Noob needing basic info.
18 Mar 2018 01:09 #107477
by -J
Noob needing basic info. was created by -J
Just loading LinuxCNC for the first time. I was trying to dual boot a Vista machine, but something went wrong and now I have a dedicated LinuxCNC machine! OOPS.
I then made it through the basic config and even got my motors to all move in the Stepper Config Wizard without blowing up my machine or my stepper motors. A victory considering that I lost Vista, Mach3 and most of my files with the above mistake.
I had to go back and load the "graphics file" to the machine so i did not have to launch Linuxcnc from the USB stick the next time. Nice considering all the changes i made vanished as soon as I logged out the first time. Another lesson learned.
Anyhow.... I got my motors to turn. I can speed them up, slow them down, etc. In the wizard.
Jitter test shows 20k so I went low and put in 15000
Now, here come the NOOB questions.....
1. How do you load up and run a file in LinuxCNC? Figured that would be a simple thing to do, but errors are my new best friend. Which I find strange since there is nothing on this machine except the new LinuxCNC I just installed, More than Twice.
2. Does LinuxCNC read .stl files? If not, what is the workaround?
3. I hear on youtube videos that there are small red lines that show soft limits and such on the screen.... Is there any way to change the color to white cause I can not see them.
That's enough for now, but I promise more questions will follow.
Thanks in advance for any assistance
I then made it through the basic config and even got my motors to all move in the Stepper Config Wizard without blowing up my machine or my stepper motors. A victory considering that I lost Vista, Mach3 and most of my files with the above mistake.
I had to go back and load the "graphics file" to the machine so i did not have to launch Linuxcnc from the USB stick the next time. Nice considering all the changes i made vanished as soon as I logged out the first time. Another lesson learned.
Anyhow.... I got my motors to turn. I can speed them up, slow them down, etc. In the wizard.
Jitter test shows 20k so I went low and put in 15000
Now, here come the NOOB questions.....
1. How do you load up and run a file in LinuxCNC? Figured that would be a simple thing to do, but errors are my new best friend. Which I find strange since there is nothing on this machine except the new LinuxCNC I just installed, More than Twice.
2. Does LinuxCNC read .stl files? If not, what is the workaround?
3. I hear on youtube videos that there are small red lines that show soft limits and such on the screen.... Is there any way to change the color to white cause I can not see them.
That's enough for now, but I promise more questions will follow.
Thanks in advance for any assistance
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18 Mar 2018 01:54 #107479
by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic Noob needing basic info.
Linuxcnc is a machine controller, or motion controller, it can open and run .ngc gcode files of the RS274 standard variety, it can also make depth maps from jpeg and some other types of images directly as it has image2gcode as a standard software package.
For everything else you will need other software to do the conversion to NGC, a few mentioned below:
Inkscape, 2D and 2.5D with some light editing, comes with gcodetools so exports NGC
dmap2gcode for depth mapping and rastering with more options than image2gcode
dxf2gcode name is self explanatory but i think it can do only 2D
PyCam can do full 3D with several passes if needed like roughing and finishing, works perfectly but to damn slow
BlenderCAM, can do from a simple line to a full 3D movie, not for beginners, but a magnificent piece of software
There are plenty more, but another option would be Fusion360 as it is free and quite capable, but for windows only, i did not have the time to try to make it work under Linux with Vine.
To answer your questions,
1 Open a valid .ngc file, that ought to do it
2 No , but i think BlenderCAM can or Freecad, so do check them
3 point your mouse over the AXIS part of the screen, turn the mouse wheel to zoom in or out so you can see the red lines.
For everything else you will need other software to do the conversion to NGC, a few mentioned below:
Inkscape, 2D and 2.5D with some light editing, comes with gcodetools so exports NGC
dmap2gcode for depth mapping and rastering with more options than image2gcode
dxf2gcode name is self explanatory but i think it can do only 2D
PyCam can do full 3D with several passes if needed like roughing and finishing, works perfectly but to damn slow
BlenderCAM, can do from a simple line to a full 3D movie, not for beginners, but a magnificent piece of software
There are plenty more, but another option would be Fusion360 as it is free and quite capable, but for windows only, i did not have the time to try to make it work under Linux with Vine.
To answer your questions,
1 Open a valid .ngc file, that ought to do it
2 No , but i think BlenderCAM can or Freecad, so do check them
3 point your mouse over the AXIS part of the screen, turn the mouse wheel to zoom in or out so you can see the red lines.
The following user(s) said Thank You: -J
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18 Mar 2018 02:42 - 18 Mar 2018 03:58 #107482
by -J
Replied by -J on topic Noob needing basic info.
Thank you.
Where is tool database?
It appears that Vetric Aspire software will output the NGC files using the EMC2 post processors.
How do you center the image you wish to cut within the "box" on the screen. I have an NGC image loaded and it is showing mostly out of the "box"... ?
Where is tool database?
It appears that Vetric Aspire software will output the NGC files using the EMC2 post processors.
How do you center the image you wish to cut within the "box" on the screen. I have an NGC image loaded and it is showing mostly out of the "box"... ?
Last edit: 18 Mar 2018 03:58 by -J.
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18 Mar 2018 16:58 #107500
by OT-CNC
Replied by OT-CNC on topic Noob needing basic info.
The box represents the overall travels of your machine in machine coordinates. I'm guessing 0,0,0 is located at the lower left of your box. You can jog to the center of your box and if you are using the axis interface, manual control tab (f3) then hit the touch off button for the selected axis and enter 0.(do this for x and y and z top of your part) this sets your g54 work coordinate system to 0 relative to the machine coordinate system. Your pocket should now be in the center. If you are actually cutting something, make sure you understand your g code and where you are starting with the z so you are not cutting into a vice/ fixture or table.
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18 Mar 2018 23:43 #107526
by -J
Replied by -J on topic Noob needing basic info.
Will try that, thanks.
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21 Mar 2018 12:55 #107657
by andypugh
It works on Macs too.
Apparently there is an in-browser version that works on Linux. But you need to register as a previewer to see it.
forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-previe...reviews/td-p/6932558
(I haven't tried this, I have a Mac)
Replied by andypugh on topic Noob needing basic info.
There are plenty more, but another option would be Fusion360 as it is free and quite capable, but for windows only.
It works on Macs too.
Apparently there is an in-browser version that works on Linux. But you need to register as a previewer to see it.
forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-previe...reviews/td-p/6932558
(I haven't tried this, I have a Mac)
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight
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