Hi I am a new user of sheetcam and have found that none of the tng post processors will work with grbl. I did find that the older 6.2.0 version has a mach2 post processor that sort of works. I did try to import the older version of the post processor into the tng version but it didn’t work correctly either.
Beings i am no programmer and hardly know anything about how the post processing works i have little chance of getting it to work correctly myself. I am curious with the increasing popularity of grbl running on routers and different cnc machines if there is any chance someone is or will be working on making sheetcam tng compatible with grbl?
I would be happy to help any way i can testing things out or even donating a complete arduino board to anyone able to figure out the scripting to make grbl another workable option for people cnc machining with sheetcam.
Thanks
Ron
P.S. here is a video of my simple machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriSs5EG28c
As you are plasma cutting you will have to use a plasma post processor. The ‘Mach3 plasma’ post is probably the closest to what you want. Try that post. If the code doesn’t work send me a copy of the g-code and tell me what line it failed on.
Thanks Les
I have tried all the post processors that come with tng Tried all the mach3 and the simple gcode and none have been able to even draw the shape of the cut correctly Or maybe its none of them make gcode that grbl can follow correctly?
I have the machine cutting with the old version of sheetcam now using the mach2 plasma no z axis post processor.
It still does pause on the N0170 M03 line but a click of the mouse sends it on its way again.
Having tried all the processors with tng has me thinking maybe it could be simple like adding the old mach2 post processors to the list in tng or maybe even purely grbl post processors would be best? Even if i get my machine running well on the old version of sheetcam i don’t believe i can license it anymore?
Sorry for the delay in replying. I’ve been away for the last few days.
M03 is to turn the torch on. I assume your copy of grbl is currently configured for manual spindle on/off (Plasma cutting usually uses the spindle on/off to control the torch).
What other errors do you get when you try to run code generated by TNG?
No problem Les thanks for your help… glad your back.
Anyways.
With tng using the mach3 plasma post processors or the simple gcode post’s its not so much an error im thinking rather the movement of the machine doesn’t match what it should be doing.
The only time i get the gcode to work correctly is when i use the 6.2.0 older version of sheetcam and the mach2 plasma post processor. And i have not found any tng post processors that work like the older version mach2
I hope that makes sense.
One thing that i noticed different between the mach3 and the mach2 post processors in the notes is mach3 is modal gcode and the mach2 says non modal… im not actually sure what that means but the mach2 seems to work.
I did try and load the older version of sheetcams mach2 post into the tng and it warned that it would have to be converted into the new format but it didn’t seem to work.
Do you have any ideas how i can load mach2 post processor into the new tng version of sheetcam?
Thanks again
Ron
I have been looking into this and can’t see enything that should cause a problem. Could you give me some samples of g-code that work.
sure ill send the one ive gotten to work.
This is the old sheetcam using mach2 plasma post processor.
The Mach3 plasma no Z is pretty much identical. If the code doesn’t run edit it manually with a text editor. Look for this line:
N0050 G53 G90 G91.1 G40
and change it to
N0050 G53 G90 G40
Does it now work?
Thanks Les
Last weekend i decided to put the plasma cutter away for now and quit futsing with grbl. I almost have my mini milling machine setup and ready to test. It runs Mach3 and im guessing should be much easier for me to learn sheetcam with…
I will run the file again threw the old SC with mach2 and the new SC with mach3 and compare the gcode and try to figure out what needs to be changed.
I want to thank you again for working on this with me. Once i have the mill setup i should be able to cut the parts i need just allot slower.