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Conversational program for older Fanuc

flylo31

Aluminum
Joined
May 11, 2008
Location
Arizona
I have been using Centroid controls for years, Slow and Easy. Most of the machining I do is cutting shapes in A36 plate .375 to 1.5 inches thick. I recently purchase a machine with a Fanuc 15M B series. Is there a conversational program that will generate code for the controller. I am thinking just buy a dedicated computer to connect with the machine and work the program from there. Thoughts??
 
The 15 is a powerful controller, but I have never seen one with any conversational add on. Machines with the 15 were usually up-market machines where the sales tool of onboard conversational programming functionality did not work.

I have seen this used for shopfloor conversational. http://www.g-zero.com/
lots of choices for cam software these days.
put a microcenter refurb (must have a serial port)next to it for $200
 
The 15M is a really nice control. The one I ran in the past was very well-optioned.

If you're really into conversational programming, then I would suggest you take this opportunity to learn basic G&M code, and macro programming. There's a really good, long-running discussion on macro programming here.

Honestly though, I learned how to use Fanuc-controlled mills like a manual machine very early on. For all of their short-comings, Fanuc's are pretty easy to use in this regard.

My opinion - If it's a simple enough part to make with conversational programming, then it's simple enough to make with plain G&M code, and/or macros.






I say that as someone who spent time on a Dynapath something-model retrofitted HBM, and a Fanuc 16M controlled HBM, and Fanuc 15m Bridge Mill all at the same time.

I'll take the Fanuc controls, hands down, every day, and twice on Sundays....




If you want some bare-bones program templates, let us know. I'd be happy to assist.
 
Fanuc does have Manual Guide i but I can't tell you when they came out with it. If it was out then, the 15 control would have it. The 15 was the top shelf control at the time and the cost reflected it.

Paul
 
There was an option for conversational programming on the 15 series, both T and M models. The 15TF was the lathe version and used FAPT as its system. The 15M could be optioned with CAP which was the mill conversational. When a 15 was optioned for conversational there was essentially a second motherboard that handled the programming functions. I'd be amazed if Fanuc would consider or quote doing a field retrofit on a 15 to add the capability and I'm even more sure that the cost would scare you away if they did quote it.

You will be way better off with a simple CAM software program.
 
There was an option for conversational programming on the 15 series, both T and M models. The 15TF was the lathe version and used FAPT as its system. The 15M could be optioned with CAP which was the mill conversational.
I am pretty sure 15, 18 and 21 had the Super CAP-M for mills and super CAP-iT for lathes. FAPT was on the older Fanuc lathes.
The 15 being the hiogh end control of the time probably had Super CAP-M standard.
 
Fanuc does have Manual Guide i but I can't tell you when they came out with it. If it was out then, the 15 control would have it. The 15 was the top shelf control at the time and the cost reflected it.

Paul

Manual Guide i didn't come until the 30, 31 and 32.
 
I have been using Centroid controls for years, Slow and Easy. Most of the machining I do is cutting shapes in A36 plate .375 to 1.5 inches thick. I recently purchase a machine with a Fanuc 15M B series. Is there a conversational program that will generate code for the controller. I am thinking just buy a dedicated computer to connect with the machine and work the program from there. Thoughts??

Some Series 15 controls had color CRT's and FAPT programming, or the mill equivalent. It's kinda rare as 15s were very high level controls that didn't lend themselves to shop floor programming.

However, depending on complexity of your parts - software like PowerStation from Microcimm can really do the trick for a low price. Grab a PC, hook it up and program away. Nice thing about PowerStation is that you can write your own posts. Great stuff.
 
Sorry for not jumping in sooner, but just had a burst of busy..... I have a little experience with G-code related to edits I had to do in the Centroid. I have tried Fusion 360 but I do not use it enough to stay comfortable at it. Then there those of you I envy because you can sneeze in G-code. I do not get the machine until the first week of December, so I will work with it and see how things work for me. In my research I came across KipwareM, any thoughts on that?
 
