Post processor

[Anonymous]

Help! I cannot get the post processor to work no matter what I put in the Fusion 360 post processor fields. What am I doing wrong?

Frustrated to say the least.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

A little video, or screenshots, or a explanation on what your workflow is would be nice.

[Anonymous]

Hello,

What is happeneing exactly? What steps have you taken?

First, do you have a machine setup?

When you click "Post", does a dialog come up with settings?

If so, what happens when you click OK? Does it prompt you to save?

Do you mean it won't run on your machine?

The more details, the better!

Thanks,

Autumn

[Anonymous]

I attached a screenshot of my setup.

I have a Tormach 1100 milling machine and currently use Mach3 as the software to drive the machine.

In the post fields I use the generic posts that are available in the dropdown menu. I chose the one dedicated to Tormach Mach 3. I opened the post processor to do a little editing, changing mm to inches, and when I saved it and closed it somehow it ended up becoming a .cps file and consequently I don’t know how to get it back to where it was.

I designed a tool, which you can see in the background. I generated the tool paths and then proceeded to post. I was successful one time and actually produced a g code file, but cannot repeat what I did.

I was thinking of uninstalling Fusion 360 and reloading it to get back to all the default settings and trying once again with a clean slate. It’s my understanding that the project I am working on will be stored on the cloud, whatever the heck that means.

I’m a retired pilot and started a small shop in my garage. I needed a more robust designing platform and couldn’t afford Solid Works and then I came across Auto Desk Fusion 360 on the internet, so I downloaded the program and just love it and it’s capabilities. If I can figure out what I’m not doing or what I’m doing wrong that will be just great. I’m not from the computer generation and have a difficult time understanding all the computer jargon. I’ve been trying to solve this problem for about 3 days. I visit forums and your help website, but many of the explanations are hard for me to understand. Your help is much appreciated.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

Maybe you can find a local re-seller to help you understand the system a little better?

Post processor files are always .cps. But What happens when you try to post process with a different post processor does that work?

[Anonymous]

Hi Laurens,

It doesn’t matter what generic post processor I choose, each time it looks like the program is trying to post, as the bar appears at the bottom right, shown in the last attachment.

I’m trying to mill this pocket, which consist of a drill, adaptive rough and finish mill. It is not a big program and should generate the g code file pretty quick, based on my experience with Bob-Cad. I have 4yrs experience with that program and have even edited the post that I use in that system. I tried editing the generic Mach 3 post, changing the millimeters to inches. When I saved the changes and closed the post and went back to the post dropdown menu and selected the same post it appeared different, meaning it dropped “mach 3” as part of the identification and the properties window had nothing in it. The last attachment reflects this.

I saved my project to the cloud, so what I propose doing, is uninstall Fusion 360 and reinstall

it so I can get back the default settings, before I started messing with the Mach 3 generic post. I have a post process in my Bob-Cad program that I would like to move to Fusion, but at this time I do not know how to do that, as I’m still learning the ins and outs of the Fusion program.

I hope this helps so you can direct me further.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Tom

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

There are no attachments to your posts so it's hard for us to see what is going on.

[HughesTooling]

One thing that can catch people out is when you post there's an error generated but brackets doesn't start fast enough and for some reason the CAM deletes the error so you think nothing worked. You could try changing your editor to notepad if you're on Windows, it starts faster.

[HughesTooling]

Can you attach the file you're working on, from the File Menu pick Export, Type f3d and Save to my computer then attach to your next post.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Here is the file.






Sent from Windows Mail

[HughesTooling]

Not sure what's going on but none of your attachments are coming through, are you using the forum or are you replying by email.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Replying by email.






Sent from Windows Mail

[Anonymous]

What is the best way to get the attachments to you? Can I send them using the forum?






Sent from Windows Mail

[Anonymous]

Click the "Choose File" button where the red arrow is pointing.  That will bring up a browse window to let you select your file.

[Anonymous]

I'm a little confused what you mean by "I opened the post processor to do a little editing, changing mm to inches".  If you just set the units on your model and on your CAM workspace, the post processor should take care of generating the correct gcode for you.  Looking at the tormach post, the only millimeter values I see are for the minimumChordLength, CircularRadius, etc...

Just to be sure, you are pressing the "Post" button when you're trying to create the gcode, not the "Open Config" button that would bring up the tormach.cps file in the editor.

Also, just wanted to mention that you won't be able to just reuse a post from another CAM program in Fusion.  But if you've got a Tormach (I have a Series I PCN1100 in my basement) there shouldn't be too much you'll need to change that isn't in the Tormach post.

There's a ton of helpful people here on the forum.  I'm sure once we're able to see your attachments we'll be able to get things straightened out for you!

Dave

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,

I’m sure the problem is with me and not the software. I’ll be sending a message on the forum shortly and you can look at all the screenshots, which will give you an idea of what I’m doing.

After I went into the post processor and changed the mm to in, I remembered from the tutorial that it would post in inches without editing the post processor, so I went back in and put everything back to mm.

In answer to your question when I try to post the g code, no I don’t open the post processor editor, I only push the square which says “post”, at which time a window opens with the folder that I designated for the file. Thank you for all your patients and help.

Tom






Sent from Windows Mail

[Anonymous]

Hi Mark, Laurens and Dave,

Ok I think I did this right. The first file is the project I'm working on. The other files are views of what I have in the post processor fields. Regarding the "Output Folder". It si my uderstanding that I can create a new folder, lets say, in my documents and name it (Fusion 360 Posts) or does it have to go some particular place in ordet to open the file? The second question is this; in one of your messages you suggested the following , (You could try changing your editor to notepad if you're on Windows, it starts faster.) I use Windows 8.1 so how do I achieve changing the editor to notepad? I know there is a check box that says "Open nc file editor" adjacent to the post button and you have the option to check it or leave it unchecked. Is this what your refering to? Or do you mean once the post ends up in the folder open the file using notepad.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

---

t.kittredge wrote:

Hi Mark, Laurens and Dave,

Ok I think I did this right. The first file is the project I'm working on. The other files are views of what I have in the post processor fields. Regarding the "Output Folder". It si my uderstanding that I can create a new folder, lets say, in my documents and name it (Fusion 360 Posts) or does it have to go some particular place in ordet to open the file? The second question is this; in one of your messages you suggested the following , (You could try changing your editor to notepad if you're on Windows, it starts faster.) I use Windows 8.1 so how do I achieve changing the editor to notepad? I know there is a check box that says "Open nc file editor" adjacent to the post button and you have the option to check it or leave it unchecked. Is this what your refering to? Or do you mean once the post ends up in the folder open the file using notepad.

---

From your screenshots I can see that you edits to the tormach posts have not been correct. There is a fault in there somewhere.

Have you tested with the osai post? What happens when you click post process with the osai post(Or even better fanuc post)?

Does something happen? Totally nothing? Or a screen with errors?

[HughesTooling]

To follow on from what Laurens said, the reason the properties are blank is because you've got something wrong when you edited your post. Also looking at your second screen grab it looks like you've saved your edited post back to the generic folder, you shouldn't save custom posts there as the folder moves every time Fusion updates. See post #2 in this thread for info on where to save.

I'd move\delete the post you've edit from the generic folder or you'll have problems after the next update. Can you upload the post so we can try and fix it for you.

Thanks Mark

[HughesTooling]

I just posted your file with the generic post OK and it is in inches so there's no problem with the file.

I've attached the generic tormach post, you could just copy it over the one you've edited.

To change the editor click your name top right of screen and select preferences.

Mark