G Code Conversion - Why It Matters - Volume 1

In the real world ... most shops contain a variety of CNC machines from different builders and with different controls. Even in the world of Fanuc controls ... different G code formatting exists between double line / single line canned cycles. This is the reality of the real world ... plain and simple.

And those shops know first hand the bottleneck that "CNC control incompatibility" causes on the shop floor. Some examples :

1. A program is created for a specific machine ... only to find out when the job hits the floor that that machine isn't open ... going back to the CAD/CAM system and re-posting can be time consuming and hold up the job.
2. Programmer is familiar with one control ... you need him/her to program the "other" control ... issues.
3. Need to run parts on another machine in addition to the one it's running on ... re-posting ... issues.
4. That older CNC ... maybe doesn't use decimal points or something quirky like that ... works well but programming it is a real pain.
5. ... the list goes on and on.

We lived on the shop floor and dealt with these and similar issues every day. And that's the reason we developed our line of Kipware® G Code Conversion Software.

We would like to take a few blog posts to explain not only the concept of G code conversion software ... but along the way the reasons why it is so important and can be such a great tool for shop floors.

What is G Code Conversion Software?
The first point to make is that our G code conversion applications work with the actual text G code files ... so you do not need any CAD or CAM files ... just the G code text file that was probably already running on your CNC machine. Our applications read through that G code file and processes through the text code ... automatically interpreting that code ... and converting it to another format all automatically.

Types of G Code Conversion Software?
Kentech Inc. has created two types of conversion applications :

Soft Coded ( KipwareXC® )
This type of application allows the user to completely customize the software ... basically the user defines the "what-to-convert-into-what". Users can develop an unlimited number of PROFILES ... and within these Profuiles the user can select from pre-defined conversion options ( e.g. : convert R to I,J,K ) and also create their own conversions using our MACRO language ( e.g. : convert G81Z-1.250R.200F20.0 into G181Z-1.250R=.200F20.0 ). The user can create an unlimited number of PROFILES ... which means that one application can be used to convert multiple formats into multiple formats ... very flexible.

Click here to jump to our KipwareXC® webpage for more information.


Hard Coded ( Kipware®  CNC XChange )
This type of application requires very limited user configuration ... all the conversions have been created within the source code. The user basically select the file to convert ... selects the direction ... and selects convert. The software performs all the conversions from one format to another all automatically.

Versions of CNC XChange have been created for specific conversions ... our most popular version converts Fanuc G code to Okuma OSP G code ... and reverse. Everything to convert these G code programs has been written into the source code. We have other versions also available ... please click the link below for more information.

Click here to jump to our Kipware® CNC XChange webpage for more information.

In our next Blog post we will delve deeper into the world of G code conversion ... stay tuned. 

Kenney Skonieczny
President - Kentech Inc.