I would like to use my Nomad 883 to mill two sided copper-clad printed circuit boards. I am using Eagle-CAD 7.2 with the pcb-gcode 3.6.0.4 plugin which produces drill and etch milling files. The description for the choices of G-Code it can generate are:
“EMC”
“Tries to be very compatible”
“iSel”
“Mach3 - EMC for Windows”
“TurboCNC”
Can anyone recommend if any of these will produce gcode that the Nomad 883 Carbide Motion will accept?
Dave
Hi Dave,
Both the EMC and Mach3 post processors should work with Nomad.
-Edward
Thanks very much Edward!
Dave
perduedt,
Did either EMC or Mach3 work for you?
I’m trying to use both of those, and yet no luck. Carbide Motion does not like several things in the EMC or Mach3 g code my CAM software generates.
I found that the pcb-gcode plugin for Eagle CAD generated a gcode that Carbide Motion can’t handle. It was a gcode G82 which is some type of drill code. I edited that G82 block out of the file and then Carbide Motion accepted the file. I also found that I needed to order some engraving bits as the supplied bits are just too large. At that point a big project came up that I am still wrapped up in, so I have not gotten back to trying to mill a PCB. I would be interested to know if you can get Carbide Motion to mill a PCB.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I am also wanting to use my (yet to be received) Nomad for PCB’s.
Would be really great if you have a chance to post some videos once you get your’s working.
As an aside, Sklar’s video of double sided milling using a (unknown but DIY looking mill) is interesting …
Cheers,
Warren.
I’ve had the same kind of “unacceptable Gcode” errors trying to get HSMxpress CAM output into Carbide Motion, and I’ve tried a LOT of different Post-processor presets to no avail yet.
I’ve tried Fanuc generic, Haas generic, Mach2 and Mach3, Grbl Generic, Denford, and Generic Eding USBCNC so far, and have tried removing the G28 as well as some other G-codes.
I’ve tried the EMC export option from HSMxpress to no success, it seems to be hanging on the G53 command, and in all of the post-processing options I’ve tried it hangs up on G17, G18 and G19 plane commands, and arc-motion more generally.
I have the same G82 problem. It’s drilling block at the end of the gcode file.
It’s always possible to edit the file and remove the block but not very nice…
Anyway waiting for engraving bits to do a test.
G28 is one of the two primary “home” codes out there, but as I’ve discovered in other threads talking with Rob, this code isn’t supported yet because of the in-between work that CM does before sending code to the GRBL board, which provides a lot of intelligence that GRBL doesn’t have.
Rob has mentioned that support for G28 is forthcoming, and should be fairly easy to add.
If you’re actually seeing a “G82” in your code, that’s a canned cycle for “drilling with dwell” which I’m doubting is what you meant 
Just for the forum benefit by the way, the G17/G18/G19 codes have to do with arc motion in vertical planes instead of horizontal ones. By default the machine is running all arcs in the XY plane; G17. But, the g-code can specify arcs vertically using G18 for XZ or G19 for helical or straight-arc lead-in moves.
I found this G-code reference last Friday, and it has been very helpful as I’ve been trying different post-processing settings from HSMxpress.
Edit: I will note though that GRBL does have some variation from the standard G-code, so in your MeshCAM posts and in CM logs you may see things that don’t line up to things here.
I am not a specialist of Gcode.
The Gcode file generated by Eagle to drill the PCB use the command G82 and it’s not supported by Carbid Motion. Cf @perduedt’s post.
So the question is how to drill a hole with Carbide Motion?
I was able to mill a couple of boards using the gcode output from Eagle. I posted the information in the gcode discussion link: PCB Eagle plugin pcb-gcode-3.6.0.4
I show pictures of the results and the Eagle settings.
Dave