Re: code generation?

As much as I am capable of understanding the basics of vector
mechanics, I'm going to punk out and use every CADCAM resource I can
on this one. And I do appreciate the hel[p I've gotten from here ont
eh list.

I took the .dxf of the outlines [hand-drawn in AutoCad] and did a
'print to file' telling it it's printing to an epson printer, then a
shareware [scan2cnc.exe] grabs the resulting .plt and turns it into
cnc code....2750 lines of the stuff just for the outlines. But at
least it looks like what it's supposed to when I import it into the
demo version of any of several CAM programs recommended
here...supercam [which comes with teh mill I'm looking at] seems to
regard all the lines as travel paths and the arcs as cuts but I dunno
if that's a limit of the demo version...or a limit of the demo version
of vector which is what I created the code with...

The original art I'm working to get milled into the workpiece, came to
me in the form of a [pixel-by-pixel retouched] 9600x9600x16-bit bitmap
which has details as small as .020" [when blown up to 8" across]...and
less than 10% of the original surface metal will be uncut when
done...you wanna try hand-coding THAT? In one lifetime? Not me.

But I DO wholeheartedly agree with your point we should have an idea
what the stuff is doing, and how, not just be 'appliance operators'.
By now I think I might be able to hand-code as much as 2% of this job
before I blew my brains out in utter frustration and tedium...

to which I say
N10 G00 X4.1291 Y6.8767
N20 G03 X4.1291 Y6.8767 I-0.6571 J0.0000 F10.0
N30 G00 X7.5848 Y6.9047
N40 G03 X7.5848 Y6.9047 I-0.6571 J0.0000 F10.0
N50 G00 X3.4407 Y5.4437
N60 G03 X6.9315 Y5.4437 I1.7454 J0.1141 F10.0



--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "doug98105"
<dougrasmussen@c...> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> What I meant was, I think everybody should know and understand
> what's involved in programming before they buy CAM. I don't mean
> you should actually program difficult tool paths by hand, you should
> certainly be capable of doing it, given the time and patience,
> though.
>
> I don't see anything "hard" about hand coding a true-type font.
> Tedious, yes, hard no. Convert to vector format, explode the
> character in CAD and follow the path, just a bunch of G01, 02, 03.
> Pretty basic CNC 101 stuff.
>
> Doug
>
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Chris L <datac@l...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > doug98105 wrote:
> >
> > >Group,
> > >
> > >Just my opinion here, but I don't think a hobbyist should buy any
> > >CAM program until they can program "long-hand" in their sleep.
> > >
> > >I may be mistaken, but I get the impression (from previous posts)
> > >that some hobbyists are buying CAM software because they don't
> know
> > >how to program their machines.
> > >
> > Well, I dont know about you, but even when I'm awake, I'd find it
> pretty
> > hard to make handwritten code for any "word" in true type text,
> not to
> > mention all different types of text. 3d RC fuselages and Car
> bodies
> > would likely be a pain too !
> >
> > Let us get "cam" FIRST,,, please??? :-)
> >
> > Chris L