based controllers that I've investigated, UCCNC and Eding, both offer RJ45 connections in an upgraded solution, so you aren't really married to USB unless you want to be.
And when you total all the electronic boards and stuff with the software, there isn't a significant cost difference to any of the solutions.

BTW, one thing I found reading through the UCCNC material, is that they use more on-board features in their devices with their software, than they do when interfaced with Mach3/4.