Surfacing Macro

chimaeragh

@cthulhulabs My DeWalt is configured as a spindle and is automated via a relay. So I can use M3 to start it and M5 to stop it. (Already modified my Vectric postprocessor for this)
I added M3 and M5 commands into the surfacing loop at line 89 and line 148 of the macro.

T1 ; selects the spindle Tool 1

M3 S17500 ; starts tool

CthulhuLabs

@chimaeragh Cool. There is a variable at the top for the spindle RPMs. Now that my spindle RPM can be controlled by the Duet I plan to add it. You should probably use that in your M3 command.

I am thinking of rewriting this Macro to only cut in one direction to give a more uniform surface finish. Basically cut from Left to Right, raise up, rapid to the next cut, lower and repeat. There would be a flag in it to change it between Left to Right and Right to Left. Might also add a flag to go from top to bottom or bottom to top.

nikki-m

@CthulhuLabs I use your surfacing.g code on a regular basis. Love it.
But is there any way to modify it so that the Depth of Cut could be adjusted by user input?

It would be nice to be able to enter a different value each time I use this macro, without having to edit the code. It would be even nicer if the DOC could be modified on each susbequent pass ("run again"). Perhaps also to limit the input value to between 0.1mm and 3.0mm?

HebigT

@nikki-m

I know you can pass parameters to a macro in the macro call itself (e.g. depth of pass)

Manually choosing this value on each run of the macro may be possible now using M291 on 3.5 beta firmware.

nikki-m

@HebigT Yes, I did look into the M291 function, but sadly, I am still on the v3.3 (awaiting any update from Ooznest)!!
Does this mean that there is no other way to program in a variable DOC? Apart from setting up numerous versions of the macro, each with a different value for the doc?

HebigT

@nikki-m

With 3.3 you should still be able to pass a parameter in the macro call. You’ll just have to modify the macro (hopefully only once!) to assign that parameter to the DOC variable (e.g. var DepthOfCut= {param.y} )
It’ll still be a manual process of entering the parameter each time you start the macro, but it should save you the trouble of having to change the DOC variable within the macro each time.

See the macro parameter section at this link:

https://docs.duet3d.com/User_manual/Reference/Gcode_meta_commands

nikki-m

@HebigT @HebigT I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here.
Is there an actual command (and presumably through a screen interaction) in v3. 3 which allows a user to type in and enter a value, and to then assign this value to an existing variable?

I still cannot find any means of entering an external value. I am still having to resort to having multiple versions of this macro, each wirh different values for doc.

OwenD

@nikki-m
For RRF 3.3 and later you can pass parameters using M98
So you can call your macro using M98 P"mymacro.g" Y0.002
and in the macro you access the parameter using param
e.g.

var depthOfCut = 0.001
if exists(param.Y)
    set var.depthOfCut = param.Y

Nightowl

I'm not sure if I'm being a bit too simplistic here, but this is what I do, after producing the GCode toolpath for surfacing, usually with a 0.15mm depth of cut, or sometimes more...

Run the toolpath. Once complete, if there are still low spots, lower the spindle/motor to Z0, then lower it again to the toolpath's cut depth (0.15mm), reset Z0 and rerun the toolpath.

Continue as necessary, but as you get closer to 'flat', you could reduce the 0.15mm accordingly.

o_lampe

@OwenD
Isn't there a way to start the macro by doubleclicking and ask for the DOC-value from within the macro?

OwenD

@o_lampe
Not unless you update to RRF version 3.5.0b1
Then you can ask for input use M291 as mentioned above

nikki-m

Thank for all your ideas, guys. I does seem that I can't achieve what I want whilst on v3.3.

So I am in the hands of Ooznest and will have to wait to see when / if they decide to release a later version of their firmware.

Of course, this macro would make a great plug-in, and so getting around this data input issue!

CthulhuLabs

So I am working on a new version of this Macro that will prompt for user input with the M291 command. It will make the Macro far more interactive for things like DepthOfCut, RPM, FeedRate, etc. One of the prompts I want to add is to ask if it should work in Pass mode or Depth mode.

In pass mode it will prompt you for the number of passes to take. It will then do that many passes before prompting you whether to surface another layer. Default will obviously be 1.

In Depth mode it will prompt you for how much material to remove. So if your DepthOfCut is say 0.3mm and you enter a depth of 1mm the Macro will do three passes at 0.3mm and then a fourth pass at 0.1mm for a total of 1mm.