On Saturday 13 February 2016 14:15:13 Bruce Layne wrote: > There are several ways to accomplish a mirror image machining, and > different methods will be better in different situations depending on > the machine's capabilities and the person's inclinations. > > On my stepper driven CNC router, I have no limit switches because the > worst crash isn't fast enough or powerful enough to hurt anything. My > standard procedure to home the machine is to jog to the lower left > corner against the mechanical hard stops and set that as X=0 and Y=0. > For the 24" X 24" router, I configured the soft limits at Xmin = -25, > Xmax = +25, Ymin = -25 and Ymax = +25, so no matter where I set the > X=0 and Y=0, it shouldn't generate a soft limit error unless something > is seriously wrong with the G code. > > On such a machine, the easiest way for me to mirror a part would be to > run Stepconf and reverse the motion of the X or Y axis. If I needed > to mirror parts more than once, I'd probably save a configuration for > X mirroring and another for Y mirroring, and simply run LinuxCNC by > clicking those icons when I needed a mirror image part. Home the X > and Y axes to the appropriate point and Bob's your uncle. > > I figure this should be an easy method, given that when configuring a > new machine, I have an axis initially going the wrong direction > 50.666% of the time. Statistics would indicate that I should get it > right 50% of the time, but I figure the other .666% of the time is a > rounding error, The Dark Side of The Force, or (my preferred > explanation)... the awesome power of my subconscious mind to outsmart > myself. > > In theory, you could probably do the mirror configuration trick with a > servo system as well, but I'm less familiar with that configuration > process lately. It would only take a few minutes to try it. > > This more hardware oriented approach reminds me of a late 1970s quote > from Steve Ciarcia in Byte magazine's Circuit Cellar column: "My > favorite programming language is SOLDER."
Chuckle, I remember Steve well. We got into an offline discussion much later after had taken the column to print in his own magazine, Circuit Cellar Ink, about the relative merits of an EE diploma vs the University of Hard Knocks, (I have a diploma from there hanging on my bedroom wall, easy since its only about 30 miles to the campus from the Heskett Ranchette) and Steves final comment was "the most important sheepskin is the one you sleep on. :)" He was right of course. But I let my sub lapse a few years after I retired, so I have no clue what that dear man is doing now. I haven't seen a post by Ed Nisley recently either, is he still around, or did he buy a fishing boat & move to FL to get lost in the everglades? > If you have stepper motor leads with quick disconnect spade connectors > (or wire nuts!), you could also swap some leads. Some DPDT switches > (flipped only when the power is OFF!) could accomplish the same thing > if you regularly made mirrored parts, similar to the wire EDM example > earlier in this thread. > > So there are a couple of answers to a slightly different question than > you asked, but options are good... right? :-) > > On 02/13/2016 04:18 AM, Gregg Eshelman wrote: > > Is there a program, preferably for Windows, that can read a G-code > > file and make an altered copy to produce a file that will produce a > > mirror image of the original? > > > > I've done one that took quite a lot of work to get right, now I need > > the code to cut the same part for the other side of the car. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >-------- Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application > Performance APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just > $35/Month Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective > actions now Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. > Signup Now! > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=272487151&iu=/4140 > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users 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) Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=272487151&iu=/4140 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
