The things you do when you have the time, or the inclination. I have been involved in Precision Sheet Metal Work for more than 40 years. I was very good at it and learned to layout, bend, weld and paint during that time.
I was really interested in programming of the machines, turrets specifically. I thought I had a knack for the computers as well. I did learn to program though starting out it was difficult. My first 'teacher' only programmed in incremental. Not just portions of the program, the entire program.
Eventually he quit and was replaced by someone equally inept but at least he was using the absolute programming style. The machine I started out on was a PDP-1. It was running CP/M but because there was only a teletype printer (no video) you missed a lot of what was going behind the scenes.
The computer took minutes to compile a program written in text format but specifically geared for machine control. At the end of the compile process you were left with a printed error report that might point at a specific error making that error easy to correct. If you were lucky (or good!) you might get an error free report.
With no errors you would punch a tape to load into your turret machine control. You would then load the tools and a blank of material and proceed to run the tape file.
After a few short minutes you might have been lucky (or good) to get a punched sample part. You would then inspect that flat pattern using all the proper allowances and the customer blueprint for comparison.
If the part was incorrect it was typical to go back to the programming room and make corrections. It was a common sight to see the programmer flying through the shop with a new printout and tape.
A few years later Strippit came out with a new version that ran on an IBM PC or Apple IIe computer. These were much faster but because they ran off the floppies they were still slow. Add to that, both the IBM PC and Apple IIe required a CP/M emulator card.
Working at a few shops I understood that this was all normal practice and also in the days before Microsoft Windows became as popular as it is today.
I thought this process could be improved.
I took a few BASIC programming courses to learn how to program the PC using BASIC and later Visual BASIC.
I bought a laptop and BASIC programming language and set out writing a program. Not just any program but one that would allow you to see graphics on your screen of your tape files.
This system used your tape file contents (text file, X, Y and Tool callouts) and would allow you to graphically verify your tape file visually before you set up the turret or sheared a single blank. It was pretty cool!
I went out and sold a few copies locally and people were pretty amazed. My customers asked for a way to dimensionally inspect their files. I had 20 plus customers at that time. I immediately thought of AutoCAD and it's dimensioning capabilities. Seems AutoCAD could check and verify existing dimensions from any drawing or DXF file input to it's system.
I am speaking of AutoCAD 10 running in DOS. It was a little clunky compared to the present day but it was no less functional. Add to that you could easily inspect a file whether it was 4 inches square or 36 inches square. You didn't need to place adapters or extensions on your vernier to check dimensions.
Now you have a system that allows you to program and verify tape files for accuracy before you load a single tool or shear a single blank. For busy shops that was money in the bank. The machine no longer sat idle while you corrected your programs.
I had advertised in the Fabricator as well as writing an article covering the advantages of the graphics based verification system. I called it DXF5.
I sold more copies and traveled to shops to educate them on the use of my system, while also teaching many of them my tricks of the trade. Pictured below is my former Fabricator ad from years ago, June 1997. I'm trying to locate the article I wrote now through The Fabricator.
Perhaps you're still using the old system, maybe just text programming directly to tape files. I've seen that all before. This system draws all common tool types but special shape tools are drawn with a center 'plus' sign and the corresponding tool size outline.
I have added a video I just made from my trusty old 133 MHz 486-DX2 Pentium Dell laptop, the video was made from an attached 23" screen. It is running in real time, I have not acted to speed up the video in any way. The system was rebooted in DOS 6.2 from Win3.1 startup.
The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33my8H2vDC8 on YouTube.
I started the demonstration in a common directory I named FAB5. Within that directory I have a full screen editor with many commands available similar to the old Wordstar editor, of course you can just use the cursor keys to move the cursor.
As the editor starts you will note that there are function keys along the bottom, the process to use them is hold the ALT key and hit the function key.
ALT-F1 Is help or the editor functions
ALT-F2 allows you to temporarily exit the system and run a DOS file or program.
ALT-F3 Creates a tape file, though this feature is specific to a specific tape punch machine
ALT-F4 Compiles the current FAB5 program
ALT-F5 Saves the current program
ALT-F6 Exits the editor
ALT-F7 Has no function
ALT-F8 Quits the system
ALT-F9 Runs DXF5 to plot the current program to the screen, a DXF file is also created and is named CHKTAPE.DXF
ALT-F10 Prints a Set-Up sheet for the machine using the current program.
The demo video is inserted below, there is no sound. I tried to scroll though this pretty busy program in it's entirety using the DOWN ARROW key. Then I scrolled back up using the PAGE UP key.
Using the ALT-F5 I saved the current program
Using the ALT-F4 I compiled the current program
Using the ALT-F9 I plotted the program to the screen
Some of you may recognize that I did not use the Optimize command. It takes a long time and with my experience I wrote essentially optimized programs. I did consider the last hit and the next hit in all cases even with tool changes.
Maybe there's still a need or there are additional questions to ask. Let me know!
