Jump to content

Welcome to eMastercam

Register now to participate in the forums, access the download area, buy Mastercam training materials, post processors and more. This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Use your display name or email address to sign in:

Reference point and lead out


nrusche
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi,

we are cutting and drilling thermo-formed pieces with a 5-ax curve toolpath. Since MC-X8 ignores the safety zones between two operations, the tool crashes in the workpiece when I move from e.g. the left side driling a hole to the right side to start a cut. (the lack of an "inter toolpath safety zone"  is already quite poor if you ask me.)

 

What I want to do now, is to add a retract to a reference point to avoid the crash. Now my problem: when my toolpath has a lead out, MC will finish the curve, then do the retract to the reference point, THEN plunge back in and do the lead out (?!?) ... and then crash in the workpiece when changing sides.

 

It works when I disable the lead out, but I would like to keep the lead out, it's actually quite useful.

 

Might this be a post-problem? Am I doing s.th. wrong? Might it be bug?

I did not find anything in the forums, thanks for your help!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

we are cutting and drilling thermo-formed pieces with a 5-ax curve toolpath. Since MC-X8 ignores the safety zones between two operations, the tool crashes in the workpiece when I move from e.g. the left side driling a hole to the right side to start a cut. (the lack of an "inter toolpath safety zone" is already quite poor if you ask me.)

 

What I want to do now, is to add a retract to a reference point to avoid the crash. Now my problem: when my toolpath has a lead out, MC will finish the curve, then do the retract to the reference point, THEN plunge back in and do the lead out (?!?) ... and then crash in the workpiece when changing sides.

 

It works when I disable the lead out, but I would like to keep the lead out, it's actually quite useful.

 

Might this be a post-problem? Am I doing s.th. wrong? Might it be bug?

I did not find anything in the forums, thanks for your help!

It is not a bug but just the way it is...

 

Do what J says or if you want even more control you can do what I found to be pretty cool way of moving my tool to where I want it to go.

 

I am just learning 5 axis and having to do it all by trial and error.

When I was using reference points I found it to be difficult to not have over travel flags in the machine sim.

 

So it dawned on me the logic needed....it's like football. The xyz point of the machine is the ball...so never let go of it.

 

When on a 5 axis machine and machining on all 5 sides of your part you lose control of the ball in between ops.

 

J suggest passing the ball....but I like a ground game.

So I started from that and each op I would save as geometry and place a point where the tools last and first position was and delete the unwanted geometry.  I suppose you could just verbose mode and manually type in coords...but saving as geometry avoids any typo's.

 

Then I could just make an curve between the last point in one op and the first point of the next op, offset that and use a swarf to control the motion of my machine while it moved from plane to plane, around my part, moving around areas I wanted to avoid,  ect.... Of course this is not needed on every op but it comes in handy when you are having issues.

 

I know X9 has some better linking tools, but some of my customers I program for use X7 and X8...and I am also stuck with X8 for a while.

 

This was a 100% method to insure I get no crashes, no over travel and never take my hands off the ball .... :)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 Murlin

 

Using 5 Axis Curve is one of the simplest ways to control linking moves. Even with the new linking toolpath I'm sure there will be cases where I use curve instead. 

 

 

Ya that is the simplest way when only tip control is needed...

 

I forgot to mention why I used Swarf instead.....

 

I was using a 6" long tool.  When the tool was all the way up to the limit there was only only 1/2" clearance to the top of the part and it was rectangular so moving from different planes and making a tool change I needed to control  exactly how the machine rotated as well and with Swarf I could thread a needle :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if it would help you but I will often force tool change to get full retract for rotary motion. Especially on parts that fill up the work envelope. I usually never change it because once you get a program proved out, modern machines rapid so fast it's not worth the risk.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your input you all, think I should be able to find something that works for me!

 

Still, I don't understand the reason why the retract is done before the lead out, makes no sense in my humble opinion. :)

 

Thanks again, cheers!

 

Can you share a file?. I have never seen this before but I can take a look at it if you would like. You might want to send it to [email protected] so they can take a look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Join us!

eMastercam - your online source for all things Mastercam.

Together, we are the strongest Mastercam community on the web with over 56,000 members, and our online store offers a wide selection of training materials for all applications and skill levels.

Follow us

×
×
  • Create New...