I have read (and re-read) the instructions for sheetcam and post processor control for firecontrol
It says down load firecontrol -v1.6.scpost
Done…easy…
next copy the firecontrol-v1.6.scpost …
well no. this is not an option. nothing. I click it to open the folder and it takes me straight to firecontrol program and starts acting like its time to cut a part.
There is no way I can see to get in and copy the program
HELP please I would live to use the cutter I waited months for…
Thanks
You don’t install the post into firecontrol, you install it into sheetcam
Did you copy the .scpost file to the C:\Program Files(x86)\Sheetcam TNG\Posts\ folder? I’m sorry but I can’t tell from your post.
Brown, right the file goes to sheetcam
Agent…
No I cant find a way to copy the file.
I click the link on langmuir,
I click “save”
I see it on the computer
I click it to open it and it takes me to firecontrol.
Yes, I am basically computer illiterate.
I can build just about anything with my hands but electrons are deeply disturbing to me.
Ok broke down and turned it over to the 12 year old. Got through that part…
thanks all
For the folks coming round to this topic later and having the same issue, this is the problem. You don’t want to click it to open it. You want to right-click and pick “move” or “copy” or click-and-drag it to the Posts folder.
THIS IS JUST TYPICAL OF LANGMUIR
all hese patches and add ons and plug ins!
why cant it be simple
TURNS OUT YOU CANT USE MACH 3 FOR THE CROSS FIRE PRO. no where did i see that and i have been watching most of the fusion 360 videos 2-3 times
and to top it off , you cant post process in 360, you cant draw in sheetcam and you cant post process in fire control
and when you finally download and run sheetcam, its post processors isnt caompatable, then i go to downlaods and download the current v fing whatever and it just goes somewhere on my computer and nothing happens
why cant they take the time to create a workflow from drawing to cutting for the CROSSFIRE PRO???!!!
I absolutely understand your frustration,
Have you been able to copy the 1.6 file into sheet cam post processing?
I don’t think anyone ever said these systems were plug-and-play. They require some effort by the user. It’s hard to believe that someone will drop 3 or 4 thousand dollars on a plasma CNC setup without either knowing something about them or having done a fair amount of research.
The basics aren’t that complicated although some skill with a computer is required. Not a ton as there are lots of folks here who learned by doing with the Crossfire. They weren’t the ones looking for it to be spoon fed though.
There are posts here about the workflow, very basic step-by-step (I know because I wrote one way back in the original Crossfire days). But here’s a recap so you don’t have to do any searching.
CNC requires 3 things - a design, toolpathing that creates machine commands and a computer to take those commands and drive a set of motors.
That is CAD (computer aided design), CAM (computer aided machining) and CNC (computer numericical control).
The Crossfire (and nearly all other tables like this) is the CNC part of the process. FireControl (or Mach3 for the older machines) is the application that runs on the computer to handle the CNC execution of driving the motors.
Mach 3 by the way, although it’s pretty common in the industry is only one of the applications that can be used for CNC processing in the industry. But it’s old and hasn’t been updated in years. It’s “end of life” as the computer industry calls it. It’s not being updated to do anything more than it does today (and did last year or the year before) and won’t be updated for any machine’s new capabilities.
The CAD and CAM portions of the process are up to the user to choose. Langmuir is pretty open in terms of not forcing just a single set of programs to do this work. If you’re an Adobe Illustrator guy you can use that for design. If you’re a CorelDraw guy you can use that. If you’re an Inkscape guy, that will work. If you’re an Autocad guy that works. If you’re a Fusion 360 guy that works too. Pick one. They range from free to $$$$. Your call and you’re the one who has to decide what you are going to be doing and what design tool capabilities you’ll need.
The most complex capable tools can handle almost any job but they are complicated, hard to learn and usually expensive. The simpler tools can do things like art work, sign projects and flat sheet designs but won’t be doing complex 3D parts design with automated materials analysis. They don’t take as long to learn, but they’re not going to suck the wants out of your mind and turn it into a design in your computer, effort is still required.
Here’s the easy decision tree:
I want to…
Then, go with INKSCAPE for CAD (it’s free, tons of YouTube videos to learn from)
Then, go with FUSION 360 (it can be free, but that’s limited or about $500/yr)
Then, use the software you already know for the CAD side of things
Then just hire someone else to make things because this stuff takes effort - magic does not spill out of the computer like rainbows and fairy dust.
So now that you’ve got the CAD side picked, you need step 2 (CAM) where you tell the computer how you want the design to be produced (cut) and create the commands for the CNC step. The input of the CAM program is the SVG or DXF file from the CAD side and the output is a set of computer code (called G-Code) that tells the machine how to move the torch around to cut your design out. There is something called a “post-processor” that the CAM program uses to match the computer commands it creates to the capabilities of the specific CNC machine you’re using - Crossfire G-Code isn’t the same as Arclight, Hypertherm, Piranha or anyone else’s G-Code because the machines are different. You’ll need to use the Crossfire post-processor to get G-Code that the Crossfire CNC will be able to use correctly.
This has just a couple of decision possibilities.
