CNC BLOG

CNC controls have come a long way over the years. Many innovations have dramatically improved what they can do, their ease of use, and in...

By Brian Glick of Vermeer Corporation This is a macro I wrote to be able to find the center of an arc from three points. This gives...

By Brian Glick of Vermeer Corporation Here is a macro I developed to allow operators to calculate their own fixture offsets right on the...

By Tom Sorrentino I was reading "The Optional Stop newsletter, Issue 85", particularly the "Macro Maven: Rounding or truncating to a...

Suggested by Alejandro Garcia of Extreme Machine, Inc. In a previous blog post, we published a custom macro to record the settings for...

Setting up and running CNC machine tools requires setup people and operators to focus on the tasks at hand. A high degree of...

Custom macro B provides the ability to read and write offset data from and to a CNC program – and this has been the topic of many past...

There are several G codes that are rarely used. Some are options, meaning you’ll have to pay extra to have a machine equipped with them....

This field of computer numerical control is constantly evolving. New features and functions are coming along on a regular basis. Though...

It’s refreshing to say that we’re beginning to see a upturn in manufacturing – at least in some sectors and parts of the country. With...

by Doug Rinehart Every programmer-operator has to make changes to a program from time to time “on the fly” during-a parts run. It is...

Getting CNC people together with CNC-using companies seems to have become quite a challenge in recent years. CNC-using companies will...

As you probably know, initialized words those that are automatically instated at power up. Most are modal G codes that select the most...

Most programmers do not overly consider program restarting when they develop programs. Most will simple include all CNC words and...

I’ve seen all kinds of structure (or lack of it) in CNC programs. Admittedly, it is hard to argue with success – and if the structure you...

Custom macro B allows a programmer to place the machine in an alarm condition using system variable #3000. Consider this command. #3000 =...

Parameters are used by control manufacturers to allow machine tool builders – and end users – to specify many things about the individual...

Counting cycles can be helpful in several ways. Past articles in The Optional Stop have shown two great applications. One will serve as a...

A constraint is a bottleneck that in some way holds up production. One area of your company is delayed while waiting for another. A...

Normally we talk about training and task simplification with the emphasis on how it affects the skill level required to perform complex...