How much can you do with 1000 lines of G-code?

Depends entirely on what you want to do.

Hand coded G code using the arc commands and whatnot can do a lot in

1000 lines. G code produced via CAD/CAM tends to have a lot of little segment moves for arcs and will eat up 1000 lines rather quickly. Most any G code can be broken down into blocks of

The quick answer to your Q: shouldn't be a problem at all, as a demo, and even as the full pgm!!

And yeah, as Pete said, g-code pgms put in all kinds of shit I don't understand. I have never used a program, just Wordpad or any wordprocessor that will save files as text. There are really not that many codes you use for run of the, uh, mill parts.

In my whole miserable prototyping career, and running a number of jobs for a miserable job shop, I don't think I've ever hit the 1,000 line mark -- even with a 4th axis. For repeat offsets (like for a 300 pocket job coming up), it behooves you to use macros, which basically are just loop counters in their simplest and perhaps most common form, and the simple-ish moves go in sub-routines at the front of the program. The macro calls and executes the subroutines 300 times. So those 300 pockets per plate will fit in maybe 50-80 line program, for 5 tools.

For typical spot/drill/tap/pocket/post/circ interpolation, each tool is mebbe 8-12 lines of code, mebbe less. For the spot/drill/tap sequence, I'll put all the coordinates in a small sub, and call that sub for each of those tools -- that way, you can't have inconsistency errors, like tapping at a coordinate where a hole was not drilled. This is a win-win technique, where you gain simplicity, reliability, and save lines.

A typical "real part" program is about 200-400 lines long, and that's without me being particularly economical code-wise. Over 400 lines, I start moaning/groaning/whining/complaining..... That's mostly 2.5 axis, but even with full 3-axis moves (kind of a rarity over here) or with the 4th axis, the prgms don't seem to get much longer.

The Fadal controllers allow you to call sub-programs as well. So a 100-line program could call a 300 line pgm, a 500 line pgm, and an 800 line pgm, one right after the other. I have never done this, but the machine allows it.

My Fadal 3016 L has some ridiculous bitty memory as well, either 32 or

48K -- that's right, K -- which can handle, iirc, mebbe 4,000 lines at once. I seem to remember my near-1,000 line pgm gobbling up about 25% of its memory.... goodgawd, the KayPro had effing 64K, iirc.....

Also, it will depend on what "canned cycles" (pre-programmed) cycles are in the program/machine. If you have to program in your own pecking, bolt holes, etc, that will lengthen the program.

Post this in alt.machines.cnc as well. I'm sure those guys have exceeded the 1,000 line limit, but I haven't. No NASA-type work over here, tho.

What's that Lassie? You say that _ fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:50:28 GMT:

Is that 1000 lines or 1000 characters?

I program for 6 axis swiss lathes and my largest programs are about

5000 characters. Usually smaller, about 2000 characters.

I don't know what that would work out to in lines.

Could be 5:1 to 20:1 I guess.