I want to…
Then, pick Fusion 360 free edition and pay the price in the learning curve (btw, if you’re doing commercial work where you sell the stuff you make, you’ll have to pay for the annual subscription for Fusion)
Then, spend $140 and buy Sheetcam and another couple/few hours learning (YouTube or folks here) how to setup your toolpaths (the way you want the computer to cut your design)
Now we’re down to the last piece, step 3, the CNC part. This is really easy with the Crossfire because you don’t have to make any decisions - it’s all based on what machine you have.
On original Crossfire or Crossfire XL uses Mach3 as its CNC application. You will need to spend $175 on a Mach 3 license to run an reasonable design (the free license is limited to 500 lines of G-Code which isn’t much).
A late model Crossfire or Crossfire Pro uses FireControl as its CNC application. This is included with your purchase so no additional licensing expense. This is clearly spelled out on the Langmuir website. To be fair, if you only read that a year ago and didn’t spend any time on the forums since then, you might think Mach 3 was used because for a few early months of the Pro development process they were still thinking Mach 3 would be needed. Very quickly though they switched to their own CNC application (which is good because it’s tuned to the machines we’re running - it’s not a general purpose application for lots of machines and if there’s a problem they fix it vs. 
).
That’s it. All the decisions you need to make. You will need to learn some new software and you’ll really need to learn how plasma cutting works with the balance between material, power and speed but that’s not unique to Langmuir. If you’re not willing to do this, then go back to the step that recommends you hire someone for all this thought, learning and you know, actual work.
With all of these decisions made the process is simple:
DESIGN (CAD) --> SVG or DXF file --> CAM --> G-Code file --> CNC --> magic cutouts on your table
To address your rant specifically,
THIS IS JUST TYPICAL OF LANGMUIR - yes it is and thank goodness. Ever try calling Artisoft and getting Mach 3 fixed? (ask them about why you can’t have <1 seconds as a pierce time unless you use milliseconds…take your time, we’ll all be here when you get back with the answer…) BTW, UPPERCASE IS TYPICAL OF SOMEONE MORE INTERESTED IN BLAMING SOMEONE ELSE FOR THEIR PROBLEMS THAN A SOLUTION TO THEM 
, but in the spirit of the holidays and hoping that the next person struggling with this might find it useful, I’ve gone ahead and posted this so they can find their way through the forest.
all these patches and add ons and plug ins! - again, yep, that’s good. Someone is supporting the software. Problems are identified and problems are fixed. Have you gotten the answer yet to when Mach 3 is going to have that bug fixed? No? Didn’t think so. Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you but we won’t be holding our breath. Oh, by the way, Mach 3 has a dozen different post processor file “plug ins” depending on the CAM or machine you’re targeting. Plug-ins are not a Langmuir failure.
why can’t it all be simple - because it’s not. You’re doing something pretty complicated. You might as well ask why can’t you paint like DaVinci or sing like Adele or golf like Tiger Woods or drive like Kyle Busch. If it were simple and easy and no work, everyone would do it. Effort is the deciding factor between people who are good at something and those that aren’t. I’m pretty sure that’s a Kindergarten lesson, but it’s worth repeating. It sucks, we’d all like to be perfect at everything but the reality is you have to work at it. If it’s not worth the effort to you, then go back to the step where I recommended you hire someone because you’ll only be frustrated.
Im guilty of lack of research, I bought my crossfire on a whim. I wanted it and read a bit then decided I needed it. I had visions of putting a few bolts in, hooking pc and plasma cutter up and makin stuff. To my saprise it was a slight variation from my vision. I gave up a few times but always went back. With the help of people here in this forum I got to where i could make some simple things. Once that first project works out your hooked ,and try more and more different projects. I learned from the start that if you ask a direct question and give the info required you will get a straight forward answer here. jamesdhatch wrote the book on it. I just read it above this post. I felt like i was in Court getting cross examined. I felt guilty of a few of his statements. But its the truth and the whole truth. 
james has helped me alot. LS team has also. A few others have helped also. and thank you all.
jamesdhatch…
outstanding post…
detailed…polite…a little sarcasm…
jamesdhatch for forum poster of the month award…!!!
I feel that post should be mandatory reading for new forum members…ah wait is is for one now…ahahahaha…
wow this statement really throws me…I bought my CFP almost a year ago…and I knew well before it arrived it was not MACH3…
the same reason when you buy a cake box mix …looks great on the cover right?..when you open it there is no cake inside:astonished:…ya gotta put it together…add some stuff then throw it is the oven…
James, Bravo! Very enlightening!
LOL… Thanksgiving was probably not the right day to respond to another entitled whiney rant. And yes it’s whiney because he couldn’t have watched everything or been here and paid any attention and not known exactly what he was getting. That was the time to take some action. Could have learned some software or how CNC cutting works or cancelled his order and gotten something he thought was closer to the ideal he wants.
Just look at all the people here who help other people come up to speed on things. That’s something really good. It’s not just one or two but a bunch. Most everybody seems to know we’re in the boat together and are happy to share whatever they’ve learned no matter how much or how little. It’s a great group.
