OK here's the deal, KiCAD of course does a wonderful job with schematics, footprints, Gerber files, they even provide a pretty decent autorouter. Then you take the Gerbers and Excellons over into FlatCAM and they use those to make geometries and "job files" (G-code).
And so far I just have a minimal 3018 machine (probably a RATTM controller, I'm not sure) running GRBL 1.1h and I talk to it with LaserGRBL (even though I have no laser). Well I though I was on top of the world until I tried actually executing the G-code corresponding to the Excellons (drills), which of course were at several different diameters, so when I generated those files I clicked on "tool change", but when I tried to run the resulting file into the machine it choked on the "M6" (tool change) code generated.
Well at THIS price I obviously realized I wasn't getting any AUTOMATED tool change, but I DID expect the machine to stop and notify me SOMEHOW that it was time to go to the next tool (drill). Well then I unchecked "tool change" and went through the same procedure, and I looked at the G-code and saw to my horror that it had generated code to drill ALL the holes with the initial drill diameter in the machine!
Well I don't know what command exists in G-code to "halt for intervention", and if there were one I wouldn't want to manually edit it into ALL these job files, and I suppose "worst case" I MIGHT have to break all these job files into a SEPARATE file for each diameter, what a PITA!
So what I want to know is what are my alternatives for an even SLIGHTLY "enlightened" code stack? Is there a credible "alternative" for either GRBL or FlatCAM so I don't have to completely "invent a new workflow" JUST to accommodate the "revelation" that - wait for it - holes in PCBs occasionally actually have MORE THAN ONE diameter?
Has anyone else found a simple way to circumvent this? (I mean what a letdown after SO MANY other problems in this flow have finally been resolved!) Thank you in advance for your time and insight!
