Using a mill as a coordinate measuring machine

[SlaveCam]

I was wondering if there was any free software in which you could input points obtained by a 3D-taster, probe or any similar instrument and the software would be able to compute various geometric properties using this information, such as circularity, flatness, straightness etc. Sure it's not as accurate as a real CMM, but better than nothing.

 

Any experience?

[crazy^millman]

Free not that I am aware.

[mkd]

I've loaded steel sphere in mill spindle and probed with a feeler guage.

fill out a whole sheet(s) of points.

 Programmers would type in data into UG and the sofware would output +/- stock condition.

[Colin Gilchrist]

There is really good software available, but not free. Hey, I've got some parts I need made. Why don't you buy some material, machine my parts for me, and ship them to me. I won't pay you though. Just do it for me for free.

 

Seriously, you should be ashamed of yourself for even asking that question. I bet you steal software too.

[cncchipmaker]

I have reverse engineered parts using a gage pin in the spindle using a feeler gage and recorded the points. No software though.

[FROZEN]

Renishaw inspection plus???

[crazy^millman]

Verisurf and it works directly inside of Mastercam. No new interface to learn and you can make full inspection reports and they have the A9100 reporting built directly into the reporting. 

 

HTH

[SlaveCam]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

 

There is really good software available, but not free. Hey, I've got some parts I need made. Why don't you buy some material, machine my parts for me, and ship them to me. I won't pay you though. Just do it for me for free.

 

Seriously, you should be ashamed of yourself for even asking that question. I bet you steal software too.

 

I don't understand this personal attack. Why should I be ashamed for asking this question, in the era of OpenSource and CNC being a hobby for many people, myself included? What I asked for could be as simple as putting some values in an Excel worksheet and it would calculate the properties for me. Or some amateur hobby project of similar nature. Nothing fancy, like an 3D interface that the commercial packages have. We are a small, under 10 people company and try to keep the cost down as much as possible. Always trying to keep the Matercam maintenance up to date because it is something we can't cope with. There was Renishaw suite in use for the longer production runs, but it was for lathe and now broken.

Being an embedded software developer as my side job, the concept of free software is not foreign to me. Given the replies in this thread, I'm now seriously consiering doing this program myself, using Cgal library or similar, during my coming summer holidays.
 

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

If you do write it I'd be happy to help you test it.

[Bob W.]

Free isn't unheard of.  AutoCAD Fusion 360 is free (I have been told) and HSM works is free for the limited version.  I'm not aware of free inspection software however, doesn't mean it isn't out there.

[Colin Gilchrist]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

 

 

I don't understand this personal attack. Why should I be ashamed for asking this question, in the era of OpenSource and CNC being a hobby for many people, myself included? What I asked for could be as simple as putting some values in an Excel worksheet and it would calculate the properties for me. Or some amateur hobby project of similar nature. Nothing fancy, like an 3D interface that the commercial packages have. We are a small, under 10 people company and try to keep the cost down as much as possible. Always trying to keep the Matercam maintenance up to date because it is something we can't cope with. There was Renishaw suite in use for the longer production runs, but it was for lathe and now broken.

 

Being an embedded software developer as my side job, the concept of free software is not foreign to me. Given the replies in this thread, I'm now seriously consiering doing this program myself, using Cgal library or similar, during my coming summer holidays.

 

 

The way you framed the question, you did not come across as a someone who wanted to develop this on your own. Also "hobbyist", and "shop, under 10 people" are not the same thing. I happen to believe that if you are using software to make money, you should pay for it. That's what was meant by my response. Sorry if you feel like my sarcasm was an attack. If you want to develop a free utility, and give it away, go right ahead. I think that sucks for the awesome companies like Verisurf that are out there, making an awesome product, that also happen to charge money for it so they can feed their families.

 

As someone who also makes a living doing software development, I do use some free pieces of software to get the job done on occasion. However, I feel like "open source" is a double edged sword. Perhaps if we lived in a world where everyone's basic needs were already met, and nobody had to worry about making a living, my views might be different. Also, asking for an Excel file that someone might be willing to share is different in my mind than a piece of "free software", but maybe I'm in the minority.

 

I'm probably also jaded by the vast amount of "freeloaders" that come in here, and asks for a post for free, or wants to ask for help with all their Mastercam issues, and then we find out they are a software pirate. Since you've clarified your position, and are willing to put in your own time an energy to develop a tool for others to use, then please accept my apology.

