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This documentation section has text mostly about DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm), my CAM programs, and might be looked to for information on some of the CAM program commands. See also the other documentation files, and pages in this Web site, for additional information. The disclaimer and most of the other legal text has been moved to SECTION: 0 , you must read the disclaimer, End User License Agreement (EULA), and other legal text, before you read any of the other documentation or use any part of this HTML document or associated files and programs. Be sure to read all the Warnings in SECTION: 3.2.10.0 , and the other documentation, before running, installing, testing, or using any of my programs, and especially before using DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm).

The text in this section was derived from the CAMPLOT.DOC file that was in the original v2.6 distribution, and has been updated somewhat so that some of the changes made in v2.7 are reflected. It may take me some time to get back to work some more on this section, but you can help proof-read what is here now. Some adjustment may be required for versions prior or subsequent to v2.72 since there are variations between versions and the various revisions of versions.

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DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) are designed to be adaptable to a wide range of uses. The range of features, of the programs, allows several arrangements of motors and relays. The ability to select and configure the programs to work with different Hook-up options lets you select the more effective approach.

Most of the differences between DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) relate to how the Z axis is hooked up, i.e. if a motor, solenoid, hot-wire, pump, relay, buzzer, light, laser, or other device is used for the Z axis. The Z axis direction signal can be used to turn things on or off as well as tell a motor which way to turn.

When run on a PIII coppermine 733MHz computer DANCAM.EXE (tm) v2.72 and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) v2.72 can produce about 106700 step pulses per second which would run servo motors with 200 steps per revolution at a speed of about 32015 RPM, or servo motors with 4000 steps per revolution at a speed of about 1600 RPM. Most stepper motors have a reliable top speed less than 200 RPM. So when stepper motors are used, the reliable operation of the motors limits the top speed obtainable, not the capabilities of the programs. DANCAM.EXE (tm) or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) can usually generate step pulses faster than needed when stepper motors are used and therefore the stepper motors and not the software limit the maximum speed. These speed values are very approximate and will vary from one computer, OS, or program revision to another.

The CAM programs feature a rate multiplier that can be used to increase the step angle for servo motor drives, e.g. up to 3.6 degrees or so, to get speeds of up to 2000 rpm or more at the motor shaft when the CAM programs are run on 80286 or 80386 computers. Since servo motors normally drive the lead screw through a 3:1 to 6:1 reduction the lead screw RPM would be about 666 to 333 RPM. Using servo motors at 2000 RPM and 3:1 reduction before driving a 5 t.p.i. lead screw, you would get about 666 RPM at the lead screw for a maximum feed rate of about 133 inches per minute. With faster a computer you might not need to use the pulse rate multiplier, or you could set the step angle to a smaller amount. When stepper motors are used the pulse rate multiplier would normally be set only to a value of one.

The CAM programs, in v2.7, feature a p.w.f. increaser that allows you to slow down the maximum step pulse rate, so that if you want to operate large stepper motors that have a maximum speed of 30 RPM from a fast 733MHz computer you can get the pulses slow enough. The p.w.f. increaser is normally only set to a value larger than one when the regular p.w.f. (pulse width factor) is set to a value larger than 20000. If you cannot get the motors to turn properly with the p.w.f. increaser set to one, try larger values until the p.w.f. can be set somewhere between 1000 and 20000 for the motors on all three axis, and all the motors operate properly.

DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) are designed to be adaptable to a range of automated applications. This section will give you some idea how you might use DANCAM.EXE (tm) or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) to do some of your own tasks automatically.

DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) are similar programs, but each one has been optimized for different applications. DANCAM.EXE (tm) is designed for applications that require the tool, or actuator, to move between points at any location in three dimensions. DANPLOT.EXE (tm) is optimized for working on flat material, such as sheet or plate, and will automatically lift the tool or turn off the cutting force, before moving to the next starting point for a series of motions in the tool path or drawing file.

In other words DANCAM.EXE (tm) is used for applications like 3D milling, and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) is used for plotter like work such as engraving and cutting plate.

