Restarting a cut file where you left off?

[superjez]

I had started a job and my bit broke and I had to stop operations and wait for a new bit to come in. I now have the new bit and I need to know if I can edit my tool path file to have it finish the part. The job was not moved from the table and the shopbot is still zeroed where it needs to be. I need to start the tool where it stopped and continue the toolpath.

[erik_f]

in the control software under file- go to line /single step. You can start from any line in the code...it may take a little doing to find exactly where you were in your file...but you can type in the line at which you left off and resume from there...JUST BE CAREFUL and make sure your machine is positioned over the starting area because it will plunge to where ever the file starts from. For example. If you are at 0,0 and start from a line that is in the middle of your table and at a neg z depth you will get a nice line carved across your work piece as the z plunges to that depth while it makes it over to the line you are starting from. You can also modify your file using the editor and delete the parts of your file you are done with. Just double check what you are doing first. I belive you would want to keep your move speeds and beginning header lines in your file and then just delete the rest and rename it so you still have your original.
Erik

[rpeterson]

Erik and others,
I have a similar issue with picking up where a file left off, not due to broken bit however. My students at times will begin running a file that may go beyond the end of a class period and we need to stop operation for the remainder of the day.
Current example: We are on line 19000 of 52000; rather than run the first 19000 lines (20+ min) how can we do as you suggest above if we lost the exact point at which we left off? His original x,y zero was from center of work piece; the design being machined is approx 6-8 inches from zero, if we start there will we still have the issue described above? I am assuming the zero described above was not from middle of work piece.

[jamesgilliam]

Sean and Roger, I have had to do the same thing as you are going through. I was over 693k lines into a 705k line file when the router went out. When I stopped I wrote down the line of the file that was showing, and the exact x,y, and z position. Changed the router, zeroed the bit, and moved back to the last position but about .1" above, and resumed the file where I had left off. It worked perfectly.

[rpeterson]

James,
Why at .1" above? Didn't that affect the depth of cut? Did you use the "file-go to line" function as Erik suggested above, or did you just have to "resume" after stopping the file?

[myxpykalix]

I'm just wondering outloud if the "file- go to line /single step" option couldn't be somehow modified. It seems like the problem is that when you give it a position to return to and it might be a low Z position, that the first move it makes is to go to that lower Z position then move in X,Y and that causes the problems.

Couldn't that "file- go to line /single step" option be programmed to go to a safe Z height, then move X,Y then to the Z height?
Seems to me that would eliminate the ruining your work problem whereever you start it from in the file.

[ted]

Hi Guys,

In the current beta, we are working on an improved FG that offers the option of starting in the middle of a file. It will actually position at a safe height, move to the restart location, and then start the cut.

You can give the line number, or if the last file you ran was not completed, the line number that the file was stopped at will be the automatic default (you can over-ride with an earlier line if necessary).

We are still puttering with this in the beta versions (probably a new beta in the next few days). But hope to have a full official release up in the next few weeks. This release has dragged out a bit because of a number of new features the upgrade will have.

Version 3.6.1 *MAJOR UPDATE WILL INCLUDE*

> New Preview Mode Display (powered by Vectric; works with same mouse buttons and shortcuts as PartWorks display)
- 2D and 3D views of tool paths with directions displayed in 2D
- 3D view shows POSITION AND LINE NUMBER of file of segment that the cursor is positioned over
- *3D view will SIMULATE THE CUT, after cutter is selected (uses your current tool database from PartWorks)
- *Many options for displaying the cut simulation, similar to previewing cuts in PartWorks
> Toolpath preview for Rotary Indexer (to enable, set display to 5 axes in [VD] then click Indexer Preview box in Preview Mode)
- displays toolpaths only, no cut simulation
- "RotaryWrapper" program included to turn flat 3D file into a cylindrical file for indexer
(C:\Program Files\ShopBot\ShopBot 3\RotaryWrapper.exe)
> New window management and customization (window size and position remembered separately for Move and Preview Modes)
> New ToolBar that can be customized (right click on the tool bar area, or a tool bar icon after customize selected)
> Graphical Progress Display; Activate in with [VD]; Click to Erase; Set options by right clicking
> New FG system for easier repositioning in an interrupted file
> New SbEdit with Syntax coloring and other enhancements
> Log files now save the cutting speed for the Part File (Console speed when file starts, and final file speed)
> For Developers an experimental system for communicating between ShopBot and outside programs.
- This system uses Windows Registry and is described in the new Programming Handbook included in this install.

We think you'll like it all.

Ted Hall, ShopBot Tools

[erik_f]

For Roger Peterson:
If you don't use the middle of your work piece as 0,0 you can build a simple jig that connects to your z zero plate that will zero you x and y to the corner. Barry Bimmer posted this simple jig that consists of a copper pipe cap and a routine that he wrote. It took me about 20 minutes to build.

[jamesgilliam]

Roger, I moved it to .1" above and put the x,y and z axis in the exact location of when the file was stopped to avoid the problem mentioned earlier, a grove cut into the finished plaque. I had reset my z height on the same spot that the original z was set from. At the time this happened, as I am still doing now, I was using the DOS based control software. I had to go in to the file and copy and paste the last several thousand lines of code to continue my cutting. I am currently getting more RAM installed on my laptop computer and will start using the windows control software when I get it back.

[jay_p]

Ted,

Sounds great! Thanks for continually improving the software.

Jay

[rpeterson]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll look for Barry's jig to zero x,y. We ended up just running the file from an approximate x,y and the file ran fine. The only thing we did was rezero the z axis to make sure we didn't disrupt the depth of cut.