Stopping and re-starting a 8 hour + design and make project

[jamink]

I am using V-carve pro 9 with a design and make 3D project.
My design will take over 11 hours to carve. Size of my design is 12"x20". Does anyone know how to carve in 3-4 hour blocks instead of having it carve for 11 hours?

[adze_cnc]

Does your machine's controlling software allow you to stop and resume on a specific shape or on a particular line of g-code?

[jamink]

I can pause the cnc shark which keeps the router running. I can do an emergency stop but not sure if it will restart in the exact same spot it stopped.

[AlanAndrews]

I had similar issues on my ELU860 machine.

When I knew I had a long running job, I often made a copy of the g code file that I would edit to make a part 1 and part2 file split at a particular line number, so that I could run to ensure I was in control of the machining.

I have since replaced all of the control/driver/motors etc so that I can pause and restart without the risk of losing position. This includes if I lose power.

The new controller allows me to pause or stop the machine code any where, and restart without the risk of losing position. I spent quite a bit of time making sure that I was achieving this functionality.

The new closed loop motors also ensure that I will not skip steps when processing.

[Leo]

I have edited files in the past.

You CAN make a tiled toolpath to split up the long running program. I works quite well.

[bbiehl]

If your are running Mach3 you can restart if you know the line number of the G-code where it stops. On the Mach screen there is a "Run From" window. Click on that window. A keypad window will pop up. Type in the G-code number. Hit okay. Then hit "Cycle Start"
The G-code will start scrolling from line 1, etc. until it gets to the line # you typed in the "Run From" window, your machine will then start running.

-brian

[Jozua]

My design will take over 11 hours to carve. Size of my design is 12"x20".

I am a little confused about your design and the time estimate. How complex is it?

I recreated you project size and pasted as many 2,5D objects as I could fit into this pace.

For me at a slow 100 IPM this takes only 1 hour 37 minutes.

I use Aspire 8.5 but I am sure it is the same for V Carve Pro.

Are you sure that you have your Scale factor correct?

Cut something small and compare the real time on your machine versus the time estimate in V Carve Pro.

I hope this helps.
Joz

[jamink]

Thanks Joz for the tip. I did reset the scale and it did cut the time down to 8.5 hours. Yes the design is complex. I will have to try to tile the design. I will also explore adding g-code, if I can, to run in separate sessions. I will post the outcome after I try those things.
Thanks everyone,
Jam

[adze_cnc]

I can pause the cnc shark which keeps the router running.

The router has an on/off switch? If it does then turning it off while paused and turning back on when you want to restart the job seems easier than editing g-code or tiling the job.

[jamink]

Thanks for all of the ideas.

I ended up tiling the job and set the tiles to 4 inch segments with each being about 2 hours long. This worked great.

I contacted CNC Shark support and they are working on a way to stop the carving and re-start at a later date. At this point we can not do that.