In a lathe, ordinary cutting could be accomplished by just using two axis in DANCAM.EXE (tm). If you wanted to cut threads in a lathe you could use the third axis in DANCAM.EXE (tm) to rotate the chuck and spindle by using a timing belt and timing pulleys to a servo motor. A servo motor would be best for use in driving a lathe chuck and spindle since you would want to use a reduction in the pulleys of 5:1 or so and still get 360 RPM or so on the chuck, a stepper motor cannot generally be run reliably at such speeds, i.e. about 1800 RPM at the motor shaft. The tool path for cutting threads in a lathe would just be a straight line moving in all three dimensions, so the speed ramping should work to gently accelerate and decelerate the chuck.

Both DANPLOT.EXE (tm) and DANCAM.EXE (tm) can draw quasi "circles" and quasi "curves" of almost any contour. DANCAM.EXE (tm) can manufacture almost any part that can be produced on a three axis machine tool, including 3D contoured surfaces. The production of quasi "circles" and quasi "curves" takes place in DANCAD3D (tm) or DANCAD87 (tm) as part of the preparation of the drawing of the tool path. For complex contoured surfaces the tool path must define points that are more closely spaced than for the tool paths of parts that have flat surfaces or straight lines. The Weave, Betweens, Fit-curve, Fill tri path, and Assemble commands as well as the BMP and Pixel to ASCII conversion utility commands in the CAD programs can be used to help prepare contour surfaces.

The size of DANCAD3D (tm)'s workspace has been made much larger than in previous versions, now up to a maximum of about 50 million line segments, and so can work with complex quasi curves and contoured surfaces, so long as you have enough free space on your harddisk for the workspace to expand. DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) can read tool path files about as big as you can save on your harddisk with DANCAD3D (tm). When using DANCAD3D (tm) it may be best to partition your harddisk into 2.1GB partitions and use one 2.1GB partition for just DANCAD3D (tm) and another 2.1GB partition just for DANCAD3D (tm)'s work-space file. You select the work-space file drive in DANCAD3D (tm) by using the small menu that comes up over the programs opening screen before you reach the program's main menu. The CAD programs create temporary files while some of the commands are operating, so it is important to save the work- space file on another drive with a different drive letter to get the maximum working free disk space for editing large tool path files.

If you wish to clear the bits on your parallel port when your computer boots you can put DANCAM.EXE (tm) or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) in your DOS AUTOEXEC.BAT such that the program will exit back to DOS after the password is entered.

EXAMPLE: DANPLOT NUL 0
         DANCAM NUL 0

Once the password has been entered once, e.g. when you booted your computer and the AUTOEXEC.BAT file under DOS started the programs as was just shown in the above example, you do not need to re-enter the password each time you run the CAM programs if you use the command line parameter SKIP, i.e. for skip password prompt.

EXAMPLE: DANPLOT SKIP
         DANCAM SKIP

The password skip will work, after the first time the CAM programs are run since booting the computer, until you reboot your computer if you are running DOS. If you are running Windows 95 (tm) the skip password will only work after you have run the programs in the DOS window you opened once, and will stop working when you close that particular window. So under Windows 95 (tm) putting the CAM programs in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file will probably not work, unless you run the Batch file from inside the DOS window you open after your computer boots. For Windows 95 (tm) you can create a special Batch file, with some other name, such as CAMSTART.BAT, that has all of the needed commands and program names to set up your DOS window for use with my programs, that you can run each time you open a DOS window for use with my programs.

DANCAM.EXE (tm) may be able to be used to move your tool or work-piece along a path that requires synchronized, and simultaneous, motion on three axis. DANCAM.EXE (tm) is capable of making contoured surfaces when the tool path file has been properly prepared.

If more than three axis are required, it may be possible to use the relay outputs to switch the step signals to additional axis driver circuits. The direction signals could probably be wired in parallel since the direction signal changing while the step pulse input of the driver circuits is inactive would usually do no harm. TTL logic chips such as Inverters and AND gates might be used to do the signal switching electronically. Only three of the total number of axis would be able to turn at the same time, but even so you could rotate a part on a rotary table to cut another side of the part an such. All three axis could be switched to three additional motors, or one axis could be switched to one of four motors, the most possible axis through using some external logic chips would probably be switching the step signals to sixteen sets of three motors, or 48 axis, i.e. the four auxiliary relay outputs can be used for binary digits 0000 through 1111, or 0 to 15, to select the set of three motors to direct the three step signals to. I have not built any machines with so many axis yet, but you may wish to experiment with this idea if you have some need for extra motions.

