Now the software

[ronbarnes]

Don't mean to keep writing but if it is not one thing it's another.
I went to surface my table today and the surfacer command worked then I stopped to adjust depth of z and then then I went to save the file again it kept saying it could not find the surface _top file I had so I made yet another and still did not find or read it. Then I do the cr command but cannot figure how to over lap the bit in that so after serveral hours nothing was done. what a waste. I still can't run any axis in the preview mode eather, (the instructions say I can.) Any ideas gents?

[harryball]

Ronald... you have 9 posts... you've not written enough yet :-)

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking, it looks like you are loosing files?

Can you click the Load Part File button and find the file name are you saving and then run it? Or are you trying to call it using a different method?

As for the CR command, you want to turn on the pocketing feature. Check the command reference in the manual.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "axis in preview mode", if you mean air cutting a file...

For test cuts, make sure you are clear of the table by more than any plunge depth in your file. i.e. if your file cuts 1" deep make sure Z is more than 1" clear to the table top. Park your machine at 0,0 (home) and load your part file. In the fill in sheet when you run the part file choose 3D offset. This will insure your Z will stay high and "air cuts". It will treat the current position of Z as 0 (though it may be 2") and all plunges will be well clear of the table. Also, make sure you Z is not too high either, you don't want to pull up too far.

Hope that helps,
Robert

[ronbarnes]

Robert,
Thanks for the reply. I hit the button on the make my surfacer program then it asks me to save and when I do it comes back as cannot find file. I also go into the fp command to locate the missing file and sure enough I cannot find it. I did notice that when I save it to the desktop it does save as something different than the sb file it is suppose to save as. In the assy instructions close to the end there are instructions on taking the machine for a bit of a test run. It says to do this while in the preview mode, such as move your x axis a bit and y axis from here to there but for some reason it doesn't work in the preview mode.

[harryball]

You should start "playing" in preview mode with the "Tool Visible" and "Simulate" checked. This will give you a virtual tool on the screen and you can see it running your file. I'm not aware of any circumstance where you can move the actual tool while in preview mode. By definition there is no communication with the tool at all.

Once you are happy with what you see in preview you can run the actual tool. This is a good feature to get familiar with how the tool will behave, if you see the tool cutting way off the table you know something is wrong etc... before actually slamming your real thing into the stops.

I never used the Tabletop Surfacer to make a surfacing file before, I just did a pocket rectangle using raster (back and forth) I don't like the going round and round method. However, I did run the Tabletop Surfacer to see if I could answer your question... mine will not allow me to enter a depth other than the default -.03 If I try to change it I'm forced to a single digit answer.

Leaving it at the default and cliking Make file sends me to a dialog to name and save the file, the default it is surface_top.sbp and it is on Drive C: in the SbParts directory... not where I wanted it so I navigated to my documents and clicked save. It then ran in preview mode without an issue. The file does exist.

What does the file name show just before you save the file and what does the file name end up being?

Robert

[richards]

Ron,
Preview mode is another word for simulation. While in that mode, you're only running the simulator on the computer screen (to check for obvious errors, such as running the X-axis 200 inches instead of 20 inches, etc.). You have to toggle to RUN mode to move the axes.

I'm not sure about the problem that you're having when you save a newly created file. I've always just used the 'Save As' command in notebook or wordpad so that I could name the file and select the directory where I wanted to save it. Then, when I use the FP command, I navigate to that directory and then load the file.

As Robert pointed out, the Help section of SB3 lists each command and the correct usage of the command. Some of the commands can have a ton of parameters added which really make the command powerful, but which also adds a little to the confusion for a new user on the proper way to use that command. A few hours playing with some of the commands, one at a time, while in Preview Mode, will let you zoom/rotate/pan the screen to see exactly what the command did.

There is a learning curve with all new things. I got quite frustrated in the early days with my PRT-Alpha until I decided to slow down a little and enjoy the journey of discovery. (I've never been accused of having patience.) When I spent a few hours playing with commands in simulator mode, the proverbial light bulb finally turned on and I had the "Ah Ha!" moment when I knew that it was me and not the machine.

[bill.young]

Hey Ronald,

1) Where on your computer are you trying to save the Surfacer file? If you just use the default location...the C:\Sbparts folder...does it work OK?

2) Your ShopBot will only actually move when it's in Move/Cut mode and not in Preview mode...that only shows the motion on the screen. Follow the first couple of steps in the "Take a spin" section of the Assembly manual to make sure that your computer is connected to the tool and that you're in Move/Cut mode. After that you should be able to follow along with the rest of the steps.

Bill

[ronbarnes]

Well I did find out a couple things. the srfacer command- when you open it and fill out all the stuff and you set the depth by clicking your cursor after each digit. Say .click 0 click 3 click and so on. I just cant enter .03 (it's gotta be a seperate move for each one)interesting? Anyhow When I saved this file or press the button to make my surfacer the SAVE AS box opens but I can't just say (rons_surfacer) I have to also add .sbp and then it will save. I guess this is gonna take some time for me to figure out. By trade I am a computer Aided drafter and our shop even has a cnc plasma cam, It seem to me that stuff was a snap compared to this but I like 3-D so I will press on. Now that I surfaced my table I was planning on cutting guides for my rails to set in since I don't have a vac pump yet. One more question? When I want to post pictures on this forum what do you save the pictures as or how big of file? Many thanks Bill, Mike Robert