Where to invest time--CNC Software Paths

[Mike Heidrick]

You can do that with hsmexpress and Inventor and HSMWorks and Solidworks - I use them for Centroid controls. Vectric's Vcarve pro and Aspire easily output to Mach and Centroid.

Milling and routing have a few differences.

For milling, The trick on Solidworks and Inventor is the tool library you will use. You define the tools in the cam. You will need to have the tool database built in the HSM software setups unless you plan to run one gcode file for each tool type .

I do that on my cnc router - one gcode per tool type. Its pretty easy. After changing the bit I tool touch off to find the correct Z work height - using dual plates it is a simple 30 second operation after mounting the tool.

On my mill I have a database setup with the tools measured both in centroid and in the CAM tool databases. The paths in the cam use the library. It selects the correct tool settings from the database when I selelct the tool in the CAM. The gcode reflects this when compiled. When I run the job and it is time for a different tool it does a M6 T#, the machine goes to the location I told it to change the tool at and performs that M6 and waits for me to load the correct tool and then continues on. The height offset measurements and diameter are known and accounted for.

[William Adams]

Vectric uses a ``post-processor'' which makes the G-code which the program outputs conform to the requirements of a given machine --- so long as they match, it works quite well, but it can be something of a challenge to get the right post-processor for a machine which doesn't have one yet.