For applications where more than three roughly synchronized axis need to operate simultaneously it may be possible to use more than one computer at the same time. The quartz crystal clock in the computer should be accurate enough to run DANCAM.EXE (tm) under DOS 6.22 on two or more identical computers and have the programs keep rough pace with each other. Since the computers would start to slip out of synchronization after a minute or so the tool paths running on the computers would need to use the automatic pause for operator feature to reestablish an even starting point every so often. One computer would be used as a "Master" and all of the other computers would act as "Slaves." The "Master" computer would have its tool path after a number of movements, say 100, make one of the auxiliary relay outputs pulse high then low, the "Master" computer would be adjusted through its feed rates to arrive at this point in the tool path slightly slower than the "Slave" computers reaching that number of movements. The "Slave" computers would be adjusted to finish their movements prior to each synchronization point in the tool path file just a little ahead, and to go into the pause for operator mode. The "Slave" computers wait for the "Master" computer to restart all of them. The "Slave" computers' keyboards would need to be modified so that an opto isolator, or the equivalent, would be wired across the [R] key on the keyboard so that when the "Master" computer gave the start pulse through it's auxiliary relay output the "Slave" computers would all get the "Resume" command as if someone had pressed the [R] key on all their keyboards at the exact same time. By careful creation of the tool path files, adjustment of the feed rates on each computer, and the inclusion of do nothing line segments to adjust the timing, it might be possible to carry this idea to extremes of running 100 or 1000 computers to operate 300 or 3000 axis at the same time. Modifying your computers keyboards may violate or invalidate the computers' warranty or insurance, and may be illegal in some jurisdictions, check your situation before doing anything.

For automating tasks other than machining metal you can try various arrangements with DANCAM.EXE (tm), especially if you are willing to use some possibly unorthodox methods.

If you want to construct a robot for processing parts a gripper might be wired to be controlled by one of the auxiliary relay outputs. You would draw the section of the tool path where the gripper will hold the part in a selected color, and the part of the tool path where the gripper is free in another selected color. The timing of the processing operation could be controlled by setting the feed rate and distance moved to come out to the time required for the processing step. By drawing zigzag lines in the tool path, parts being processed in solutions could be agitated. Additional control relays could be used to turn on or off pumps to operate drying air or wash sprayers. The auxiliary control relays might also be used to open or close solenoids on fill and drain valves to change solutions.

In addition to the linear three axis applications noted above DANCAM.EXE (tm) might be used to have one or more axis move in a non-linear manner. For instance the X axis could control a rotating table, so when the drawing for the motion of the X axis is drawn with DANCAD3D (tm) the person drawing the tool path would see the tool path as a "flattened" version of what will be made on a cylinder, just as a map of the earth is a flat version of the surface of a globe. This trick can be useful for engraving on a cylinder or cone. The person drawing the tool path would have to work out the conversion from the X distance to the rotation of the work-piece in degrees, which would be determined in part by the configuration in the CAM program set-up, i.e. steps per inch becoming steps per degree of rotation.

For applications involving beams of light, the stepper motors can rotate mirrors to deflect and scan out the beam, rather than use lead screws to move the laser around at right angles to the work-piece. For faster scanning optical "galvanometers" might be hooked up to a amplifier, Digital to Analog converter, and counter circuit in a servo like circuit, where the step pulses from the computer would make the voltage to the galvanometer step up and down so that the angle of the mirror would follow the position entered into the tool path file. Be sure that any machine using lasers, or other light beams, is completely enclosed in an opaque box so that the light beams cannot escape, and be careful that the light beams do not injure someone's eyes or cause other damage.

For lathes the third axis in DANCAM.EXE (tm) might be used to control the spindle speed by connecting a small stepper motor to the shaft of an SCR speed control for the spindle motor. The stepper motor on the speed control knob would turn less than about 270 degrees and would be motionless much of the time in order to keep the spindle speed constant. Since two axis are used in a lathe to move the tool around, the third axis could be used to change the spindle speed. So to draw a facing cut on a lathe, and have the spindle speed increase when the tool moves toward the spindle center, a line for the tool path, would be draw moving in three axis, e.g. x and y for the tool motion, and z for the change in spindle speed. You might need to draw a quasi curved line in the tool path to get the desired RPM for each radius distance.

