Help! Even though I'm a rookie to CNC I've run so many images through SheetCam I feel I can't do it wrong. But alas here I am totally puzzled at how my routine of developing Gcodes with SheetCam has gone crazy. I imported my image as always. I put in the parameters shown below. Luckily before actually putting bit to wax I noticed that my Zs were starting about two inches above the material and never getting into the wax (See A). I checked and checked and checked but can find no error in what I've done. I'm sorry to admit that I made one change but didn't jot it down. So I cannot tell you what I did differently. But I can tell you that the regular length Gcode, complete with erroneous Zs, has now been reduced to a few lines (See B). So I'm making it worse instead of better. I'm totally baffled. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Mode: Spiral pocket
Layer: 0
Tool: 0.25"
Start: 0"
Cut: 0.15"
Per pass: 0.1"
Post: Mach2
Thickness of matl: 1.05"
Rapid: 0.1"
(B)
N0000 (Filename: SPIRAL AROUND STOPS.tap)
N0010 (Post processor: Mach2.scpost)
N0020 (Date: 11/23/2008)
N0030 G20 (Units: Inches)
N0040 G40 G90
N0050 F1
N0060 (Part: SPIRAL AROUND STOPS)
N0070 G00 X0.0000 Y0.0000 Z0.1000
N0080 M05 M30
(A)
N0000 (Filename: SPIRAL AROUND THE KNOBS.tap)
N0010 (Post processor: Mach2.scpost)
N0020 (Date: 11/22/2008)
N0030 G20 (Units: Inches)
N0040 G40 G90
N0050 F1
N0060 (Part: SPIRAL AROUND THE KNOBS)
N0070 (Process: Spiral pocket, 0, T1: Mill/router, 0.25 inch diameter, 0.85 inch Deep)
N0080 (Mill/router, 0.25 inch diameter)
N0090 T1 M06 G43 H1
N0100 G00 Z2.1000
N0110 M03 S1000
N0120 X1.7059 Y3.0495
N0130 Z1.2697
N0140 G01 Z1.1500 F30
N0150 X1.7059 F41
N0160 X1.9545
N0170 G03 X1.9412 Y2.9719 I0.3609 J-0.1019
N0180 G01 X1.9395 Y2.9459
N0190 G03 X1.9460 Y2.8482 I0.3742 J-0.0244
N0200 G01 X1.9463 Y2.8465
N0210 X1.7138
N0220 X1.7161 Y2.8598
(Remainder of code omitted)
My SheetCam skills went up in smoke...
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projectcnc
Well, the problem's "over", but the curiosity remains. When I say the problem's over-- I mean I no longer have inoperable code because I took the DXF files to another computer with SheetCam and got good code. But I'm still curious as to why my other computer produces bad code. I suspect the problem's in my setup preferences but I haven't found any wrong choices.