VCarve Desktop 11 and NWA's Ready2Control

[Elderoaklander]

If there's a way to go from VCarve (final drawing) to the CNC machine (in this case, A NWA Shark SD100)? I'm not about to invest thousands of $$ for CAM, but am having trouble taking the GCode to NWA's post-processor, Ready2Control.
Somehow, one of the programs is getting confused between millimeters and inches.
So happy when the little DeWalt router started moving/running the GCode. Lo and behold, the 8-inch thin plywood base for a stacking Christmas tree was NOT following the drawing, but cutting the precise pattern, only 10 TIMES smaller.
Reviewed/re-created all measurements and toolpaths - same thing again and again.
Would be happy to send the .crv file/.tap (gcode) if anyone wants to troubleshoot (or maybe there's something obvious I'm doing wrong.
I have been using VCarve Pro for several years, and never saw this behavior until setting up my new NWA USB controller.
Thanks all, ..don j

[Adrian]

You can create the drawing, tool setups, toolpaths etc etc in any units you like within VCarve and you can even mix units in the same job. I design in metric and have tools setup in metric and imperial but all my feed rates are imperial for example.

What is important is that when you come to actually save the toolpaths from VCarve you must choose a post processor that matches the units you have the controller set up for. So, for example, if the controller is set to metric then you must use the mm version of the post processor to create the gcode.

[martin54]

I design in both metric & Imperial & have both metric & Imperial tools the same as Adrian has said & the software works fine with that BUT when saving the gcode I always use the metric post processor because my control software is set up for metric units.
If you look through the post processor names in the big list you will see that each post processor has either "mm or inch" in its name.
Sounds from what you are saying that you are saving with the mm version of the post processor rather than the inch version

[scotttarnor]

If there's a way to go from VCarve (final drawing) to the CNC machine (in this case, A NWA Shark SD100)? I'm not about to invest thousands of $$ for CAM, but am having trouble taking the GCode to NWA's post-processor, Ready2Control.
Somehow, one of the programs is getting confused between millimeters and inches.
So happy when the little DeWalt router started moving/running the GCode. Lo and behold, the 8-inch thin plywood base for a stacking Christmas tree was NOT following the drawing, but cutting the precise pattern, only 10 TIMES smaller.
Reviewed/re-created all measurements and toolpaths - same thing again and again.
Would be happy to send the .crv file/.tap (gcode) if anyone wants to troubleshoot (or maybe there's something obvious I'm doing wrong.
I have been using VCarve Pro for several years, and never saw this behavior until setting up my new NWA USB controller.
Thanks all, ..don j

Okay I have Nextwave machines but I am not following what you are doing.
"GCode to NWA's post-processor, Ready2Control."
you end with
"never saw this behavior until setting up my new NWA USB controller."
Are you using a laptop with Ready2Control or a Hand held Pendant ?
If you are using a pendant and you are sure you are using inch PP I would contact Nextwave as there have been similar problems reported in the past on the Shark forum and they were resolve by correcting settings on the pendant.

[Elderoaklander]

ALL advice was clear/excellent, but already considered/tried by me.. 2 exceptions, which I will try/correct this morning - 1) Ready2Control set at different units than the GCode. 2) The pendant. This is the more suspicious one. It IS plugged in, but not being used. If none of these work, plan to try running the Ready2Update software for the controller firmware (or would someone NOT recommend that?)
I really appreciate all the helpful advice. ..don j

[Adrian]

Not sure what you mean by "already considered/tried" when you say that you don't know if the control and gcode are in different units. That's the only advice myself and Martin gave you.

[adze_cnc]

Perhaps I'm not understanding the problem or am being too simplistic but...

If the machine is set to one measurement system (let's pretend metric) and the g-code is being saved with a post-processor that is another measurement system (let's pretend "imperial") then why not save the g-code using a post processor with the same measurement system as the machine (in our pretend world metric)?

That's what I do.

[Elderoaklander]

Perhaps I should start w/ background/prior experience: I really hated my StepCraft (medium size) CNC of 4 years ago, but after upgrading to VCarve Pro software, all worked perfectly (except for the machine constantly needing adjustments).
So, I AM a Vectric fan, but have to say all my problems seem to point to the NWA Shark controller (first arrived DOA).
So, my plan is to detach the NWA Pendant and run the firmware update on the controller.
Next, ensure when saving VCarve GCode I have used the correct Post-Processor (Shark USB arcs MM).
Fingers crossed, taking GCode on thumb drive out to the shop...