 

I've done inspection of vacuum fixtures by setting a Dial Indicator (plunge style) into a tool holder, at a known gauge length (with the plunger depressed by about .250, and the dial zeroed). We programmed a custom drill cycle with an M01 at each "drill position", and each point on the fixture, the "nominal" position should have read "0.0" on the dial indicator, but we'd find the discrepancy (either plus or minus from nominal), have the operator record the values, and use the results to decide if we could simply adjust the model position, or if the fixture needed to have some bondo added, be recut, and the vacuum holes re-drilled. This procedure won't really aid in calculating GD&T tolerance values, but it fit our needs quite nicely.

 

If you like open source, you should consider looking at TCL. It is awesome for being a "glue language" that can do almost anything. It is free, open source, and actually used by Siemens NX as their posting language, so there are some potential commercial benefits from learning it as well. Plus, with the Tk toolkit, GUI development is super simple, yet incredibly powerful. There is a Sqlite extension (in fact, sqlite was written in TCL), allowing database manipulation. I bring that up because the Mastercam ".tooldb" files are written in sqlite, which means they are very easy to navigate and manipulate with TCL.

[SlaveCam]

I'll let you guys know once a repository is up and there's something to show   First going to ask around on other forums if someone has made anything similar already.

 

The way you framed the question, you did not come across as a someone who wanted to develop this on your own. Also "hobbyist", and "shop, under 10 people" are not the same thing. I happen to believe that if you are using software to make money, you should pay for it. That's what was meant by my response. Sorry if you feel like my sarcasm was an attack. If you want to develop a free utility, and give it away, go right ahead. I think that sucks for the awesome companies like Verisurf that are out there, making an awesome product, that also happen to charge money for it so they can feed their families.

 

As someone who also makes a living doing software development, I do use some free pieces of software to get the job done on occasion. However, I feel like "open source" is a double edged sword. Perhaps if we lived in a world where everyone's basic needs were already met, and nobody had to worry about making a living, my views might be different. Also, asking for an Excel file that someone might be willing to share is different in my mind than a piece of "free software", but maybe I'm in the minority.

 

I'm probably also jaded by the vast amount of "freeloaders" that come in here, and asks for a post for free, or wants to ask for help with all their Mastercam issues, and then we find out they are a software pirate. Since you've clarified your position, and are willing to put in your own time an energy to develop a tool for others to use, then please accept my apology.

 

I've done inspection of vacuum fixtures by setting a Dial Indicator (plunge style) into a tool holder, at a known gauge length (with the plunger depressed by about .250, and the dial zeroed). We programmed a custom drill cycle with an M01 at each "drill position", and each point on the fixture, the "nominal" position should have read "0.0" on the dial indicator, but we'd find the discrepancy (either plus or minus from nominal), have the operator record the values, and use the results to decide if we could simply adjust the model position, or if the fixture needed to have some bondo added, be recut, and the vacuum holes re-drilled. This procedure won't really aid in calculating GD&T tolerance values, but it fit our needs quite nicely.

 

If you like open source, you should consider looking at TCL. It is awesome for being a "glue language" that can do almost anything. It is free, open source, and actually used by Siemens NX as their posting language, so there are some potential commercial benefits from learning it as well. Plus, with the Tk toolkit, GUI development is super simple, yet incredibly powerful. There is a Sqlite extension (in fact, sqlite was written in TCL), allowing database manipulation. I bring that up because the Mastercam ".tooldb" files are written in sqlite, which means they are very easy to navigate and manipulate with TCL.

 

Yeah, I obviously missed the sarcasm, despite the fact that your replies have always been very informative and helpful and most of all, FREE. But no need for apology, as you have a very valid point there - people indeed make software for a living. Piracy sucks and there are always those who try to get as much as possible without putting any effort into it oneself. I'll try my best to prove I'm not one of the freeloaders by getting as much knowledge as possible and contributing to the Mastercam community using that knowledge.

Opensource (which is not a synonym for free, but most of the time, it is) is a great thing for hobbyists and those who are still learning new things and just love to code and share. It shouldn't be a menace to anyone's livelihood and if it is, the commercial counterpart needs to raise the bar. I'm sure the manufacturing world of today has nothing to worry about...    I don't have experience with the highest-end software. But the CAD/CAM Opensource community seems to be growing, which in my opinion, is a good things. To do some very basic things, such as a lathe profile toolpath (NRC done in software), should you really have to pay for that...?

A spreadsheet and a program are not the same thing, but both can accomplish the task in question: put in coordinates and get coordinates/vectors and scalars as result. GD&T is just math. No need for a 3D interface. We just can't afford Verisurf or a measuring machine at this time. There doesn't seem to be many alternatives to getting, for example, the flatness of a flat surface or the radius of ball surface, which both are basic geometric measurements.

Have a nice weekend