Modified UCCNC/ Mach3 post processor

[mechcnc]

Hi all,
I made a modification to the Mach3 plasma post processor for fusion to retrieve tool settings for pierce height & delay, as well as cut height. I got tired of manually editing the resulting gcode after every post...

It also replaces the probing G31 command (followed by some coordinates) with M31. That part hinges upon you utilizing a probing script which I also could share. The M31 command is intended to zero on the top surface of the work piece. Then it retracts Z up to the tools pierce height, dwells for the tool set pierce time (which is converted to milliseconds), then moves down to cut height.

I also added the Autodesk provided function for pass through, which allows you to use library functions for start/stop thc or anything else by placing it in the manufacturing setup tree.

I found it very useful for myself, and wanted to see if any of you guys also wanted it, or if you have found an easier path to do the same thing as described above.

As it always says on these things, im not guaranteeing anything. If you want it to not crash your machine you better inspect the resulting gcode yourself and preferably simulate it before using it!
Also, im not a programmer and anyone who is will testify to that after inspecting all the weird methods by which I got it to work, but it does work!

I will attach the post processor later when im on the computer if someone wants it.

Br
mechcnc

[weldguy]

Sounds very interesting and useful. I personally cannot use it but your solution is intriguing and i enjoyed reading your post. I love it when people just dig in and figure something out and often it is better when your not educated on the topic and you can think out side of the the "box". Well done. Hopefully someone else here has a use for your post.

[mechcnc]

Thanks man, yeah its really the best way to learn something new - when you have to to get further in your project. The post processors looks kind of scary when youre not a programmer or know exactly what to look for. Its really not that hard though if you understand some basics of programming and arent afraid to try. You get almost instant feedback if it works or not. A tip is to comment out a section via /*function you need to suppress*/ or a simple // if its a single row. That way you can discover what affects what and kind of reverse engineer stuff.