Where is the best (most helpful) community on here to learn gcode?
Learning gcode is no longer truly necessary, especially in printing. The real question is, what do you intend to do once you’ve learned it?
Not necessarily for printing. Mainly to interpret what is being sent to the machines, and how to alter commands that may not be supported by some controllers. Also, to develop personal posts for some machines I have.
Learning gcode is kinda like learning Fortran (or COBOL or SQL). There are standards, but most likely your device just implements a subset, and it may implement some of those codes in ways that are non-portable. If you’re interested in 3D printing, then start with http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code
Great advice. There are a lot of cool tricks you can teach yourself for pre and post gcode scripts to include in your slicer. I write little gcode files to configure my printers and test them. Another cool learning experience is hand coding spiral prints and artsy prints that leverage odd abilities 3d printers have that are largely ignored in slicing programs due to the tweaky nature of dialing the tricks in for repeatable results. Understanding the gcode also allows cool mashups for combining different slices into a new file- like zero infill on the bottom of a dome, then adding in solid infill on the top few mms. Cura allows changes at certain z heights to do neat things like this.
One customer I have does amazing spiral-type prints using an excel spreadsheet he tweaked w a bunch of math in the file… he controls move commands precisely for superior surface finish. Neat stuff.
Yes, I think that reprap wiki should help
Leave it to @Brook_Drumm to make it sound like learning gcode is cool and fun. : P
I guess I’m still scarred from my first experience with cnc.
A high school class in 1998, in a brand new lab.
I was going to use the cnc to carve my Michealangelo’s “David”.
Until I realized this new machine was controlled by a dos text input interface. In the days of Windows 98’s many colored splendor, we had to type our gcode by hand into a white on blue command line interface. No graphics, no 3d, not even a simulator.
I’ve wondered why we keep gcode around ever since… I know it’s mostly just because it works.
Alas, I am not the man to build it’s replacement though.