518 posts · page 15 of 44.
PathPilot runs a LinuxCNC-shaped dialect, so vs Fanuc it differs the way LinuxCNC does: shared core, dot-one extensions, G7 lathe diameter mode, structure layer.
An operator who understands the program runs the machine instead of being run by it: read the four sections, header, tools, motion, ending, and what each promises.
Most VCarve G-code problems are post processor mismatches: the wrong .pp file for your controller. The symptom table and the air-cut habit that ends them.
Running a VMC is two skills in sequence: setting (workholding, tools, offsets) and programming (the code that uses them). The basics of each, in order.
Officially the G is the address for preparatory functions; informally everyone says geometric. The real story is the word-address format both answers sit in.
A canned cycle is a built-in routine the control expands into many moves from one block: a drilling, boring, or tapping operation packed into a single line.
A moving feed with a dead spindle is a code or override mismatch: an M05 that fired early, a missing spindle-at-speed wait, or independent feed and spindle controls.
Air-drilling means the machine's idea of Z disagrees with reality: a missing G43, the wrong H number, a stale work offset Z, or the cycle's R-plane math.
A lathe that cuts exactly twice as deep as programmed is almost always a diameter vs radius mix-up. Here is the X rule, the four places it hides, the fix.
The percent sign is a tape-era file marker: it told the reader where the program began and ended. Controls still honor it, and its absence still bites.
Grants and programs can fund CNC training for wounded veterans, and CNC's seated, precision work suits many recovery paths. How to find funding and study around it.
An overtravel alarm on G28 means the intermediate waypoint, not the home position, landed outside the machine's travel. The waypoint math, and the fix.