Program
I was recently asked if I could create a utility to fix a hole in the capabilities of LinuxCNC, that of quickly generating G Code to create a cylinder on a CNC lathe.
It appears it was possible, and furthermore, seems to work nicely. You enter two points, a start and end point, clearances, feedrate, depth of cut when roughing and finishing. You can choose a waypoint in order to avoid tooling or the work, if you want. Also, you can enter standard headers & footers that will always be added to the program. You can choose whether to number the blocks, choose your units, diameter/radius mode and feed rate mode. All settings last between sessions, and the code is re-generated every time a setting changes. The code is heavily commented.
You can cut towards the headstock or tailstock, and can either turn the outside or bore in either direction. All determined by the relationship of the start to end point. Quite who will need to bore towards the tailstock, I have no idea, but it's possible to envisage a design where it's not as insane as it sounds.
It is assumed that the area adjacent to the 'Start Point' is clear from obstructions - it is a very simple utility.
The program can be downloaded below. The program, pdf help file, a readme file and source code are included in the zip file.
Download the G Code Lathe Cylinder Utility Program. (1169 kb)
The program is a 32 bit Windows program, and is known to run on Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit versions) and under WINE on Linux. It should work in any 32 bit windows operating system. The program is a single file .exe file and writes a windows .ini file in the directory you put the programs into. The Embarcadero C++ Builder 10.1 (Berlin) source code is included so that you can check for yourself that the program does nothing unpleasant to your computer.
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