Mastercam posting to Mach3, all kinds of errors

So I'm trying my first cut, posting out of Mastercam X5 and into Mach3 using the post processor from their website.

I've tried multiple times and I just get error after error. For a while it was 'radius at start of line doesn't match radius at end of line', now it's 'R i j k words all missing for arcLine 111'.

Is it usual to get this many errors? Or is my post not functioning properly?

Are you new to Mastercam ?
( This is not a dig at you, it sets us up on how we explain things, and possibly adding on where to find them )

Has the machine definition and machine control been configured correctly ?
as well as the post ?

It is not as simple as just loading a post to a default machine and control file, and expecting the code to be correct.
All code is, usually, manually checked & edited to run thru the machine, then the post, with the associated files, are "adjusted" to give the same code as what was proved previously.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Superman

Are you new to Mastercam ?
( This is not a dig at you, it sets us up on how we explain things, and possibly adding on where to find them )

Has the machine definition and machine control been configured correctly ?
as well as the post ?

It is not as simple as just loading a post to a default machine and control file, and expecting the code to be correct.
All code is, usually, manually checked & edited to run thru the machine, then the post, with the associated files, are "adjusted" to give the same code as what was proved previously.

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No offense taken. I'm new to this aspect of Mastercam. I'm working an internship that has me making toolpaths and writing the programs in the GUI of Mastercam, but I haven't been posting and editing G code until now.

I set up a control definition for Mach3 and my X2, however I didn't change much for settings (other than loading in the post) and I have no idea how correct it is. Are there any guides for Mastercam to Mach3 control definitions? Or premade ones available for download?

This is a configuration issue with Mach 3. In the configuration, there is an option called "Incremental IJ Mode" or something similar. I can't remember the exact name, because I'm not at my Mach 3 machine.

If it's in Absolute mode, change it in Incremental. Or vise versa.

That should fix the issue.

The next problem you'll see with that post is that it doesn't ever enable tool length offsets. So you'll have to edit your code and add a G43 command after each toolchange.

I would love to fix that post and make it decent, but I have not a clue about how to modify posts.

Frederic

Frederic, excellent info. I will eventually learn how to modify posts, hopefully I can make a good Mach3 V2.0 (or at least V1.1) and share it around.

Is that 'radius at beginning of line does't match radius at end of line' solved by the incremental I J K fix?
Thanks
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