I am not a fan of conversational programming ,, every time I have tried to use it i find something that it just well not do , so for 25+ years I did mostly finger cam and put a few days in on Fusion and just found I could not get my head around it ,, so I did a LOT of reading and found out that onecnc might be better for my fixture work and found it works great for my simple parts, it is super intuitive and I can go months with out using it and just jump back on it ,, you can get a free 30 day full working demo and see what you think about it ,,
 
My two cents... you should look at Kipware. Let me say that I am not a machinist nor a CNC programmer. I do repair CNC machines. I discovered Kipware 10 years ago while looking for estimating software for someone, and I thought it was an interesting idea. In the past year I've mentioned Kipware to a number of shops and several of them have purchased it. None of these are "production" shops with full time programmers or vast experience with expensive CAM packages. They are repair-oriented shops, where jobs are often one-off or limited production, on a wide variety of machines with widely varying controls.

The one shop, every time I go in I see a machinist using Kipware; they seem to love it, and the shop owners are happy because the machinists love it (and it cost "hundreds" of $$). As for 15MB, I know someone who was using Kipware on a huge HBM with 15MB and seemed quite happy with it.

Kipware isn't going to be the solution for everyone. But it seems well thought out, it's reasonably priced, and it may make a lot of simple jobs very quick. BTW, if you sign up for their emails, you will probably get a discount offer of $100 or so before long, especially at Thanksgiving or Christmas time. That seems to be about the extent of their "hard sell" philosophy.

Disclaimer: I receive no compensation from Kipware. I just like companies that seem to offer quality products at reasonable prices, without trying to lock you into some never-ending stream of payments.
 
I have been using Centroid controls for years, Slow and Easy. Most of the machining I do is cutting shapes in A36 plate .375 to 1.5 inches thick. I recently purchase a machine with a Fanuc 15M B series. Is there a conversational program that will generate code for the controller. I am thinking just buy a dedicated computer to connect with the machine and work the program from there. Thoughts??

A Fanuc 15MB-F is a RARE bird. At the time of production, the 15 was the high line Fanuc control used on premium machines, and rarely equipped with FAPT as it was called in those days. Adding the option today would be mind-bendingly expensive.

My recommendation would be PowerStation from Microcimm. About $1800 complete, you write your own posts, comes with lots of goodies and can make money. I've been using it for years.

POWERSTATION CAD/CAM

Don't let the "2015" fool you, it gets upgrades all the time. Tell them I sent you.
 
Fanuc does have Manual Guide i but I can't tell you when they came out with it. If it was out then, the 15 control would have it. The 15 was the top shelf control at the time and the cost reflected it.

Paul

In the 15/16 days it was FAPT. Manual Guide i showed on the later controls.
 
After FAPT came SuperCAPi. I like SuperCAPi better than Manual Guide i.

Yeah, that was the in-between from FAPT to ManualGuide i. Looked pretty good but it disappeared kinda quick.
Seems like Manual Guide i has got a little longevity although the rumors are already cooking...
 
Just an update on my thoughts on Kipware...

After a number of people bought the software based on my suggestion, I contacted Ken with some suggestions. I mentioned that some of the people were very frustrated by bugs, frequent crashes, and illogical operation of the software. I suggested he needed to have NON-USERS do some testing on his software and do a total quality and usability review. Basically he went full apesh-t on me, flipped out and raged about how "people never contact ME about problems". Well, dude, people have other things to do besides be your software beta tester and QC. If someone is in the middle of trying to get an urgent job done, you really think they are going to take the time to document the bugs in your software and email you? No, they are going to find a way to get their job done, and lose faith in your product. I know from personal experience at the one customer's site, I was able to repeatedly crash the program. Now I'm sorry, but in the year 2023, NO program should ever completely crash and just disappear or lock up. That is inexcusable.

Now I regret that I ever suggested people to look at his software. It has the potential to be a really useful tool. But if the developer can't listen to constructive criticism from someone who WAS a FREE booster of your product, then you don't really deserve anybody's money.

I keep hoping the open source community will come up with something similar that works better... although I guess soon computers will just be writing all the G code while we smoke dope and play video games, so it doesn't matter.

My two cents.
 








 
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