Disclaimer: CNC Concepts, Inc. accepts no responsibility for the use
or misuse of techniques shown in this web page. We simply publish information
we feel will be of interest to CNC users. In all cases, the reader is totally
responsible for considering the implications, good and bad, of implementing one
or more of the techniques we show.
Do You Document Your CNC Programs Well Enough?
by Bernadette Henderson of Specialty Machine Products
I have been programing for about 2 years, and before that I had been a
manual machinist for 15 years. I have found that by making a program easy to
read and consistent every time you make one makes it easier for operators and
new personnel to read. I have seen many old programs made by previous
programmers and even I even have to look hard at it to see what's going on. If
you start it the same and don't try to put everything on one line the operator
knows what to look for and doesn't get confused. For example MO3 on one line,
and the rpm on another. They both go together and should be on the same line.
Its just like a sentence. Here is an example of how I write a simple program.
G43Z1.0H1T2 (READ LENGTH OFFSET FOR TOOL 1,RAPID TO IS 1",NEXT TOOL IS
TOOL 2)
G73G98Z-.250R.1Q.05F3.0 (WHAT DRILL CYCLE IS THIS,RETRACT TO POINT IS,DEPTH
OF CUT,RAPID BACK TO,PECK AMOUNT,FEED RATE)
G00Z1.0 (THIS IS FORCE OF HABIT TO REMIND ME TO CLEAR ALL OBJECTS BEFORE I
GO TO HOME ZERO)
M98P0002(SUB PROGRAM THAT INCLUDES ALL DATA TO SEND MACHINE HOME IN Z AND I
NEVER EVER HAVE TO WRITE IT AGAIN)
M30 (END OF PROGRAM)
I'm human and I forget things when I go fast, but if I teach what to look
for every time, and where it should be, people tend to be able to find it for
themselves and see what missing and what shouldn't be there All it takes is an
extra few moments, and if they get an alarm my guys know what to look for and
when that happens they figure it out themselves and learn.