We’re sitting in a country that allowed us to be able to buy this thing and yet some can’t be inconvenienced. They don’t think 3 grand is important enough to do some research before spending it but think 3 grand is so much they deserve a perfect product.
We had dinner alone yesterday. Our kids did too. I could afford to get sick and not go out for two weeks. They can’t. And it’s likely the people they’d infect couldn’t either. Over a qtr million people who should have been at Thanksgiving dinners weren’t and they died with their family looking through hospital windows.
And this is playing out across the world. But dammit why isn’t there a set of hand-holding videos for Fusion and the Crossfire Pro? I want what I want when I want it!
I think I understand why some people stand on their porch and tell at kids to get off their lawn 
I may not get to retirement before I start doing that 
I know Langmuir is threading a needle here - building something economical enough for newbies but powerful enough for a commercial shop. So they still try to minimize the add-on costs like the software needed. But I think Fusion is too complicated for the entry level guy just jumping in and the free version isn’t legal for the commercial shop. I’d bite the bullet and include Sheetcam - they negotiated a few bucks off to provide it already. Not sure if they could do a bit more if it was in every box instead. Then do a series on Inkscape (or Freecad for the 3Ders) and Sheetcam.
At any rate, done with my rant 
. I’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I really like having this community to inspire and to help me learn stuff or prod me to do something new. Thanks for another great year of cutting stuff even if the rest of the year was kind of sucky.
I think I’ll go work on building a dumpster to contain the fire. Hmmmm, that might be a cool fire pit design…
I work in the medical field…and I truly respect and appreciate the effort you and you family takes…my heart bleeds to people who have lost loved ones to this…
I have extensive working in AUTOCAD…and hell I gave up on Fusion…
all the best to everyone
trikote1
You are having a problem with the sheetcam file.
Tell us what it is and hopefully someone will have an answer.
I understand your frustration with Langmuir.
It is portrayed by them on youtube as a simple out of the box package. A smooth easy to use system.
It isn’t until you dig in the forums that you find that is not the case.
Some people have been doing this quite awhile and the obstacles you face have long since been passed by the “experienced” crew here. Others have knowledge in the particular area that you or I or any other newcomer to Langmuir may not have.
They make good points but it is “old hat” to them. It is new and intensely frustrating to us, the new comers.
I would strongly suggest to Langmuir to
Be more honest in the youtube videos…you do NOT make a simple plug and play system.
Post an ACCURATE flow chart of assembly, electronics (with the main programs likely to be used) and settings.
Stop misleading customers on ship dates
ANSWER EMAILS
I am quite sure many of you are going to roast me for daring to disagree but my experience with Langmuir is SUB STANDARD. Yours may be different.
Jamesdhatch, your post is very helpful, that is something Langmuir should have done, thank you for stepping up and doing it for them.
That being said, I just cut my first part and I am THRILLED to be running. albeit it keeps locking up the y axis when it rapid moves to begin the first cut.
Now trikote1, how can I help? I don’t have a lot of experience with this system but I am willing to help if I can
We are all entitled to our opinions and we respect that fact.
We all know the best way to atteactvflies is with honey and not vinegar…
We all want to help…
And as vonzep said…give us some details and we will help.
Bravo. Good post
There’s another version on the forum from a couple of years ago. It’s got pictures and arrows as I recall.
One if the problems a hardware vendor that depends on software faces is the lack of control over the software. Almost as soon as you out together any videos or training materials it is likely not going to match the current version of the software.
Fusion is a perfect example of this - over the past couple of years they’ve changed menus and what things are called more often than I can count. Then they started changing licensing models. Used to be you could do small commercial ($100,000 annually) work under the free license. Then they scaled that back to $1,000. Then they decided free also meant limited features. Some of that came inside the span of only 3 or 4 months.
That’s why I recommend Inkscape for most and Freecad for 3D folks. Both have been out there for a long time and are supported by an open source community that comes up with fixes & new versions about every 1-2 years. They’re free and that won’t change. They replicate nearly all of the features of the paid programs so it’s not like you’ll need to try to chop down a tree with a bowie knife. And there are a ton of YouTube videos out there to learn how to do things.
But here is the best place to learn how to use the tools with the Crossfire. We all started out looking at a pile of plastic bags of parts 
It’s only been 3 years for the most experienced of us (I’m not even one of those - I was a batch 2 for their first pre-order campaign).
I used fusion for milling, lathe, router and 3D printing. I was never very happy with the constant changing icons and icon locations in fusion.
With the recent changes to fusion I have walked away.
I tried downloading nanoCAD but as I have previously mentioned my computer skills are…poor.
I will take your suggestion and try freecad for milling etc and inkscape for the artwork for the plasma cutter.
With all things there’s a steep learning curve, i just believe we don’t need to leave people at the beginning of the process behind (or worse alienate them (or me)) as we climb in competency.
Me too mostly. I was using Fusion because of the sheeetmetal feature. Having it unfold a design so I could cut it and account for the k-factor was great.
But I found that Freecad has that now as well so I haven’t done a lot in Fusion since the last change. It was getting too much to keep up with the changes and then relearning where all “my” buttons were.