5AXISMAKER Gcode generator

V0.1
Following these steps will help you start in no time:
1) INTERFACE (gives you a general overview)
2) MACHINE SETUP (gets your 5axis machine ready)
3) GETTING STARTED (this step connects your geometry to the machine
head and generates the gcode that needs in order to run a machine. Once this
step is complete congratulations, you are ready to run your machine! And of
course for customization of settings follow step 3.1 and 3.2)

3.1) TOOLPATH - DETAILED SETUP

3.2) SIMULATION - DETAILED SETUP

to get started, have ready Rhinoceros, Grasshopper and our Grasshopper script open:

AXIS OFFSETS:

3D VIEW:

This panel lets you set up

your machines physical
characteristics

Displays simulation of machine

head and tool
path on your
model

TOOL:
This pannel lets you dene
your tool geometry
TOOLPATH:
This panel lets you customize toolpath for desired cut
performance

SIMULATION:
this panel gives you control
over how your tool path
curve is
interpreted in to gcode

GCODE:
This panel output gcode for
your cut

1) INTERFACE (basic info on script layout)

C axis (roatation around Z axis)

CaxisOset

B axis (roatation around Y axis)

Use these tabs to set up your machine
and tool characteristics.

BaxisOset

(Axis osets are set up by default for

5AXISMAKER and will work with geometry for machine head in the template
le.)
ToolStickOut

2) MACHINE SETUP

Tool Diameter

A.

B.

1. right click on surface

tab and go to set one
brep. This lets you select
surface (A) for cuting from
3d view by clicking on it.
This will generate tool path
curve (B) on the surface.

C.
2. Activating simulation toggle generates coordinate
points for the cut on the toolpath curve and calculates tool
positions for these points (C).

3. You can scroll through tool

positions on the toolpath
using Simulation slider.
4. The code for the cut now
appears in Gcode panel from
where you can copy and save

3) GETTING STARTED (the gcode is generated, its done!)

10mm stepover

5mm stepover

3mm stepover

1mm stepover

Stepover is the distance between parallel segments of

toolpath curve.
This parameter controls the length of the cutting operation
and the surface nish of the cut object.
You can control this distance using Step Over Distance
slider.

3.1) TOOLPATH - STEPOVER (these are the additional settings)

V direction toolpath

U direction toolpath

It is possible to change direction of the tool path by switching U/V direction toggle. This will align toolpath curve
with either U or V direction of the surface.

TOOLPATH - DIRECTION

5mm seam gap

0.25mm seam gap

Seam gap slider adjusts distance between start and end

of toolpath curve segments.

TOOLPATH - SEAM

A.

B.
When toolpath curve does not describe the surface accurately (A.) it could be
because toolpath curve segments do not have enough points to resolve the
geometry accurately.
To add point to toolpath curve segments use isocurve rebuild until toolpath
accurately describes your geometry (B.).
However when adding to many points it might slow down the performance of
the simulation

TOOLPATH - ISOCURVE ACURACY

100 points

1000 points

5000 points

When simulation is activated (with Simulation toggle) resolution of the cut

can be controlled using Resolution slider, which adds coordinate points to
the toolpath curve.
This parameter controls how accurately toolpath describes the surface of the
model since machine moves in straight lines between these points.

3.2) SIMULATION - RESOLUTION

A.

B.

Some particular features may cause collisions between machine head and the
model (A.).
In such cases it might be appropriate to isolate these features to work on the
separately (B.).

SIMULATION - COLLISIONS

To avoid collisions between machine head and the model it is possible to

adjust angle between the tool and the surface using Lead/Lag angle and
Tilt angle sliders.

SIMULATION - LEAD/LAG AND TILT ANGLES

A.

B.

When tool position is calculated from the wrong side of the surface (A.)
use Flip surface toggle to change surface face to the correct one (B.).

SIMULATION - SURFACE DIRECTION

Vector visibility toggle turns on display of machine head vectors at

every coordinate point on the toolpath. This can be useful to visualise
envelope of the tool head motion.

SIMULATION - SHOW TOOL VECTORS

custom curve

A.

B.

C.

It is possible to create toolpath from custom curves. Right click on

Custom toolpath curve tab and go to set one curve and select your
curve. This will dene the curve to be used for your custom toolpath.
Use custom toolpath toggle to switch between custom toolpath and
automatically generated toolpath.

TOOLPATH - CUSTOM TOOLPATH

curve can be arbitrary

Custom toolpath curve does not have to be on the surface of the model,
it can be a curve drawn by you or any arbitrary curve. Vectors for the tool
will be calculated using normals from the closest point on the surface of
the model to the points on the toolpath curve.

TOOLPATH - CUSTOM TOOLPATH

Proposed additions to 5AXISMAKER Gcode generator in V0.2:

-

Mesh support
Automatic collision detection
Roughing toolpath generator
Gcode output to le
Formating of Gcode

5AXISMAKER Gcode generator is an open source script and we welcome modications and improvements to it from the maker community.
Lets make 5axis machining for everyone a reality!