G-Code

[SpookyESU]

Does anybody else still use raw G code for programming CNC’s?

A couple of the machines I work with have Siemens 840’s on them and others have 32iT fanuc controls and I hate wissywig interfaces.
Sure there are times that 4+ axis needs a good cad-cam system but on a 2 axis lathe?
Are new people to engineering not being taught on-machine programming anymore?

Older green screen fanucs still show modals and next commands, if folks can’t read them how do they know what the machine is going to do next.

Maybe I’m just old and don’t like some of the new changes…
Cheers
Dave/Spooky

 

[Fatbob 59]

Most youngsters can't read G code as they've learnt on conversational controls , hands up in recent years I was fed with cad / cam programs as the workpieces were so big and complicated and upwards of £20k material that programming on the machine was too time consuming to be practical , Fanuc have done some strange stuff over the years , Fanuc 6 was a great system , 7 was garbage , 12 was a major backward move as you couldn't edit on the go as you could with earlier models , the last one I had included manual guide i but with that installed there were no canned cycles and the conversational system was really poor , the only decent system in my opinion is Mazatrol , the only control that you can program and machine a one off quicker than you can do it on a manual machine ! The last CNC programmer I had the misfortune to work with was a nightmare , probably still in his 20s and a cocky little knob , I would read 100s sometimes over 1000 lines of G code and highlight his mistakes , return it to him and wait for him to sort it , never returned an edited copy after making the part as he couldn't be trusted to amend the master so a repeat part was no guarantee of a correct program , eventually I'd had enough of editing his rubbish so after reading a program I left it on his desk after a late shift , note on the first page of the hard copy say 47 mistakes but I got a phone call the next morning from my manager , would i please come in on overtime to help Ben as he'd been sat for 4 hours with his head in his hands close to tears because he couldn't read the G code so had no clue how to find the 47 mistakes , rant over

 

[SpookyESU]

I hear ya brother, i always liked Mazatrol the T32 and M32 controls were a bit basic but so easy. The fusions grew from that to what they are now. (I worked for Kitagawa for a few years back in england)

These days it’s bloody 840’s from siemens (who really needs 32 groups for code…!)

The skills just aren’t being spread around now though, of the 9 guys in my group im the only one than can read and write raw code.
Quite worrying really…

 

[Fatbob 59]

I hear ya brother, i always liked Mazatrol the T32 and M32 controls were a bit basic but so easy. The fusions grew from that to what they are now. (I worked for Kitagawa for a few years back in england)

These days it’s bloody 840’s from siemens (who really needs 32 groups for code…!)

The skills just aren’t being spread around now though, of the 9 guys in my group im the only one than can read and write raw code.
Quite worrying really…

Let's go further back , in the day I could read and edit punch tape , stickers to cover holes and a hand punch to change things !

 

[Bazzatron]

Does anybody else still use raw G code for programming CNC’s?

Learned to read G-Code because there are a bunch of operations I wanted to do with my 3D printer that the novice friendly interface didn't cater for, even just pausing the job and parking the head, but pretty much all of those use-cases are now more easily done with a GUI command.

I think it's still a nice skill to have, especially for entry level CNC machines where you don't have the luxury of things like homing or limit switches - sending the machine parameter updates is often easier with one-liners. I feel confident enough that I could work through what my generated G-Code does, but I would definitely not want to write the program to draw every layer of a 3D print. Maybe a simple pocketing operation or something on CNC, but there has to be a very narrow band where being able to do this is worthwhile - needs to be a higher volume of jobs to make it harder to mill by hand, and simple enough that it is easier to program directly rather than build a CAD model and generate your toolpaths.

I think that this is probably one of those skills that was mostly killed by automation, and will no doubt be weakened further by advancements in AI. Makes me wonder if they still teach it at Uni, even if just to keep the knowledge alive.

 

[bobdacrazyman]

while i know how to read G-code as its used by 3D printers though i doubt most 3D printer users would know how, however actually typing out the raw code would be hell with all the different components that need commands that also change depending on print layer.

Just checked and even a fairly simple design that would take 6 hours to print has a little over 28 million characters in the G-code file, something would defiantly go wrong if i tried to write that manually aha, thankfully the software that i use to convert my .stl's into G-code is super simple and user friendly

if getting one letter/number wrong is all it takes to send the tool head crashing into the work piece its not surprising the higher ups would rather have the CAD software spit out the G-code than risk an expensive human error

 

[SpookyESU]

Let's go further back , in the day I could read and edit punch tape , stickers to cover holes and a hand punch to change things !

Had a Mori Seiki that ran from a papertape reader, the best bit was filling the appretices pockets with all the punchouts closely followed by trying to sticky tape a tape then punch the holes through with a pin

 

[Fatbob 59]

Had a Mori Seiki that ran from a papertape reader, the best bit was filling the appretices pockets with all the punchouts closely followed by trying to sticky tape a tape then punch the holes through with a pin

We had several Warner Swasey machines with General Electric 550 controls , countless times the tape would break part way through machining , stick it back together with repair labels and start again , they had compressed air operated chucks and would throw a job out if the compressor failed !

 

[SpookyESU]

Worst I had was on a Mazak 500-50 horizontal, the usual chain drive tool carosel with a “waiting pocket” at the top.
The plunger went on the rotating tool arm and it started launching 30lb BT50’s across the shop like goddam grenades

 

[Jimsiss]

I’m 36 and have been in CNC since I was 30. My work has 7 CNC lathes with Fanuc controls of various models. Main programming is done on Edgecam (really don’t like it but it’s what they chose and don’t want to change from), but we constantly have to make improvements or fix mistakes in programs.

Knowing G-code is a necessity, if you don’t know what is wrong you can’t fix it. Simple programs for one offs etc we still do ourselves on a notepad (on PC) or on the machine.

Definitely wouldn’t want to write out a 5 axis program for one of the many heidenhain machines we have though

 

[Mr Fettler]

Every CNC machine where I work, both lathes and mills run G code.
I use nearly all the machines but only as an operator, far as I go is adjustments in 10ths of a thou as it changes during the day.
One guys tried to show me but being old and senile plus a bit of number dyslexia, I'd rather not go there and use the excuse of "not in my pay grade" but only to myself.