So I’ve been using vcarve for letters to make some smaller signs, but now I need to make some larger ones. Trying the advance vcarve but running into a problem (and couldn’t find anything on the forum).
My setup is a Gemitsu 4040Pro, using gSender and Carbide Create V6. I’m quite sure I’m setting things up correctly in CC (1/8” endmill to depth of 0.25, 90degree vcarve tool). When I run it, it completes the end mill portion correctly, prompts me to make tool change , close window and press resume. But when it restarts it goes to 0,0 and and then the Z axis goes very very slow towards the workpiece (just so you can see the motor knob moving slow).
I made a test program with a 3/8”x 1” slot 1/8” deep, offset from ( 0,0) to (0.5,1), to play with. Again the end mill ran correct, I did the tool change, reset height, and hit resume. The cutter then moved to (0,0) and did the slow advance again. This time I let run to see what would happen (the screen showed the correct path the tool should make). Once it actually touched the workpiece, it proceeded to do the vcarve at (0,0), but when finished the carve was less than a 1/16” high. What am I doing wrong?
I’ve been reading you can take the gcode and separate into 2 files and run separately, but thats a little above my current level of skills. Can someone recommend a tutorial where I could learn this??
Run your g-code through a gcode viewer like ncviewer (https://ncviewer.com/). Does it behave the same way ? The g-code will contain the feeds and speeds, so you might want to look at that too in ncviewer.
AI is actually quite helpful in analyzing code if you don’t know what each line is supposed to do.
So had some time to play. Made a new program - a 12mm (w) x 40mm (h) x 4mm (dp) rectangle located at (0,0). It ran the same way - end mill cut out what would be expected (5.7 x 33.8 x 4 pocket), program halted, change bit, rezero Z, and resume program. It did the same thing - very slow movement, and really small engrave at (0,0).
Looking at the gcode in notepad. It appears the coordinate/moves are in inches, when the part/program was setup using metric distances, feeds, and speeds. In the past I’ve use all metric, or imperial and never have a problem, so I’ve never really looked at the gcode. Could it be its using the numbers as inches for the end mill, but after the tool change its treating it like metric (hence to very slow feeds and small distances - 15mm/min vrs 15ft/min is a big difference)??
There is no G20 or G21 shown in the vcarve portion like the endmill portion. I will add it and see what happens.
For chits and giggles I ran it again, but when it prompted for the tool change, I left the end mill in and pressed the resume button on the popup, and it proceed to run proper in the correct location,feeds. Normally I have to clear the popup in order to do the change - gsender won’t allow any manual actions until this window is cleared. So its something to do with the tool change routine - hopefully its the G20 you mentioned.
Once I put the G90 and G20 in the proper location in the file, everything worked !!!
Now to speed things up. During the vcarve it spends more time going up and down that actually cutting. In the setup, my retraction is 5mm (yes I need to reduce this too), but with each plunge it raises to +5, then goes down, then back up the +5 and repeat….. I know I need to be raised when it moves from one cut to the next, but is there a way to limit the raise during the same cut??
@Turdmagnet Unfortunately, I can’t help you more as adding the rapid move heights would be done in Carbide Create. I use Vectric Vcarve.
I also don’t know if the G20 or G21 commands are required for each toolpath, especially when configured as a tool change. I don’t have enough experience/knowledge to give a definitive answer. If it is required, I don’t know why CC didn’t add it for the second toolpath. But at least adding it manually fixed your issue, at least until you figure out a permanent solution.
@Turdmagnet I only ask because in VCarve, there are choices that better work with tool changers and changing tools while running one file. I can’t find a list of what is available to you, so I can’t offer any advice on what to choose.
Yah appreciate the help. I tried the other options in CC, but still don’t see a G20 for the start of the second stage in the gcode generated. Going forward I just need to remember to add it (in the correct spot) and we should be good to go.
I don’t go into much automations stuff, though I have added a start event that forces my machine to drop into pause mode when star is clicked. I have had instances that I accidentally clicked start and the machine tarted moving while I did not intended it to do so.
Maybe you can add your G20 into start or pause and have it automated this way? Might work, might not, but maybe worth some testing?
