Inches and/or mm

andypugh wrote: The INI file "Units" actually just defines the units used in the INI file, I believe. I think G20/21 might even be "sticky" through restarts. (I haven't checked). It is certainly "sticky" between G-code programs. If you G-code doesn't specify then the units will be whatever the last program defined.

skunkworks wrote: The reason why the config is in inches is because that is how I set it up.. The leadscrews are actually metric - but you can set the scale up either way. It would not be a big deal to make a mm config. (although G20,21 work well also)

That's counter-intuitive to me and makes my head hurt a little. I assumed some machines were shipped with standard lead screws and some with metric (hence why different inch and mm configuration files are found in linuxcnc for the Sherline machines), and that not matching the unit of measure specified in a configuration file with the corresponding machine's specs would produce unwanted results. So much for assumptions. I'll probably want to come back and get a better understanding of how this works at some point, but for now I think I should just move on.

BigJohnT wrote: I have a G code tutorial here that might help you get started.

gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/g-code/index.html

Thanls y'all for the thoughtful replies.

Beyond the inch vs mm issue, something I've run into in trying to generate G-code from dxf files is that I can get radically different G-code by converting from different dxfs derived from the same ai (Adobe Illustrator) source file. And so far nothing I've opened in Axis was recognizable as the handle I drew. That said, skunkworks was able to take a dwg file I gave him, extract a dxf from it, convert that to G-code using the Ace utility, and then turn a perfectly dimensioned handle on an EMCO Compact 5 (with mm lead screws but standard-unit configuration). I have a ways to go. Illustrator probably isn't the best starting point, but it's what I have, and I know it can be made to work for present purposes. I suspect, however, that exporting directly from it to dxf is not resulting in files that are usable for conversion to G-code, at least not the way I'm going about it.

Thanks again.

I import ai files from our graphical designers at work all the time into the cam programs I use there. They are using Adobe Illustrator to create the files. The key we have found is to be sure to save the ai files in a version format that your cam (or cad) program can work well with. For us saving the ai files in version 6 format seems to give the most consistently accurate results. There are a number of pitfalls that can lead to bad results. One of the bigger ones are, outlines, or lines with stroke widths will not import properly most of the time.

I would not suggest tool pathing directly from an ai drawing. Open it with cad/cam software and then save it to a better format, (preferably G-code)

Todd Zuercher wrote: I import ai files from our graphical designers at work all the time into the cam programs I use there. They are using Adobe Illustrator to create the files. The key we have found is to be sure to save the ai files in a version format that your cam (or cad) program can work well with. For us saving the ai files in version 6 format seems to give the most consistently accurate results. There are a number of pitfalls that can lead to bad results. One of the bigger ones are, outlines, or lines with stroke widths will not import properly most of the time.

I would not suggest tool pathing directly from an ai drawing. Open it with cad/cam software and then save it to a better format, (preferably G-code)

This is very helpful. What I'm pretty sure has worked at least once is me exporting to dwg (I'm not sure what format options I selected) and then handing that off to someone with a CAD program to generate G-Code (in one instance probably via a dxf using AutoCAD 2000). Since I don't have a cam or cad program, I've been trying to export directly from ai to dxf (using every combination of version/format) in order to convert from dxf to G-code (using Ace and other free converters I've found, one of which came with some malware).

I'm going to see if I can pick up a copy of AutoCAD 2000 somewhere and either install it on an old XP system or, better, see if I can get it to work with Wine on the computer I have running Ubuntu with linuxcnc. First, though, I'm going to check line width on the drawing I've been trying to convert.

Thanks.