My machines: parameters, tools and post-processor

The «My machines» section of the production cabinet is where you describe your own equipment: what it does, which tools it carries and which post-processor should build its CNC programs. Machine settings used to belong to the company and a furniture maker could not change them; now a machine has an owner, and you manage your own machines yourself.

While you have no machine of your own

If you have not added a machine yet, the cabinet shows the company machines and warns: «While no machine of your own is added, programs are calculated using the default machines». This is a working mode — programs are still produced, but with someone else's parameters. As soon as you add your own machine, calculation switches to it.

Editing parameters becomes available after the production cabinet is paid for. Before that the section is read-only.

Machine list

The table shows the number/id, name, equipment type, post-processor, parameters and the double-sided CNC flag. Each row has «Edit» (or «View» when editing is unavailable) and «Delete»; the add button is above the table.

The «Machine» tab

What the machine does

You choose one role: cutting, edge banding or CNC. This is deliberate, instead of a set of independent checkboxes: the production export sorts equipment by the rule «drilling or milling means CNC, otherwise cutting». A saw marked with «drilling» would drop out of saw jobs.

Post-processor

It is chosen from the list for its own role and is mandatory. Without it the machine is invisible to the program-building service and no program will be assembled for it.

Parameters

Every parameter has a hint — you do not need to remember what each setting does. The main ones:

Double-sided or vertical. A double-sided machine works the part from both sides and the program is not flipped. A single-sided one mirrors back-side operations onto the face.
Part dimensions. Maximum and minimum length, maximum width. The width also decides whether the part may be rotated by 90° when operations do not fit.
Cutter lead-in. Either the program adds an approach outside the contour, or the cutter enters and exits within the part — then outside approach points are removed.
Tool numbers. They may be omitted from the program if the machine picks the cutter itself.
End grooves. If the machine cannot make them, they are recalculated into top milling by part thickness. The side where an end groove is impossible is specified separately.
A disabled machine takes no part in calculation — no programs are prepared for it.

The «Tools» tab

Tools belong to the machine, so there is no separate «Tools» item in the cabinet menu any more — they are edited here. There are four types:

Linear — a saw blade that cuts grooves. The kerf width equals the groove width, the maximum depth limits the cut; the face or back side is specified separately.
Round, blind drilling — diameter, maximum depth and spindles.
Round, through drilling — the same.
Round, milling — cutter number, diameter, position (face or back, left or right), depth per pass, maximum depth and the «main» flag. The number goes into the program as the tool number, so it must be an integer. The «main» flag is not about picking a tool — it sets the main cut direction, left-hand or right-hand. Ticking it is optional: with no main cutter set, the system takes whichever direction prevails and flags the largest cutter itself. Separately, a cutter has an “excluded from tool auto-selection” flag: such a cutter stays operational but is used only where it is named explicitly. This flag cannot be set on the main cutter.

Spindles

For drills you specify the mounting sides: front, left, right, top, bottom and back. They are hidden behind the spindle icon — the row shows the chosen ones, and the list opens on click. It is done this way because the furniture maker has a single question: on which sides is this drill mounted.

At least one side is mandatory: without it the drilling program will not go anywhere. The «side and drill» pairs are assembled by the system itself.

What is checked on save

width for a linear tool and diameter for a round one are greater than zero;
maximum depth is greater than zero;
a drill has at least one spindle marked;
the cutter number is an integer and must not repeat on this machine.

The «G-code» tab

A machine with a G-code postprocessor (the NCStudio dialect) has a third tab in its card — «G-code». These settings used to be shared across the whole firm; now they belong to the individual machine, and every machine can have its own set.

Four groups of fields

Main — the postprocessor dialect, units, the Z origin (top or bottom of the part), the Z axis direction and the drilling cycle.
Start coordinates and safe height — the safe traverse height, the start X, Y, Z and the start feed.
Program ending — the line the program ends with.
Advanced — the working plane, the coordinate mode, the default cutter compensation, the initial program number, the tool change command and the end-of-program command.

Every group carries a hint with practical reference values you can start from when setting up a machine for the first time.

An empty field means «inherit»

Inheritance has three levels: the value is taken from the machine; if the machine field is empty — from the firm settings; if that is empty too — from the postprocessor fallback. Fill in only what differs on this machine and leave the rest empty.

Cutting parameters live on the mill

Spindle speed, feed, spindle rotation and its direction, tool length and coolant are set not on the machine but on the individual mill in the «Tools» tab. A drill has no such fields — the postprocessor picks the mill for a hole itself. The saw takes no part in G-code.

What the postprocessor does on its own

Calculates cutter radius compensation — the toolpath reaches the machine already recomputed.
Splits deep operations into passes by the depth set on the tool.
Picks a mill for a hole on the face: its diameter must be at least 2 mm smaller than the hole.
If the mill does not fit into a narrow contour or a rectangular pocket, it takes the largest suitable one.
When data is missing it raises a clear error instead of silently dropping the operation.

The tab can be viewed without paying for the production cabinet; changing values requires payment — until then the save button is not shown.