If the lathe spindle speed control only has two positions such as fast and slow one of the auxiliary relays could be used in place of the third axis motor to switch the spindle speed.

For thread cutting on a lathe, servo motor can be linked to the spindle in place of the spindle motor by using a timing belt and timing belt pulleys. In DANCAD3D (tm)'s workspace a helix shaped thread on the lathe would be drawn as a straight diagonal line, with the slope of the diagonal line determining the pitch on the thread. So, in the lathe application you could have two linear axis and one rotary axis for the spindle installed on the lathe. Stepper motors are probably too slow for lathe spindle work since you will want 3,600 to 36,000 or more steps per revolution of the lathe chuck in order to make accurate threads. Having the lathe spindle un-synchronized to the tool motion makes drawing the tool path simpler, but does not allow for turning threads by use of coordinated motion between the tool and the spindle.

You should keep in mind that DANCAM.EXE (tm) might be able to be used to mill inside or outside threads by using a helix shaped tool path and the appropriate shape cutter. Milling threads would probably work better for course threads since your milling machine would need to be very accurate to do fine threads. The Fit-curve command in DANCAD3D (tm) will work on 3D points, so you could roughly draw out a cone shaped helix, a helix for progressive pitch threads, or other odd shapes and use Fit-curve to smooth the tool path line. The macro codes in the CAD programs can also be used to make thread tool paths by using some mathematical formula.

If you use a stepper motor to rotate the spindle of a lathe for thread cutting and have a maximum spindle RPM less than that required for a stationary cutter in the tool post, you might still be able to cut accurate threads by using a tool post grinder with an narrow pointed abrasive cutter disk, or if you reduce the tool post grinder's RPM you might be able to use a disk shaped cutter like a gear tooth milling cutter. A small pointed fly cutter, like a rotating boring bar, might be used in place of a disk shaped cutter, in which case you would want the chuck turning quite slowly, which would be fine for using a stepper motor to rotate the chuck in step with the other axis on the lathe.

When DANCAM.EXE (tm) is used for plotter like applications the third axis motor can be used, as described above for the SCR spindle speed control on a lathe, to adjust a valve or other control to regulate the flow of gas or liquid. Other odd uses for the third axis could be control of light intensity, ultra-sound amplitude or frequency for ultrasonic welding and such, heater temperature, or cutting fluid flow rate.

In DANPLOT.EXE (tm) the tool generally has two positions, up for moving when not operating on the work-piece, and down when the work-piece is being operated on. The tool path for DANPLOT.EXE (tm) is somewhat simpler to prepare than the tool path file for DANCAM.EXE (tm) since DANPLOT.EXE (tm) takes care of adding the up and down movements as well as the movements between points to get ready to operate on the next line segment in the tool path file, that is gaps in the stream of line segments in the tool path file for DANPLOT.EXE (tm) are common, the program just lifts the tool and moves to a point above the next point in the tool path and drops the tool. The Plotterize and Link commands in DANCAD3D (tm) can be used to add the up and down motions for a tool path to be used in DANCAM.EXE (tm), but DANPLOT.EXE (tm) has some features such as the fourth C axis, and the manual Z axis mode that make it the preferred program for 2D and related applications.

With DANPLOT.EXE (tm) the third axis, i.e. the Z axis, can be used in several ways: you can control a stepper or serve motor, you can control a relay, or you can control a solenoid. The normal use of the stepper motor for the Z axis would be to raise and lower the tool, such that the tool is not in contact with the work-piece when the tool moves to the next starting point if the line segments in the tool path drawing file being executed to not touch. The Z axis stepper motor might also be used to open or close a valve or to turn the control shaft of a rheostat. A relay on the Z axis direction control signal might be used to turn on an electromagnet, induction heating coil, ion beam, laser, or other electrical device on or off. A solenoid triggered by the Z axis direction pin on the parallel port could be used to: stamp or punch some sheet material, actuate a valve to control gas or liquid flow, close the jaws of a spot welder, or operate a gripper to grasp objects to move.

