lathe programming

All right... Let's talk about lathe programming. I saw this thread on the mailing list from several guys. I am also interested in this because it seems to be a neglected aspect of our hobby gcode programming. Everything seems to be oriented toward mill programming.
What are you guys doing to get your gcode for lathes?

Thanks,
Dan

I've started playing with Kenneth Lerman's GWiz (wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?GWi...ode_Wizard_Framework). My lathe was down and while waiting for parts, I created some wizards. I've attached a screen shot.

I haven't actually used them yet. I'm a little unsure what I want from them. You can use individual wizards, or you can build a sequence of them and suddenly it's a conversational programming application.

But, I usually draw up my parts in 3D CAD (alibre) first, and I really miss the verification a visual model gives.

The Wiki mentioned MC9 - for lathe it reads as untested.

I was able to edit a mill post to get it very close for a manual tool change 3axis mill.

To proceed with lathe I need a few known good sample programs to work from. The machine we are using is a Shop Task El Dorado fitted with Steppers and G251's driving the OEM screws with great results so far with milling. Have not started a Lathe profile yet.

My prior employer had all the programs hand written in dumb mode ( no tip radii in tool comp table) I have not tried working with real geometry and G41|G42.

I just obtained a Hurco KM3P with MAX32 upgrade and a bunch of other $$$ software options. I'm hoping to find another KM3 with dead control to do an EMC2 refit on to add 4th axis. having common tooling between machines is part of the benefit.

I have used QCAD to make a .dxf file of the roughing and finish paths. Then use dxf2gcode to convert to g-code. The problem here is that the axes are X and Y, so I have to edit the g-code to correct the axes. If the part is not too complex, I'll just hand code. Complex curves have to be done with software somehow.
--
Kirk Wallace
www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/
www.wallacecompany.com/E45/index.html
California, USA

I've been struggling with this for some time...
I write my code for my Hardinge by hand, but it takes forever and tends to dampen my enthusiasm.

I've been looking for a Gibbscam post that gives me sane output, but so far I am not happy with it.


What I'd like to see is canned cycles like on the HAAS lathe I work with... It is tempting to imagine that a smart person could write some sort of macros that work similarly just using unix magic.

Can anybody suggest an avenue of approach for this programming problem? Assuming that the canned cycles amount to code that is parsed and replaced by reams of vanilla EMC instructions, there is no real reason why sed could not be used, right? is there any disadvantage to this?

imagine it: a sed script that you pour terse canned cycley gcode in and out pours the verbose equivalent. Such a program would be microscopic by today's standards. Different ones could be written to parse code meant for different sorts of control.

I am a very inexpert linuxer. Can somebody with more brains than me point me in a wise direction? Is there some advantage to using Python or something? Has someone done it already?