Chris,

Every CNC machine uses G-code as the basic 'language' to tell it what to do. However few machines use G-code exactly the same due to 'interpretations' of the specification, think of them as dialects. Also some machines can do things in a more clever way, for instance, cutting an arc. Simple machines need the arc to be a series of small lines, clever ones just need to be told the start and end points and the radius and can work it out for themselves.

Post-processing takes the g-code from the CAM software and tweaks it for a specific machine, including adding headers that set up machine configurations.


For many simple machines driven by Mach3 controller no post-processing is needed