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On Sunday, 5 June 2022 17:55:16 EDT Vector Hasting wrote:
> I'm interested in helping to get this working, is anyone still
> following Tobias' project?
> 
> I'm in the LA area, experienced with 3D printing and a programmer by
> training, but not an expert on micro systems and compiling on linux.
> 
> The application I'm interested in is running a 5-axis CNC mill, where A
> & B are from a home-made trunnion.
> 
Link to pix please.

> FreeCAD is my CAD platform. I'm getting a LinuxCNC PC working, haven't
> yet hacked together the Arduino-ish stepper controller setup, but I
> have experience with that from 3D printing, so I know that path.

Freecad, imo, has a too steep a learning cost. But that will depend on 
what you want to do. I'm getting passibly fluent in OpenSCAD, but all I'm 
driving with it is a 3d printer.  The printer is a bigger limit than 
OpenSCAD.

> But this chasm from CAD model to 5-axis g-code still must be crossed.

Write your own code, it will be far more compact and just at accurate as 
you have the tools to measure.  The reason it will be far more compact is 
that you will probably write in loops, whereas the CAD program will 
unroll the loops, making a 120 line gcode program into 50 megabytes of 
gcode.

And understand that linuxcnc has an extremely capable gcode interpretor/
motion controller, move 2 or more axises in one line of code, and the 
machine will move in a dead straight line regardless of the angle, with 
submicron accuracy synchronizing the faster axis with the slower, 
arriving at the end point you told it to goto, totally in synch. I am, in 
one line of code, moving Y and B to carve a butress thread on a 2" 
diameter stick of maple to make a vise screw for my woodworking bench. Y 
is of course a straight line, the long axis on a 6040 mill, B is the Y 
rotational that turns the stick, eventually carving the screw.

If I can do that at 87 yo, younger, more agile minds can too. And I am 
not, nor ever have been, a machinist other than that required to keep a 
tv station running well. I am a Certified Electronics Technician with a 
grammer school diploma, making my living since the late '40's fixing 
radio's & tv's (after they were invented) and keeping a string of tv 
stations on the air so the cash cow can be milked. At the end of this 
month, 20 years retired. And right close to 20 years on this list.

> Anyone out there?

Several, but for 5 axis, the list will be trimmed a bit. Most listers are 
using simpler machines. Being more specific with your questions will get 
more accurate help.

Welcome to the list, Vector. Take care and stay well.

> All the best.
> 
> Vector.

Cheers, Gene Heskett.
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
 - Louis D. Brandeis

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genericcam-list Mailing List for Generic CAM

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