The C axis is arranged for rotation around the Z axis, such that the cutting edge of the tool is parallel to the Z axis, and on the point of intersection of the X and Y axis. The forth or "C" axis in DANPLOT.EXE (tm) will rotate the cutting edge of a knife or reciprocating saw so that the cutting edge "always" faces into the direction of the forward tool motion, of the tool, as the tool moves through the work-piece. You do not need specially to draw the motion of the "C" axis in your drawing of the tool path, rather DANPLOT.EXE (tm) calculates the angle to rotate the "C" axis to from the direction and angle of the previous and current line segments, so as to have the cutting edge of the tool follow the tool path drawing lines the way your nose would point if you were walking along the tool path.

In DANPLOT.EXE (tm)'s configuration menu you can set the tolerance for how large of a C axis angle change is permitted when one line segment ends and another line segment begins. By letting the tool make small angle changes while staying in the down position you can speed up the cutting of quasi curves and quasi circles. Keeping the tool down for quasi curves may also make a smoother cut. If the angle tolerance is set to 0 the tool will lift and drop between each line segment in most places. Too large of a tolerance may snap the tool off since the tool may not be able to turn that much while in the work-piece. The auxiliary input pin of the parallel port is used for the C axis home switch. In the manual Z mode the C axis angle may be displayed for manual setting of the tool rotation angle.

In DANPLOT.EXE (tm)'s configuration menu you can set a value for the maximum angle change on the C axis between two consecutive line segments. When the maximum angle change is exceeded the Z axis will move to the "up" position, the tool will rotate to the new angle, and the tool will move back down before moving along the next line. This feature is to keep the tool from turning through too large an angle while it is still inside the work- piece.

Normally in knife cutting no harm comes if the knife rotates in the work-piece as circles are cut out. If you want DANPLOT.EXE (tm) to perform a tool removal, tool rotation, and tool insertion when it comes onto large angle changes, such as at a 90 degree corner, you will need to set the C axis tolerance to a value less than the largest angle the tool can turn while down. You should set the C axis angle tolerance for lift to about 15 degrees for most applications, since quasi "curves" may have lines that are at angles that large. If you set the tolerance to too small a value the tool will not stay down while cutting quasi curves, but will keep going up and down for each line segment in the quasi curve.

The use of a knife as the cutting tool connected to the C axis motor is sometimes referred to as plotting with a tangential knife.

It may be possible to use a solenoid in place of the Z axis motor when the C axis is being used, so the three stepper or servo motors would be on the X, Y, and C axis, and the solenoid would be on the Z axis.

In two axis applications, just the X and Y axis motors are used to position the object or scanning probe. When DANPLOT.EXE (tm)'s replicate mode is used to scan an object the file created would be processed in DANCAD3D (tm) or DANCAD87 (tm) in order to make a BMP graphic file or an ASCII file that would be used as part of a drawing or tool path. Scanning may produce better results when DANPLOT.EXE (tm) is run under DOS or the computer is booted from a "DOS 95" floppy disk.

DANCAM.EXE (tm) or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) might be used to automate manufacturing operations where the tool path is infrequently altered. Simple operations such as winding tape on a pipe, winding epoxy coated twine on a composite beam, or winding wire on a coil form might possibly be done with repeatable accuracy when controlled by DANCAM.EXE (tm) or DANPLOT.EXE (tm). In such a wrapping task one stepper motor would rotate the form and the other stepper motor would move the supply spool guide. The tool path for such a simple task would be just a diagonal line, with the slope of the line determining the pitch of the wrap, the line color the speed of the wrapping, and the length of the line determining the number of turns. The auxiliary relay output could then be used to trigger the wire cutter, and another auxiliary relay could operate a mechanism to eject the current work-piece and advance a new one, before the tool path file repeats.

Likewise a cut-off saw or shear could be programed to advance the material, activate the clamp, operate the cutter, release the clamp, and such before the tool path was repeated a certain number of times.

You might build a machine that manufactures a single part, or a single operation on a particular part, like making pool cues, table legs, baseball bats, bobbins, knobs, buttons, tooth-picks, doors, "f" holes, guitar bodies or other musical instruments, and other mass produced shapes.

The programs might also be used to cut materiel to length, mark serial numbers, or de-bur castings. When you think about DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) you might believe that you can apply them to tasks once done other expensive ways, to now be done using computer controlled automation. Junk parts removed from old equipment can be given a new life as a robot to do some useful task.