Re: EMC Newbie

Thanks Jon,
I appreciate the quick and complete answers.
RE:Home,
My EMC computer is not hooked up to anything at this time, and if I
hit the home button, the axis indicator goes to zero. Can I assume
that there being a lack of homing switches, if I hit "home", the
present machine position will be considered home?

If that is so, then in one case the button means "this is home" and
in
the other case, "go to home"????

Can I create macros written in "G", and give them a button, (create a
button), on the GUI or assign them to certain keys on the keyboard?
Seems this would eliminate a lot of loading of files, or typing as
the
case might be.

I'm not sure I understand when the "Feed override" setting takes
effect. Can you explain.

If I set the jog button increment to .100 and hit the + button five
times quickly, I would expect that the machine would advance, at the
axis speed, a half inch, but instead the indicator shows some
intermediate number. Can you explain what is going on.

What is the list of "G" and "M" codes under the MDI line in the TKEMC
GUI?

Many thanks in advance
Jerry

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com, Jon Elson <jmelson@a...> wrote:
>
>
> Ozzie@h... wrote:
>
>
> > I'd like to understand every entry in the .ini
> > files,
>
> I have used this file, which is not as much info as I'd like, but
> it covers the most important stuff :
> http://www.isd.mel.nist.gov/projects/emc/emcsoft.html
>
> > how to set up a rotary axis
>
> At the moment, you can't have real rotary axes. You can fake it as
if
> it were
> a linear axis, or you can use some stuff that makes it work only in
> manual
> jog mode, but the standard kinematics routines only do 3 axes right
now.
>
> It is in the works for rotary axes to be fully supported, but it is
not
> ready yet.
> I am waiting for the same thing.
>
> > what "Home" really means, etc.
>
> Home is a position that is set by detecting the closure of a switch
that
>
> references the machine position to a machine coordinate system. The
> idea
> is that if you set up a part at a user coordinate system of (0 ,
0),
and
> then
> turn the machine off, then back on, say, the next day and re-home
the
> axes, that going to user coordinate (0 ,0) will get you back to the
> exact
> same position. In other words, the offset from the machine to user
> coordinate
> systems is stored when EMC is shut down, and re-established the next
> time EMC is run.
>
> > Surely there is a document, that I can beg, borrow, steal, buy, or
> > best of all, download that gives the basic operating instructions
for
> > EMC.
>
> No, there is no complete, all encompassing document. This is not
> commercial
> software, but a work in progress.
>
> >
> > I understand creating and entering "G" code, but I don't know the
> > simpler things, like turning a cylinder on the lathe using the
> > buttons
> > on EMC rather than turning handles.
>
> Well, on a lathe, there is the Z axis (parallel to spindle) and the
X
> axis (radius).
> Using buttons (which I don't really recommend) you use the <- and ->
> keys
> to change radius (X jog) and the page-up and page-down buttons (Z
jog)
> to move the carriage along the bed. The < and > keys change the jog
> speed
> (shown by a jog rate bar on the screen), and the 1 through 9 and 0
keys
> set the jog rate at 10% through 90% and then 100% of the jog rate.
>
> I occasionally do some things with the jog keys, but almost always
> prefer
> to do actual cutting with the MDI mode, entering commands like
> "X5.25 F10" to make the move, so my hands are free to squirt oil,
> change the feed rate, remove chips, hit E-stop or esc if necessary,
etc.
>
> The esc key cancels any move in progress, also cancels a running
> program.
> The P key pauses a program, the S key resumes a program or move.
> The E-stop button (if you haven't set one up, I strongly recommend
it,
> and the bigger a machine you have, the stronger the recommendation!)
> is a more severe stop, but in my setup it powers down the servo
> amplifiers,
> which could be required in a runaway condition.
>
> There is a document that I don't believe is available in electronic
form
> which
> discusses the RS-274 (G-code) interpreter that is implemented at the
> heart
> of EMC. We really should have an electronic copy of this, as it
lists
> the
> G-codes (and M-codes, too) that are implemented, and how they are
> expected to be used. Maybe I should do this as an extension of my
> CAD-CAM... FAQ.
>
> If you have any specific questions, you can also ask me, as I have
been
> using EMC since about June 1998.
>
> Jon