I am wondering if anyone uses madCAM with their Black Box controller and if there might be a post processor for this. Otherwise, is it difficult to create the post processor? Thanks!!
See MADCAM Post processor - The Shapeoko Forum (Google result, not personally verified, we don't have a copy of MadCAM around)
Thanks! I will give this a try, again. I am getting setup now with using Control and the Black Box as I was previously running Mach3 on a 32 bit system. I found this and installed, but I think there may be some issue giving me trouble. I created a simple 4” circle profile cut as a test but the actual circle is much smaller. I have already done the preliminary calibration. Perhaps this outputs in mm instead of inches? Another question is, how can we assign keys to control the jogging from our keyboard, or is there a keyboard shortcut for that already. Also, is there a way to have fine control over the jogging motion? In Mach3, pressing shift before using the jogging keys allows movements of .001” Sorry for so many questions.
Do a test with known-working gcode first to see if machine is accurately calibrated docs:blackbox:hello-world [OpenBuilds Documentation] for example Or at least a known-working CAM G20 vs G21 - check the gcode. and of course is the scale off by 1/2.54 ? Wizards and Tools > Customize Keyboard Shortcuts Fine jogging: Use Incremental for finer control
So I believe the Shapeoko post processor is sending the output scaled to metric. Is there a simple fix to convert to imperial? //MadCAM_POST_2015-1-12 *VERSION* 1.0_031210 *FILE_NAME* Shapeoko *FILE_EXTENSION* nc *FILE_DEST* c:\postfiles\ *FILTER* 0.005 *OUTPUT_WIDTH* 4 *OUTPUT_DECIMALS* 3 *SCALE_X* 1 *SCALE_Y* 1 *SCALE_Z* 1 *AXIS_1_CHAR* X *AXIS_2_CHAR* Y *AXIS_3_CHAR* Z *CUTTER_REFERENCE* TIP *RAPID* N"lnbr" G0 "x" "y" "z" *END_SECTION* *RAPID_APPROACH* N"lnbr" "x" "y" "z" *END_SECTION* *RAPID_RETRACT* N"lnbr" G0 "x" "y" "z" *END_SECTION* *APPROACH* N"lnbr" G1 "x" "y" "z" F"feed" *END_SECTION* *FIRST_CUT* N"lnbr" "x" "y" "z" F"feed" *END_SECTION* *CUT* N"lnbr" "x" "y" "z" *END_SECTION* *TOOL_CHANGE* N"lnbr" T"toolnr"M6 N"lnbr" S"speed"M3 N"lnbr" G43 H"toolnr" *END_SECTION* *TOOL_STOP* *END_SECTION* *PROGRAM_START* % O"pgmnr" N"lnbr" G40 *END_SECTION* *PROGRAM_END* N"lnbr" M30 % *END_SECTION* *LINE_START_NUMBER* 1
Adding a G20 command edit in the g-code seems to have done the trick. Now to dial in the calibration. I also need to figure out how to strip out some gcode which causes an error when running if not removed.
The post processor from the link seems to work but may need some tweaks. for some reason the Z axis F rate is the same as the X&Y F rate even when it is modified in the g-code. I would like the tool to have a slower plunge rate when entering the work. I have this set in my CAM software but it doesn’t write the g-code to reflect this. % N1 G40 G20 N2 G0 X-0.375 Y0.000 N3 Z0.250 N4 Z0.000 N5 G1 Z-0.015 F5 N6 X0.375 F15 N7 G0 Z0.250 N8 G0 X-0.375 N9 Z-0.015 N10 G1 Z-0.030 F15 Thoughts?
Contact MadCAM (or a more MadCAM orientated audience) for further assistance ? madCAM - Support or MadCAM as a paying customer, surely they'll be happy to advise on editing the post?
I think madcam should put documentation on the web so this is easy to find! file C:\Program Files\madCAM 6\System\madCAM_Help.chm tells us what we need to know Attached you will find my GRBL post for madcam. Since I don't have a license for Rhino I cannot test it so let me know if you have problems.
Thank you!!! Agreed. I wish they had more documentation on their site. I will give this a shot and let you know the outcome. Much appreciated! Cheers,
So, the post processor is working quite nicely. Digging the Black Box upgrade from my Gecko drive and my old 32 bit system running Mach3. Thanks for the help folks.
