Customer Reviews

Parametric Programming for Computer Numerical Control Machine Tools and Touch Probes: CNC's Best Kept Secret

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This is a good book on a subject that has little public information about it. It does outline some nice uses for custom macros. The author has come up with some clever methods for error checking and general approaches for programs. And the book is quite strong in the area of touch probing.

However, in the area of Fanuc's custom macro B, it has some serious omissions. It does not mention at all the use of G66, G67(Macro Modal Call), which is useful for calling the same macro at many different locations.

Also, the WHILE statement is omitted in the area of conditional branching. Though the IF statement is almost functionally the same as the WHILE, it should have been discussed as part of the language.

The last two gripes I have with the book are programming style issues, and therefore are more subject to personal bias. Because the WHILE statement is not discussed, the IF...GOTO statement is the only method used for conditional branching. I find the WHILE branching method to be much easier to understand and follow in a program. Also, the author extensively uses the GOTO method for unconditional branching in his programs. If you look at other computer programming languages like BASIC, C, JAVA, they have either eliminated, strongly discourage, or never included the GOTO method because it leads to programs that are unstructured, difficult to follow and error prone. If the programs you are going to write have any complexity to them, I recommend that you avoid using the GOTO unconditional branching method.

If I have sounded a little harsh, it is not because I do not respect the author Mike Lynch. He has written a good book on a difficult subject. If you are serious about parametric programming, then I do recommend that you have this book as a reference.

Mike Lynch produces great books. His manual "Machining Center Programming, Setup, and Operation" was an incredible read for me, and the reason I got this book. He worries more about conceptual understanding than teaching the best techniques.

His book "Parametric Programming for Computer Numerical Control Machine Tools and Touch Probes" has an incredible beginning and held all my interest. He first excites your curiosity and broadens your general understanding a bit, before digging in. He allows you first to appreciate the power of macro programming and its unlimited uses, and then teaches how to use three common versions of the programming.

In short, he gives you the control over your CNC machine tool that simple g-code cannot give, which allows you to program in very flexible ways. Through simplistic computer logic and looping, you're given the control over your CNC.

After this read, I could eliminate all setup time I used to use measuring and inputting program zero points, and also make measuring tool length offsets offline feasible. It only requires the creativity to handle the knowledge given in this book, and you'll never program quite the same way again. If you already understand some macro I'd recommend your machine's programming manual and not this book, but you may not see the full potential without the read.

I recommend letting a CAM system generate a section of code for you, and then manually throwing in parametric programming to get greater results from less code. Just read this book, and you'll understand.