[martin54]

Perhaps I should start w/ background/prior experience: I really hated my StepCraft (medium size) CNC of 4 years ago, but after upgrading to VCarve Pro software, all worked perfectly (except for the machine constantly needing adjustments).
So, I AM a Vectric fan, but have to say all my problems seem to point to the NWA Shark controller (first arrived DOA).
So, my plan is to detach the NWA Pendant and run the firmware update on the controller.
Next, ensure when saving VCarve GCode I have used the correct Post-Processor (Shark USB arcs MM).
Fingers crossed, taking GCode on thumb drive out to the shop...

are you sure the control software for your CNC is set up to use mm? Most of the shark machines I have read posts about seem to be set up in inches which is understandable on your side of the pond
was your stepcraft control software set up in metric ? Just because that was set up in metric doesn't mean your new CNC machine is, I would have thought you would need the Shark USB arcs inch post processor for your machine but obviously I could be wrong

[Elderoaklander]

No, you could be absolutely right, Martin.
I prefer working in mm's but if you are correct about Shark's defaults, I MUST change drawings and go with inches for everything.
Thank you so much for catching this.
..don j

[martin54]

No, you could be absolutely right, Martin.
I prefer working in mm's but if you are correct about Shark's defaults, I MUST change drawings and go with inches for everything.
Thank you so much for catching this.
..don j

NO read mine & Adrians posts again, you can set up your job & do all your design work in mm with no problem what so ever, you can even use metric tools if you wish, it doesn't matter what units you use for designing your CRV file whay so ever.

The only thing that matters is that you use the same post processor as the control software on your CNC uses so if that happens to be inches then you have to use the Shark usb arcs inch post processor

[Elderoaklander]

Thanks, Martin, for your latest tips.
I was a die-hard "this side of the pond" inches only for many years. Because many good vector design programs allow metric AND imperial inches, I frequently go between the two.
I was also aware of your second topic, but suspect (from trial and error) Vectric's post processors for my machine are not reliable (recently downloaded the Next Wave CNCShark-USB_Arcs_mm.pp, and it fails with a mysterious message about discontinuing certain GCode support and I would have to merge with another .pp (no clue as to how that would be done).
So, thank you for trying, but I'm still struggling, perhaps I got a 2ND bad controller.
..don j

[scotttarnor]

Nextwave updated their PP back with 10.5 I believe it was, here is a link to the page with current PP, although it should be in the Vectric software. The message you are getting is telling you there is a newer PP.
https://nextwaveautomation.zendesk.com/ ... 0046235651

You should really call Nextwave support, they could walk you through this issue.
email us at support@nextwavecnc.com or call us at 419-318-4822 9AM-5PM EST Mon-Fri.

[martin54]

Thanks, Martin, for your latest tips.
I was a die-hard "this side of the pond" inches only for many years. Because many good vector design programs allow metric AND imperial inches, I frequently go between the two.
I was also aware of your second topic, but suspect (from trial and error) Vectric's post processors for my machine are not reliable (recently downloaded the Next Wave CNCShark-USB_Arcs_mm.pp, and it fails with a mysterious message about discontinuing certain GCode support and I would have to merge with another .pp (no clue as to how that would be done).
So, thank you for trying, but I'm still struggling, perhaps I got a 2ND bad controller.
..don j

Couple of things, first they are not Vectrics post processors, they are supplied to vectric by nextwave for use with vectric software so the post processors within the vectric software should be exactly the same as the ones for vectric software that nextwave have in their support section. Not sure why you would want to download a mm post processor as I am almost certain that if you purchased a nextwave machine in the US the control system will be set up to run inches,
There are lots of people using vectric software with Nextwave machines & there are not a lot of posts about problems with post processors so I don't think this is a general problem.
As Scottarner has said if you are seeing that error message then you are not using the most up to date post processor, i don't have the same machine as you or use the same control software so any help is limited. You might be best calling Nextwave support as has been suggested, pretty sure this is something that they can sort out for you quite quickly if they walk you through things,

[Elderoaklander]

Martin, thanks again for sharing your expertise.
Called Next Wave Automation tech support a few minutes ago and they confirmed your points. Well, they they said that their SD100 controller "preferred" imperial inches, and that it "should" be able to handle mm. Quite adamant about the correct post-processor "NextWaveSharkCNC", trouble is, I cannot find it to download (apparently it is installed with VCarve). Didn't really want to install the latest version of VCarve Desktop because I purchased version 9.5 in the Pro version. Hopefully the 2 versions can reside without conflict, will see in a few minutes.
..don j