NativeCAM 2.0b — Python 3 & GTK3 port for LinuxCNC 2.9 / Debian 13 Trixie

Hi,
What you're doing is fantastic. The installation is going well.
The simulations show great potential. Congratulations!
If I may make a point, looking at the video, I think it's better if the horizontal drilling unit
descends when it reaches its position. In the video, you can see it descending and then reaching its position.

That's just my opinion.

Thanks and congratulations again! 

jjdege wrote:

Hi,
What you're doing is fantastic. The installation is going well.
The simulations show great potential. Congratulations!
If I may make a point, looking at the video, I think it's better if the horizontal drilling unit
descends when it reaches its position. In the video, you can see it descending and then reaching its position.

That's just my opinion.

Thanks and congratulations again! 

Hi,

Thank you for the kind words and for the sharp observation!

Regarding the horizontal drilling unit: you are absolutely right. In the video, the Z and X/Y axes are moving simultaneously for speed. However, NativeCAM allows full control over the sequence.

In the final setup, we can easily configure the G-code to ensure the unit reaches its target position before starting the descent. Safety and precision are the priorities, and this is exactly why LinuxCNC + NativeCAM is so powerful—we can tweak these movements to fit the specific mechanics of the machine perfectly.

Thanks again for the feedback, it’s very much appreciated!"
 

Hi Axemas,

really appreciate the steady progress you’ve been sharing, great demo video! It’s clear a lot of careful work is going into this, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

The lathe features especially the polyline workflow alongside G71/G72/G73 look genuinely promising. That earlier preview video sparked a lot of anticipation on my side, and I’m still very excited.

Have you had any time to push this further since your last update, or did testing surface any tricky blockers? No rush at all just curious where things stand.

Thanks again for keeping NativeCAM moving forward. I’m really looking forward to the next steps.

greetings

Tom

Could you explain what this means? It creates and uses the ~/nativecam directory. It requires the correct SUBROUTINE_PATH in your LinuxCNC INI file to be fully functional. I've created some programs, but they don't run. I think there are problems with OWord. Axis doesn't show any errors, but when I run the code generated by ncam in QTDragon, it says it can't find the macros or OWord.

Hi axemas, Thank you for all your efforts.

I’m testing the [/code][/code][/code][/code][/code]

(ncam:27369): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 09:12:35.253: gtk_accel_label_set_accel_closure: assertion 'gtk_accel_group_from_accel_closure (accel_closure) != NULL' failed
/usr/bin/ncam:2538: DeprecationWarning: Gtk.UIManager.get_widget is deprecated
  self.main_toolbar = self.uimanager.get_widget("/ToolBar")
/usr/bin/ncam:3530: DeprecationWarning: Gtk.Action.set_visible is deprecated
  self.actionCurrent.set_visible(not self.pref.autosave)
/usr/bin/ncam:4453: DeprecationWarning: Gtk.Action.set_sensitive is deprecated
  self.actionUndo.set_sensitive(self.undo_pointer > 0)
Previous work not saved as current work
/usr/bin/ncam:3993: DeprecationWarning: Gtk.ToggleAction.get_active is deprecated
  if self.actionDualView.get_active() :

I’m trying to determine if additional steps are required to make it compatible.Any clarification or guidance would be appreciated.Thanks.
Doug[/code][/code][/code][/code][/code]

Hi Axemas,

I now have a LinuxCNC lathe that is slowly but surely becoming productive, so I would be very interested in testing NativeCAM Lathe on a real machine. Especially the lathe polyline workflow would be highly interesting for me.

If there is already a test branch, an early package, or even just an intermediate state that is not fully polished yet, I would be happy to try it and give feedback. I can test with real turning jobs, report issues, and provide screenshots, generated G-code, or error messages if that helps.

I also think that sharing even a rough intermediate status could motivate more lathe users to test and maybe help move this part forward. NativeCAM Lathe with a working polyline function would be a very valuable tool for many LinuxCNC lathe users.

No pressure and no timeline expectations. I would just be glad to help testing when there is something available.

Best regards,
Tom

@Surmetall – thank you for the kind words and for the continued excitement about the lathe features, especially the polyline workflow alongside G71/G72/G73. That preview video took a lot of work, and it means a lot that it sparked anticipation.

Since my last update, I've been testing the polyline path generation on real G-code scenarios. No major blockers – mostly fine-tuning the toolpath logic and cleaning up the UI response for lathe operations. I'm planning to push a test package soon.

And yes, I'd absolutely love for you to test it on a real machine. Your offer to provide feedback, screenshots, and G-code examples is gold. I'll reach out to you directly when I have something ready for real-world testing.

— Axemas

@COFHAL – you asked about the ~/nativecam directory and OWord macros. Here's what's going on:

NativeCAM creates and uses ~/nativecam as its working directory for temporary files, tool tables, and post-processor configs.

The SUBROUTINE_PATH in your LinuxCNC INI file must include the path to the OWord subroutines that NativeCAM generates. Without that, LinuxCNC won't find the macros.

If Axis shows no errors but QTDragon fails with "can't find macros or OWord," it's almost certainly a path issue.

Quick fix: add something like this to your INI file:

text
[RS274NGC]
SUBROUTINE_PATH = ~/nativecam:/usr/share/linuxcnc/ncfiles
Restart LinuxCNC and try again. If it still doesn't work, paste your full INI file here and I'll debug it with you.

— Axemas

@Doug Crews – thanks for the report. The blank tab is a known issue with the -4 package on Trixie. GTK deprecation warnings break the embedded GladeVCP renderer.

Workaround: run nativecam standalone once, close it, then launch LinuxCNC – the tab should appear.

Also check your INI: NCAM_DIR should point to /usr/share/linuxcnc/aux_gladevcp/NativeCAM if the default doesn't work.

I'm fixing this properly in the next release (-5 or -6) within a few days.

— Axemas

Hi everyone,I owe you an apology for the month of silence. The reason is that I've been completely focused on a hardware project called Proton – a CNC motion controller I'm developing alongside NativeCAM. I've put up a page atwith some info, but honestly, that project has been consuming all my focus and time, and I let this thread slip.Now that the hardware side is stable, I'm back and catching up on everything. I've read all three pages of this thread, and I've just replied to each of you individually (Surmetall, COFHAL, Doug Crews, and others).Over the next week, I'll push fixes to the GitHub repo (especially the blank GladeVCP tab and the OWord path documentation) and prepare the lathe test package.Thank you for your patience – NativeCAM is still very much alive.— Axemas