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Weird Question. Can you recreate a part using g code.

plutoniumsalmon

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Joined
May 27, 2014
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Los Angeles
Hello.
I don't know why, but, I sometimes think of this. Is there software out there that can recreate a part by looking at the gcode. Basically you feed it the g code and the tool info and it creates a 3d model of the part.
 
Hello.
I don't know why, but, I sometimes think of this. Is there software out there that can recreate a part by looking at the gcode. Basically you feed it the g code and the tool info and it creates a 3d model of the part.

Some programs like cimatron can spit out an STL file to show the remaining stock, but its not all that accurate.

I wrote a quick and dirty lisp program to backplot gcodes in autocad before sending them to my milling machine, it shows the toolpath only but you can still use it to pull data/measurements from. Its xy only for arc moves but it may be helpful. 2D Gcode Backplot Lisp - AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL - AutoCAD Forums

The main problem is you need to know all of the data on the tool to be able to create a model, if you don't have this info, you can't do it.
 
As said above, some toolpath verification software will output an STL. Some will also let you take measurements on the as-cut part. Between those you should be able to reverse engineer the part, but it's not an easy-button.
 
A round part made on a lathe is not difficult to reverse engineer by just looking at the code. Only the length would be the problem if the part was made on two setups.
 
Eons ago (1990s) Smartcam offered a utility called Tape to Shape that would reverse engineer Gcode. You created a Job Plan file which had the tool data, then a Machine Define file which set the parameters for the G Codes, (the same files as were used to create Gcode from CAM models in smartcam), then you fed it the gcode file and it built a model of the part. I never used, it, never had any legacy code to reverse engineer, so I can't say how powerful it was. It would have been a wireframe type model, not a solid model.

Microsystemsgeorgia.com has a lot of old Smartcam info, you might find information there
 
If the size of the tools are noted in the code I'd say it's doable for milling code. If not good luck. Like was already said lathe code is pretty straightforward.
 
Eons ago (1990s) Smartcam offered a utility called Tape to Shape that would reverse engineer Gcode. You created a Job Plan file which had the tool data, then a Machine Define file which set the parameters for the G Codes, (the same files as were used to create Gcode from CAM models in smartcam), then you fed it the gcode file and it built a model of the part. I never used, it, never had any legacy code to reverse engineer, so I can't say how powerful it was. It would have been a wireframe type model, not a solid model.

Microsystemsgeorgia.com has a lot of old Smartcam info, you might find information there

I used it way back when(like early to mid 90s), was a pain in the ass to get working. once you got it working it worked pretty good.
it created a wire frame model so to speak of all your tool paths.

The earlier version (early windows 3.2.1/ late dos) worked better then the one that came out later.
for that matter most anyone that knows g code can kick out a wire frame model in cad by picking the points from the g-code and entering it into a cad file. you can almost always tell what size tools are used by looking at g-code unless they coded it to center using custom sized endmills
 








 
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