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I didn't see a post processor for mach4 in fusion 360. Mach4 has ditched the parallel port support and moved on to usb and after reading the artsoft pages, I got spooked by the end of support for 3 and abandoning the dated parallel port, but there is still a healthy diy community support. I was initally going to try Mach4 or Linuxcnc. Though in F360 it's still labled under the EMC2 name that linuxcnc started out with ages ago which I find very annoying and could confuse a lot of new users. I will admit that you would likely get more support through the mach3 forums and help than linuxcnc as their communities seem more active however linuxcnc works great and I can confirm that F360s linuxcnc post processor works quite well. It is another machine controller and runs on Linuux which had many advantages. Then just use that post processor to create programs for your machine. Ultimately all you really need to know is which post processor is correct for your controller (be it Mach3/4, linuxcnc, Haas, etc.). There is also a post processor that produces mostly generic gcode that (I think) conforms to the RS274 standard. That's why there are so many post processors. A post processor is really just a translator that converts Fusion's intermediate tool path language (which is never used on its own except for troubleshooting post processors) into gcode that is intended for a specific machine controller. The Gcode that Fusion produces depends on which post processor you use. There are also machine controllers that have built in stepper drivers, such as the TinyG board. So Mach3 (and Mach4 I think) are really hybrids. Mach3 for example could do it's own motion planning and send electrical signals to the stepper drivers (such as Geckos) or it could offload the motion planning to an external controller (such as a PMDX) which takes software command instead of electical signals. It is a confusing landscape for sure, especially because much of the DIY CNC hardware and solftware kind of turns the historical way of doing things upside down. So is the gcode that fusion produces actually generic will it work in any controller as simulated in fusion? In my searches for answers I see quite a few references to post processing and tweaking gcode to fit dedicated controllers, though it sounds like there is no non-dedicated cotrollers. I guess I thought that the controller was receiving software commands from mach3 (gecko not a PMDX?) I suppose that is why Linuxcnc has so many diehards, less os to bypass ![]() When I click print on a rendering, Inventor wasn't printing it windows was running a driver for HP hardware. Thanks CI, that is making more sense to me now. But Mach4 seems to recognize these shortcomings and is designed to off load the motion planning to an external controller (such as PMDX). Mach3 did a good job of working around the shortcomings of Windows and PC hardware. Even though they can work well they still have a disadvantage to dedicated controllers in that they were never designed for realtime machine control, and they have to run an operating system that also isn't really intended for machine control. ![]() PC based machine controllers are still relatively new in the CNC world. Therefore a controller is needed that is aware of all the motors and can plan out what signals to send the motor drivers to create the desired motion. The motor drivers are (usually) electrical devices only (they don't know gcode) and they are only aware of their own motor. The function of the machine controller is to translate a software program (gcode) into synchronized electrical signals that are sent to the CNC machines motor drivers (Gecko, etc.). Because there are so many different controls that use not only different languages (Fanuc uses G-code Proto Trak uses either G-Code or its own Event languages as 2 of MANY examples) the post processer translates the tool paths on the screen to the specific language for the machine control. A program like Fusion/Fusion CAM lets you design a part (CAD) and then put tool paths on it to cut the part. Mach3/4 like FANUC, Yasnac and so on are the actual machine controller it takes the code either written by hand or with a CAM package and actually runs the machine.
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